-illo although affectionate ( and d

-illo although affectionate ( and diminutive ) for most of its history, this suffix now often has a slightly pejorative tone : asuntillo 'an unimportant piece of business' , empleíllo ' rotten little job' , novelilla 'piffling novel' , envidiosillo 'pettily envious' . It also gives rise to frequent lexicalizations : camilla 'stretcher ', casilla 'stretcher', casilla 'pigeonhole', molinillo 'coffee grinder' , pitillo 'cigarette , fag' . It is the first of the suffixes considered here which has a clear Latin antecedent, - ELLUS , which was certainly diminutive and probably affectionate. Its descendant , - iello , was the commonest Old Spanish affectionate diminutive , and was gradually replaced by -illo , spreading from the Burgos area ( see 2.4.2.5 ) . In the Golden Age , - illo is still dominant( and still affectionate ) but since that time has been challenged by -ito as the 'normal' Castilian diminutive form and has acquired its current slightly pejorative tone ( except in Andalusia ) .