Cecilia sent us this song with the note: "This is a song that shows the habit we have, at least Peruvians, to call everything in the diminutive* when we talk or sing to little kids. My son loves it!"

Notes

*Diminutives are suffixes that indicate smallness – usually they're used in words that are used when speaking to young kids. Many languages have them. In Spanish, it's often "–ito" or "–cito". That's what you can see in the song above. For example, "pericotito" is used for "little mouse". "Pericote" means "large rat". "Hocico" means "nose" (of animal). "Hociquito" means "little nose".

The only diminutive I've been able to think of in English is adding the "e" sound to the end of a word – like in "doggy". If you know of any others, please let me know! - Mama Lisa

Comments

Alif wrote:

Hello,

I noticed your Peru webpage features the song "El Pericotito," which uses the widely-used "Oh, du lieber Augustin" melody heard in "Did You Ever See a Lassie?" Would it be possible to place the MIDI of that melody onto this site? If one is not readily available, I might be able to produce one.

Thanks!


Sincerely,

Alif Muhammad


Thanks for the info Alif! We added a midi. I hope this helps! -Mama Lisa


Listen

Download MIDI Tune

Sheet Music

Sheet Music - Un Pericotito

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Cecilia Campos Siuffe and Daniel Siuffe for contributing and translating this song (with a little help from Lisa Yannucci and Monique Palomares).

¡Muchas gracias!