Date: Thu, 5 Sep 1996 07:33:22 -0500

From: "Joseph C. Salmons" jsalmons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU

Subject: Re: "Ami" (was: Kimmelweck)



Ami (= American) stands alongside Uni (= university) pronounced [uni] as you'd

expect. . . the first two syllables of Universitaet . I wonder if the short

form of Ami was influenced by Uni?

db



No, this is a general pattern of clipping in contemporary German. So, you

get dozens of forms like 'Mutti' for 'mom' (from Mutter), 'Profi' for 'pro-

fessional', 'Sozi' for 'socialist', 'Alki' for 'drunkard', etc., plus a

bunch of nicknames like 'Gabi'. There's a similar pattern in -o.