baja vs. bajita

Question

I read a sentence today: "Es guapa aunque algo bajita (she’s pretty although rather short)." I can't find the word "bajita" in SD. I would like to know what the difference between baja and bajita is when used in the dialogue. Does "bajita" sound offensive, affectionate or cute?

Answer 1

Bajita is a diminutive of baja -- check out this article. It's done out of affection or to soften your words a bit. Lesson 4.3 here on SpanishDict deals with this sort of thing as well.

Hola, Manity. Gracias por tu ayuda. lt looks like l have to speed up my learning pace to reach the courses of Level 4 ASAP. - joygogo, Sep 27, 2013

Answer 2

As Manity pointed out, it's a diminutive of baja (short) - an affective way to say short. You'll hear it all the time from native speakers. In fact, the word baja is hardly ever used in my country (when referring to people) - we use bajito and bajita.

I also agree with the intention of soften your words. Gordo is the best example that comes to mind. To call someone gordo (fat) can be very offensive, even if the addressee is not present at the moment of the conversation. Using gordito instead, expresses the same thing but you are, at the same time, showing that your intention is not to offend him.

[Revise my English, please]

Hola, RelaxingCup. Your answer is very informative! Muchas gracias. So, do you mean any negative adjective is added “it” before its last letter “o” or “a” in your country? - joygogo, Sep 27, 2013

You can't take it as a rule but yes, it usually softens 'heavy' words. feo-feíto, tonto-tontito, etc - RelaxingCup, Sep 27, 2013

I agree. And this definitely applies to vieja, where I live if you call an old woman vieja, its sort of an insult, however if you use viejita it is perfectly acceptable. - cheeseisyummy, Sep 28, 2013

Thank you both for telling me! - joygogo, Sep 28, 2013

Answer 3

Recently, I heard a Colombian say pequeñita instead of pequeña. From that I figured that the longer word was better. However, I am voting up Manity's answer with thankfulness.

Very interesting! As far as l know, “the longer, the better” can be applied to Japanese. Thanks for your reply. - joygogo, Sep 27, 2013