Positional Categories of Affixes
Affixes are divided into plenty of cateagories, depending on their position with reference to the stem. Prefix and suffix are extremely common terms. Infix and circumfix are less so, as they are not important in European languages. The other terms are uncommon.
| Affix | Example | Schema | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prefix | un-do | prefix-stem | Appears at the front of a stem |
| Suffix/Postfix | look-ing | stem-suffix | Appears at the back of a stem |
| Suffixoid/Semi-suffix | cat-like | stem-suffixoid | Appears at the back of a stem but is somewhere between a free and bound morpheme |
| Infix | Minne⟨flippin'⟩sota | st⟨infix⟩em | Appears within a stem — common in Borneo-Philippines languages |
| Circumfix | a⟩scatter⟨ed | circumfix⟩stem⟨circumfix | One portion appears at the front of a stem, and the other at the rear |
| Interfix | speed-o-meter | stema-interfix-stemb | Links two stems together in a compound |
| Duplifix | teeny~weeny | stem~duplifix | Incorporates a reduplicated portion of a stem (may occur in front, at the rear, or within the stem) |
| Transfix | Maltese: k⟨i⟩t⟨e⟩b "he wrote" (compare root ktb "write") |
s⟨transfix⟩te⟨transfix⟩m | A discontinuous affix that interleaves within a discontinuous stem |
| Simulfix | mouse → mice | stem\simulfix | Changes a segment of a stem |
| Suprafix | produce (noun) produce (verb) |
stem\suprafix | Changes a suprasegmental phoneme of a stem |
| Disfix | Alabama: tipli "break up" (compare root tipasli "break") |
st⟩disfix⟨m | The elision of a portion of a stem |
Prefix and suffix may be subsumed under the term adfix in contrast to infix.
When marking text for interlinear glossing, as in the third column in the chart above, simple affixes such as prefixes and suffixes are separated from the stem with hyphens. Affixes which disrupt the stem, or which themselves are discontinuous, are often marked off with angle brackets. Reduplication is often shown with a tilde. Affixes which cannot be segmented are marked with a back slash.
Read more about this topic: Affix
Famous quotes containing the word categories:
“Of course I’m a black writer.... I’m not just a black writer, but categories like black writer, woman writer and Latin American writer aren’t marginal anymore. We have to acknowledge that the thing we call “literature” is more pluralistic now, just as society ought to be. The melting pot never worked. We ought to be able to accept on equal terms everybody from the Hassidim to Walter Lippmann, from the Rastafarians to Ralph Bunche.”
—Toni Morrison (b. 1931)