Abstract:
The functional-semantic field of diminutiveness in the Belarusian language has not been the subject of special comprehensive study from the point of view of structure and lexical composition until the present moment. In the basis of the article is the hypothesis that the field of diminutiveness in the modern Belarusian language has a rather complex structure, the core of which is constituted by derivationally marked substantive lexicon with explicit lexical diminutiveness. It suggests the important role of personal diminutive names in the structure of this field, which are noted for significant quantitative composition, a high degree of polymotivation and derivational variation, a wide range of word-formation ways and means, the chained character of diminutiveness intensification, the peculiarities of diminutive dese- mantization, functional significance and the specificity of language pragmatics.
