"el peinilla" - the comb?

Question

I will attempt to post this in both English and Spanish.

I just bought a book for my child, My First Picture Word Book In English-Spanish. For the picture of a comb (in English, I would call it a fine-toothed hair comb), it says "el peinilla". The word I know for comb is "el peine." "peinilla" is not in my dictionary -- and besides, wouldn't it be "la peinilla"? Is this a regional usage? What is correct?

Acabo de comprar un libro para mi hijo, . Con el fotografía de un peine, dice (en español) y (en inglés). ¿No se debe decir la peinilla? ¿Y que palabra es esta? ¿Es de un país solo, o de una región?

--¡Muchas gracias!

(Y si quisieran corregir mi usa de español, me gustaría también.)

Answer 1

Yes, the pictures are helpful. I think most English speakers would just say "comb". [url=http://www.goody.com][/url] calls this kind of comb a "detangling comb".

It appears that "peinata" or "peinetón" may refer to combs that you wear in your hair, while "peinilla" is a comb you comb your hair with.

Thank you for all the help! I will definitely remember "peinilla"!

Answer 2

Hi Natasha, I and James have included an image, it is not very clear, but one can see the opposing teeth, I think.

No, not a rat-tail comb. Have a look at the images. let me see what you think.

Answer 3

Would this "peinilla" in southern Spain be equivalent to the English "rat-tail comb"? Also, am I correctly interpreting the first definition, as follows?

Fine-toothed comb or short comb of two lines of opposing teeth (I'm having a hard time picturing this!)

Thank you for the country-by-country info!

Answer 4

Oops! Thanks!

Answer 5

Prepositions are one of the hardest things to get right . . . thanks for the input!

Answer 6

¡Gracias!

Answer 7

Thank you for the awesome website link. I've put it in my favorites for future reference!

Answer 8

This is the definition of !peinilla" tell you the truth, a word I was not familiar with. Peinilla is only used in the south of Spain and it is a special kind of comb.
http://www.fantiplas.com/images/productos/147.jpg

In any case, you were right, as you can see in the definitions, it is always "la peinilla"
peinilla.

1. f. Córd. y Jaén. Lendrera o peine corto de dos hileras opuestas de dientes.

2. f. Col., Ec., Pan., P. Rico y Ur. peine (? para el pelo).

Answer 9

Right, but it would be more natural to use the indefinite article here (in English as well as Spanish).

Answer 10

About your Spanish, I'll give it a try, but a native can probably do better (or correct my corrections!).

Acabo de comprar un libro para mi hijo
I think it might be more natural to say "Acabo de comprarle un libro a mi hijo."

Con el fotografía de un peine
Con una foto de un peine

Otherwise, it looks pretty good!

Answer 11

I agree with your first respondent. Should be 'la peinilla'. Another word for comb in that same family is "peineta", a small peine.

Answer 12

Peinilla also means comb, and yes, it is feminine, so "el" is a typo. The author may have first written el peine, and then changed the noun but forgotten to change the article.

See the following site for some photos of different types of comb in Spanish.

[url=http://www.google.com/imgres'imgurl=http://www.fantiplas.com/images/productos/148.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fantiplas.com/productos.asp%3Fid_categoria%3D38%26offset%3D18&h=143&w=164&sz=20&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=kUO-dZAwVT7rOM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=98&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpeinilla%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS177US231]http://www.google.com/imgres'imgurl=http://www.fantiplas.com/images...[/url]