-ичък

Bulgarian

Etymology

Compound suffix equivalent to -ич (-ič) (diminutive suffix) +‎ -ък (-ǎk). In some cases, both the diminutive noun and the corresponding diminutive adjective are attested, e.g.:

мъний (mǎnij, “too small”) (obsolete) → мъник (mǎnik, “midget”) → мъничък (mǎničǎk, “tiny”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [-it͡ʃɐk]

• Audio:

  (file)

Suffix

-ичък • (-ičǎk)

1. Forms pronouns depicting completeness:

   все (vse, “each”) → *всичък (*vsičǎk) → всичко (vsičko, “all, everything”) (adverb), всички pl (vsički, “all, whole”)

   един (edin, “one”) → едничък (edničǎk, “only, unique”)

2. Forms size adjectives with diminutive or emphatic meaning: -ish

   голям (goljam, “large”) → големичък (golemičǎk, “slightly large”)

   дребен (dreben, “tiny”) → дребничък (drebničǎk, “particularly tiny”)

   нисък (nisǎk, “short”) → нисичък (nisičǎk, “particularly short”)

   кратък (kratǎk, “brief, concise”) → кратичък (kratičǎk, “particularly brief”)

3. Forms qualitative adjectives with diminutive meaning: -ish

   добър (dobǎr, “good”) → добричък (dobričǎk, “kind, easy-going”)

   зъл (zǎl, “evil”) → зличък (zličǎk, “evilish”)

   красив (krasiv, “beautiful”) → красивичък (krasivičǎk, “cute, pretty”)

   бърз (bǎrz, “fast, quick”) → бързичък (bǎrzičǎk, “quite quick”)

Derived terms

Bulgarian terms suffixed with -ичък

Further reading

• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “всички, всичка, всичко”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 195