Diminutives of "son" and "sun"

We here in A2K almost always offer at least one wise-acre response...so:

The diminutive of "son" is...sperm.

The diminutive of "sun" is...hydrogen bomb.


Ummm....sometimes we offer more than just one.

Nope.

I got nothing.


I'm now seriously disappointed with myself.

I know very basic Hebrew and can read the script, but you have me stumped. Son in Hebrew is 'Ben' or (pronounced) Bain. Bar is also used in the phrase 'Bar Mitzvah (son of the Commandment) .

Not sure why someone would need or even if there is a diminutive of sun. Hebrew for Sun is the Hebrew word "shemesh".

I'm not saying the short versions don't exist, because Hebrew language does that shortening trick a lot. I'm just not aware of it. Perhaps the link I provided below can steer you closer. Good Shabbos to you and your family.

http://www.dictionary.co.il/hebrew_word.php?topic=h3201&image=h32/h3201023&name=Sun

{ Edit: Furthermore, this was written also in Wikipedia: "It is used in synagogue and in documents in Jewish law such as the ketubah (marriage contract). Many Sephardic Jews used the Arabic ibn instead of bat or ben when it was the norm. The Spanish family Ibn Ezra is one example."}

Thanks, Ragman. I was asking about Yiddish. For some reason I was sure that this is a site of Yiddish Q&A, but apparently I was wrong. If someone can refer me to an Yiddish Q&A site, I would appreciate it.
I am fluent in Hebrew, and you are right: diminutives are not common in Hebrew. One can say שמשון for the diminutive of שמש, but I do not think that there is a diminutive of בן. In Yiddish however diminutives are generally very common. All the best,

good luck there. sadly in my family, my late parents (first generation of practicing Jews in USA) spoke Yiddish to keep us from knowing what they were saying. Also, in Hebrew School they never taught us Yiddish (pre-1965).

As an adult I use approx 50-60 Yiddish words and maybe can figure out more from knowing a smattering of German and Hebrew. What tripped me up is seeing Yiddish expressed as Hebraic lettering as opposed to Anglicized Yiddish so I mistakenly thought you really wanted Hebrew. I forgot about see Yiddish newspapers back in the '60s that were written in Hebrew.

That's my long-winded way of saying the obvious...I can't help 'ya. Good luck in your search. Google might be your friend

From the Weinreich dictionary:

son -- zundl (zundeleh) or zindl (zindeleh) -- both are kosher

sun -- nothing is offered for the diminutive

Personally, i'm sure the diminutive of sun is also zindl (zindeleh)-- i see no reasons why it shouldn't follow the common convention.

Also, zinehnyu was a popular diminutive in Russia and Ukraine. -nyu was added to create a diminutive, e.g. Moishe -- Moishenyu.