: Using “sparkling” as a diminutive of “spark” in a poem How would you react if you saw the word “sparkling” being used as a diminutive of “spark” in a poem? Although poetry does

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Once I figured it out, I might think it was cute. However, I would figure it out much faster if you used a hyphen ("spark-ling") to distinguish it from the word "sparkling" (something that sparkles). And/or, if the first time you use it, the context makes it clear what you mean.

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Not only is there the adjective "sparkling" with which your neologism has to compete, as Chris Sunami put it, but the "-ling" ending is also used to call people/animals/creatures that have a certain diminutive attribute.

I'm taking about "youngling", "halfling", "fledgling", and so on. These words describe a living being with the attribute of being young, half the size of a normal person, and of having obtained feathers, respectively.

In this case the word is being transformed into a name for a creature. So a "sparkling" would be a personified young spark.

Out of the fire that was its birthplace, a young sparkling jumped. "It's better to burn out than to fade away", it sang, as it landed on the dry straw.

In the case that this kind of personification is what you're going for, it's perfect. If you just want to say "a small spark", I think it's the wrong choice, because it will make people think of the adjective or it will make them think you're personifying the spark.

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"-ling" is a valid diminuitive, but in this case your coinage would be directly competing with a common English word, the adjective "sparkling." Given that, I'd argue against use of this unless there are strong reasons for it. There are other English diminuitives, what about "sparklet" instead?

In general, the rule is avoid confusion where possible. Sometimes there are valid reasons to make the reader work harder, but you should never add confusion for no reason.

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(Assuming I understood your question, and you mean 'sparkling' as in a baby spark)

If I were to come across this without any context, I would probably read it as a verb or adjective (sparkling water, sparkling like a firework, etc).

However, using 'ling' as a diminutive isn't so rare that it can't be recognized - think fingerling potatoes, 'younglings' in Star Wars. I think it would be understood as a small spark if you provided the appropriate context.

"The sparkling flew into the air"

I would probably assume you missed the noun that 'sparkling' describes.

"Although still young, the sparkling left the nest to fly into the air with their elder brothers and sisters"

It's clear that 'sparkling' is a noun here.

(sorry about the weird examples)

You could also try spark-ling, or play with the format some other way, and see if that makes a difference.

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