student asking question

Does the word "-ling" refer to juvenile animals?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

The suffix "-ling" is normally used to indicate something which is young, immature, or small. So yes, it is often used in reference to juvenile animals, however, it is normally used for birds or animals which hatch from an egg. Ex: The young gosling is following his mother goose in the pond. Ex: The alligator hatchlings are a day old.

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