The chief diminutive of classical origin is—
Et, as in trumpet, lancet, pocket; the word pock, as in meal-pock=a meal-bag, being found in the Scottish. From the French -ette, as in caissette, poulette.
The forms -rel, as in cockerel, pickerel, and -let, as in streamlet, require a separate consideration. The first has nothing to do with the Italian forms acquerella and coserella—themselves, perhaps, of Gothic, rather than of classical origin.
In the Old High-German there are a multitude of diminutive forms in -l; as ouga=an eye, ougili=a little eye, lied=a song, liedel=a little song. "In Austria and Bavaria
are the forms mannel, weibel, hundel, &c., or mannl, weibl, hundl, &c. In some districts there is an r before the l, as madarl=a little maid, muadarl=a little mother, briadarl=a little brother, &c. This is occasioned by the false analogy of the diminutives of the derived form in r."—Deutsche Grammatik, iii. p. 674. This indicates the nature of words like cockerel.
Even in English the diminutive power of -el can be traced in the following words:—
Soare=a deer in its third year. Sor-rel=a deer in its second year.—See Love's Labour Lost, with the note.
Tiercel=a small sort of hawk, one-third less (tierce) than the common kind.
Kantle=small corner, from cant=a corner.—Henry IV.
Hurdle; in Dutch horde; German, hurde. Hording, without the -l, is used in an allied sense by builders in English.