kicsi
Hungarian
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
kicsi (comparative kisebb, superlative legkisebb)
- little, small
- in one's childhood (often used with kor)
- Synonym: gyerek (especially in compounds, e.g. gyermekkor)
Declension
Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | kicsi | kicsik |
accusative | kicsit | kicsiket |
dative | kicsinek | kicsiknek |
instrumental | kicsivel | kicsikkel |
causal-final | kicsiért | kicsikért |
translative | kicsivé | kicsikké |
terminative | kicsiig | kicsikig |
essive-formal | kicsiként | kicsikként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | kicsiben | kicsikben |
superessive | kicsin | kicsiken |
adessive | kicsinél | kicsiknél |
illative | kicsibe | kicsikbe |
sublative | kicsire | kicsikre |
allative | kicsihez | kicsikhez |
elative | kicsiből | kicsikből |
delative | kicsiről | kicsikről |
ablative | kicsitől | kicsiktől |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
kicsié | kicsiké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
kicsiéi | kicsikéi |
Usage notes
Kicsi is normally used on its own (in the predicate, or as a short reference to a noun phrase with this qualifier). It can also be used in an emphatic way before nouns (especially in informal style), but the neutral variant kis is more usual in the latter, adjectival role. (Note that the same syntactic difference exists between kettő and két in Hungarian, both of which mean 'two'.) Their distribution is comparable to that of "sick" and "ill" in English: "they are ill" (cf. kettő, kicsi, when used on their own) vs. "sick people" (cf. két, kis, i.e. used before a noun).
Derived terms
- kicsi a bors, de erős
- kicsi a világ!
- kicsire nem ad
- ki a kicsit nem becsüli, a nagyot nem érdemli
- sok kicsi sokra megy
References
- ^ kicsi in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)