AboutKevin Johnson Expertise I grew up and live in Germany, so I can answer questions on the German language, culture, current events, politics and style. My field of work is science, so I will also be able to answer questions regarding technical vocabulary.
I will not do translations of more than approx. half a page (typewritten), though.
Experience I lived all my life in Germany. I have a strong lifelong interest in languages.
Question One of my favorite characters in a comic book is German, and often uses short German words or phrases when speaking. Most of the things he says are easily translated or understood, however, I do have a question regarding the words "Liebling" and "Liebchen." Both of these words mean (to my knowledge) "sweetheart," but I was wondering what difference there was between the two words. Is one simply older? Or is there an implied age/class/relationship difference?
Answer Hello Erienne,
You are right, the words "Liebling" and "Liebchen" are indeed used like "sweetheart" or "darling" are used in the English language. While "Liebling" is still commonly used, "Liebchen" is a bit anachronistic and out-of-fashion.
It might be that the dated "Liebchen" is deliberately used to distinguish the age or class of the speaker (i.e. more "distinguished" or "classic"), but this depends very much on the context.
Since the diminuitive form of nouns in German is often created by the suffix "-chen" (or sometimes "-lein"), e.g "das Kind" (the child) -> "das Kindchen / das Kindlein" (the little child), the word "Liebchen" might imply an age difference or a power assymmetry in the relationship. It might be interpreted as patronizing or condescending, but possibly in a playful manner - this is also heavily dependent on the context.
For creating a noun by derivation from an adjective, one often uses the suffix "-ling", e.g. for things: "roh" (raw) -> "der Rohling" (coin blank - which is "raw" until it is minted), or for persons: "roh" (brute, rough) -> "der Rohling" (the ruffian, the brute).
Literally, from the word formation, one would have to translate "der Liebling" (note the grammatical masculine gender, even if used for a female!) as "the love-ling" (compare "darling" from "dear-ling") or "the loved one", and "das Liebchen" (note the neutral gender) as "the little love (thing)".
"Liebling" can also be translated as "favourite", for persons as well as for things, e.g. "Lieblingsfarbe" (favourite colour).
