Rinconete y Cortadillo
References and translations
Names in the underworld take the form of a nickname or alias; see the note on La Pipota, for example (p. 94), Monipodio (p. 79) and others in the paragraph you are studying and elsewhere. The -ete and -illo suffixes are appropriate, Monipodio opines, to the boys' age, and also conform with the requirement that the fathers' names be known (for religious purposes).; i.e. in this case, their family names form part of the alias. Why do the underworld characters have nicknames? Is it a sign of familiarity? Do they refer to a person's function, or occupation in the group? Or has the alias a function of hiding the person's true identity? The names are not merely picturesque whimsies on the part of the writer; they form part of Cervantes' record of the linguistic traits that characterise a community.