-ьо

Bulgarian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *-ę, applied in diminutive sense on personal names or proper nouns referring to people (nicknames, kit terms, pejorative terms, etc.). Attested more in the Eastern dialects. Cognate with Russian -я (-ja) with similar function.

Suffix

-ьо • (-jo) n

1. Forms pet versions of personal names:

   Драган (Dragan, “Dragan”) → Ганьо (Ganjo)

   Цветан (Cvetan, “Tsvetan”) → Цецо (Ceco)

   Иван (Ivan, “John”) → Ваньо (Vanjo)

   Николай (Nikolaj, “Nicolas”) → Кольо (Koljo)

   Валентин (Valentin, “Valentine”) → Вальо (Valjo)

   Димитър (Dimitǎr, “Demeter”) → Митьо (Mitjo)

   Александър (Aleksandǎr, “Alexander”) → Сандьо (Sandjo), Сашо (Sašo)

   Петър (Petǎr, “Peter”) → Петьо (Petjo), Пешо (Pešo)

   Георги (Georgi, “George”) → Гошо (Gošo)

   Михаил (Mihail, “Michael”) → Мишо (Mišo)

2. Forms diminutive forms of kin terms:

   вуй (vuj, “maternal uncle”) (dated) → вуйчо (vujčo)

   чиче (čiče, “paternal uncle”) (dated) → чичо (čičo)

Usage notes

The soft symbol -ь- is dropped before intrinsically palatalized consonants (ч, ж, ш, ц).

Alternative forms

• -йо (-jo) — before vowels
• -е (-e) — standard form

Derived terms

• -льо (-ljo)
• -чо (-čo)