Actually,
there’s a new and simplified version of German developing right now. It’s
called (or, seems to be in the process of being named) Kiezdeutsch (‘Neighborhood
German’). Spoken mainly by urban youths of both German and foreign (Turkish,
Kurdish, Arabian, Russian, …) descent, it’s highly idiosyncratic, deeply funny
(vi…

@molly man: Still haven’t
figured out how to reply in the right place when my only option is ‘like’. So,
the following refers to your ‘Yes, the distinction between natural …’. —-

@molly man: The AVC’s system will only let me ‘like’ your replys rather
than reply to them in return. I’m afraid I’m new to this, so I seem to be
making some kind of beginner’s mistake. Anyway, the following refers to your ‘In German, you've got der Löffel …’ —-

As far as I can see what President Kennedy said was perfect in every respect (except for, maybe, pronunciation).

I'm sorry, the AVC's system wouldn't let me reply in the right place.
My 'I was starting …' refers to molly man's 'I imagine that Frauchen …' (see below).
Wouldn't let me make separate paragraphs, either. Or maybe I'm just stupid.

I was starting from the assumption that the ‚neutering’ and the
diminutive aspect go hand in hand. Just to be clear: Since it’s my first
language, I’m not terribly familiar with the inner workings of German grammar.
And I completely agree with what you’re saying about the French suffices:
That’s certainly an easier way of…

Yes, that’s correct. But the ‘-chen’ suffix still can’t be used in just any context; when you
use it, you must be willing to ‘neuter’ the respective noun semantically, e.g.
when you call a ‘Frau’ (feminine) a ‘Frauchen’ (neuter), it’s patronizing (or
wildly condescending, actually). That goes to show that the article…

reckoner is right: ‘Ich bin
eine Berliner’ doesn’t make sense, it’s either ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ (I’m a
male person from Berlin) or ‘Ich bin eine Berlinerin’ (I’m a female person from
Berlin).