-che

• -elche (see notes below)
• -je (Ripuarian only; see notes below)

From Middle High German -ichin, from Old High German -ihhīn, from Proto-Germanic *-ikīną, a double diminutive, from *-ikaz + *-īną (compare *-ukīn).

• IPA^(key): /ɕə/

-che (plural -cher)

1. forms a diminutive noun

   ‎Stadt (“town, city”) + ‎-che → ‎Städtche (“little town”)

• All diminutive nouns are normally neuter (as in German). However, some dialects may treat diminutives according to the gender of the basic noun (as in Luxembourgish).
• Nouns whose stem ends in a back consonant, namely -ch, -g, -k, -ng, or -sch, mostly use the extended suffix -elche: Bröck (“bridge”) → Bröggelche. In Ripuarian, an etymological distinction is usually followed, according to which the extended suffix follows only original back consonants but not ones that derive from Old High German (OHG) alveolars; hence: Weng (“wine”) from OHG wīn → Wengche (not *Wengelche); Wursch (“sausage”) from OHG wurst → Würschje (not *Würschelche). There is a certain degree of variation in both directions.
• After -f, -s, -ß, -v, and -sch (if applicable), the suffix -che becomes -je in Ripuarian, but not in Moselle Franconian; hence: Foß (“foot”) → Ripuarian Fößje, Moselle Franconian Feßche.

• -je (after ⟨s⟩, ⟨sch⟩ or ⟨z⟩)
• -elche (after ⟨ch⟩, ⟨k⟩ or ⟨ng⟩)

From Central Franconian -che, from Middle High German -ichin.

Cognate with German and Luxembourgish -chen.

-che

1. forms the diminutive of nouns

• All diminutives are neuter, regardless of the gender of the base word.

  ‎Bien f (“bee”) + ‎-che → ‎Bienche n

• Words having a stressed ⟨a⟩, ⟨aa⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩ in their stem may go through umlaut.

  ‎Aff (“monkey”) + ‎-che → ‎Effche

• The final unstressed ⟨e⟩ (/ə/) is dropped when adding the suffix. This doesn't usually happen if the stem would end in ⟨r⟩ or ⟨v⟩ without it.

  ‎Bluse (“blouse”) + ‎-che → ‎Blusje

  ‎Karre (“car”) + ‎-che → ‎Karreche, instead of *Karrch

• Diminutives are either treated as invariable or pluralized with ⟨r⟩. If ⟨r⟩ is added, the plural of the diminutive will follow the plural of the base word, carring over any changes in the stem.

  ‎Hund (“dog”) + ‎-che → ‎Hundche

  ‎Hunn (“dogs”) + ‎-che → ‎Hunncher

• Piter Kehoma Boll (2021 November 19) “Diminutivos”, in Aprenda Hunsriqueano‎ (in Portuguese), episode 50, via YouTube

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃe˩/

-che

1. Khimi Chin form of -ce

• R. Shafer (1944) “Khimi Grammar and Vocabulary”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, volume 11, number 2, page 415

• -iche, -que, -e

-che (plural -chei)

1. feminine suffix

   ‎nivacle (“man”) + ‎-che → ‎nivacche (“woman”)

• The principal allomorph -che can also prepend an epenthetic i when is attached to a noun ending with two consonants.
• After m, o and ô the allomorph -que is used.
• In addition to the above, there is also a rare allomorph -e which normally (but not always) applies to nouns already derived via a suffix.

• -a

• Fabre, Alain (2016) Gramática de la lengua Nivacle (familia Mataguayo, Chaco Paraguayo) (Lincom Studies in Native American Linguistics 78) (in Spanish), Munich: Lincom, →ISBN.

From Middle High German -ichin, from Old High German -ihhīn, from Proto-Germanic *-ikīną, a double diminutive, from *-ikaz + *-īną (compare *-ukīn). Compare German -chen, Dutch -ke.

-che (plural -cher)

1. (diminutive) -let, -ling, -kin

-che

1. Latin spelling of ـچە (-che, “equivalence case suffix, noun-forming suffix”)

• IPA^(key):

-che

1. allomorph of -ke (adverbializer) used for stems that end in i