View source for Affixes

== 1. Definition ==

An '''affix''' is a [[formative]] attached to a [[stem]]. Affixes, like [[stem|stems]], are parts of the [[grammatical word]] (i.e. they are parts of the syntactic X<sup>0</sup>). Affixes need stems as their grammatical hosts, they necessarily cooccur with stems.

Affixes, unlike [[clitics]], are categorially restrictive, i.e. they attach only to stems of a certain [[parts of speech]]. (English affix ''re-'' attaches only to verbs: ''re-use'', but not numerals: *''re-five''.)

Affixes usually have a more restricted phonology, segments used for affixes in a language are only a subpart of the phoneme system. Affixes are usually shorter than stems, are phonologically bound, have more abstract meaning than stems and occur in a fixed order (but see counterexamples below).

Many simple [[morpheme]]s are exclusively segmental and consist of a single affix. Therefore in a simplified view affixes are said to bear meanings, instead of saying it&rsquo;s the morphemes which bear meaning. For an affix which is a part complex morpheme, this view is somewhat misleading. For such examples see [[simulfix]], [[morpheme]] or [[formative]].

== 2. Examples ==

English (West-Germanic, Indo-European) 
{|
|-
| '''''re'''-write-'''s'''''
|-
| '''AGAIN'''-write-'''3s.PRES'''
|-
|}

[[Akkadian]] (East-Semitic, Afroasiatic)
{|
|-
| '''''i'''-m'''<ta>'''raṣ-'''ā'''''
|-
| '''3'''-get.ill'''<PERF>'''-'''FEM.pl'''
|-
| ‘They (feminine) got ill.’
|-
|}

== 3. Subtypes ==

=== 3.1. Position ===

Affixes vary in their position relative to the stem: [[prefix]] (precedes the stem), [[suffix]] (follows the stem), [[infix]] (is in the stem). All three types can be seen in the examples above, but here is a general scheme:

{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
|align="center"| prefix 
|align="center"| suffix 
|align="center"| infix
|-
| '''pf'''-stem || stem-'''sf''' || st'''<inf>'''em
|-
|}

=== 3.2. Inter-Affix Dependencies ===

Various dependencies can be found between affixes. One affix may change the meaning of another affix:

German (West-Germanic, Indo-European)

{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
| ''setz-'''t''''' || '''''Ge'''-setz'' ||  '''''ge'''-setz-'''t'''''
|-
| set-'''3s.PRES''' || '''some.thing'''-set, ‘law’ || '''PTCP'''-set-'''PTCP'''
|-
|}

The occurrence of an affix may depend on another affix (coocurrence dependency):

Czech (West-Slavic, Indo-European)

{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
| ''star-'''ší''''' || '''''nej'''-star-'''ší''''' || ''*'''nej'''-star''
|-
|  old-'''COMPARATIVE''' || '''SUPERLATIVE'''-old-'''SUPERLATIVE''' ||rowspan="2" valign="top"| ''ungrammatical''
|-
|  ‘older’ || ‘oldest’ 
|-
|}

A [[prefix]] and a [[suffix]] which ''only'' occur together are called a [[circumfix]]. The Czech and German examples above are not circumfixes in a proper sense. For details see [[circumfix]].

=== 3.3. Phonology does not matter ===

==== Phonologically bound affixes ====

All of the above examples were affixes that are phonologically bound, i.e. they are a part of a [[phonological word]]. A [[Turkish]] example from Bickel & Nichols (in press) shall demonstrate this once again. (All vowels within the domain of a Turkish phonological word [[Vowel harmony|harmonize]].):

tan'''-ış-tır-ıl-a-ma-dık-lar-ın-dan-dır'''

know'''-RECIP-CAUS-PASS-POT-NEG-NZR-PL-3POSS-ABL-3COP'''

‘It is because they cannot be introduced to each other.’

(lit. ‘[it] is from their not being able to be made known to each other.’)

==== Phonologically free affixes ====

Affixes need not be necessarily phonologically bound but can be [[phonological word]]s of their own. What makes them affixes is being a syntactically unseparable part of the X<sup>0</sup>. The following [[Lai Chin]] sentence consists of one [[grammatical word]] having three affixes, but phonologically, it is three words. ''Nhaa'' and ''làay'' are phonologically free suffixes, whereas ''na-'' is a phonologically bound prefix.

Lai Chin (Example from Bickel & Nichols (in press))

{|
|-
| phonological words || (<sub>ω</sub> na-tuk) || (<sub>ω</sub> '''nhaa''') || (<sub>ω</sub> '''làay''')
|-
| grammatical words ||valign="top"| [<sub>gw</sub> na-tuk 
|valign="top"| '''-nhaa''' 
|valign="top"| '''-làay''']
|-
| || 2s.A-hit.with.stick || '''-3p.P''' || '''-FUT'''
|-
| |
|colspan="3"| ‘You will hit them.’
|}

Even English has some phonologically free words which can be analyzed as infixes (Examples from Bauer 1983): 

[<sub>gw</sub> (<sub>ω</sub> kanga)'''<(<sub>ω</sub> bloody)>'''(<sub>ω</sub> roo)]

[<sub>gw</sub> (<sub>ω</sub> guaran)'''<(<sub>ω</sub> friggin)>'''(<sub>ω</sub> tee)] 

==== Detached affixes ====

Detached affixes are phonologically bound, but their phonological host is not part of their grammatical host. A [[Santali]] example (taken from Neukom 2001:100) shall illustrate this:

{|
|-
| phonological words || (<sub>ω</sub> əuri'''=e''') || (<sub>ω</sub> hɛ̃g-re'''=ɲ''') || (<sub>ω</sub> dal-aka-e-tahɛn-a)
|-
| grammatical words ||valign="top"| [<sub>gw</sub> əuri] [<sub>gw</sub> '''e-''' 
|valign="top"| hɛ̃g-re] [<sub>gw</sub> '''ɲ-'''
|valign="top"| dal-aka-e-tahɛn-a]
|-
| || until='''3s.S-''' || confess-LOC='''1s.S-''' || strike-CONT:ACT-3s.O-CONT-IND
|-
| |
|colspan="3"| ‘I will continue to strike him until he confesses.’
|}

The Santali verbal prefixes for [[subject]] [[agreement]] are phonologically bound to any [[phonological word]] that immediately precedes the verb. In cases where the [[intonational phrase]] begins with a verb, these subject agreement markers appear as the last suffix on that very verb form. For details see Neukom (2001: 113ff).

=== 3.4. Quirky cases ===

==== Lexical affixes ====
Affixes usually have more abstract meaning than stems. However, in [[Nuu-chah-nulth]] we find affixes with very concrete meaning, called lexical affixes:

Nuu-chah-nulth ([[Nootka]]), ([[Wakashan]]), (Nakayama 1997:38)
{|
|-
| ''ʔuqɬaːpʼaƛ'' || ''qʷayacʼiːk,'' || ''takaːtisˀaqƛq.''
|-
| ''ʔuqɬaːp-ʼaƛ'' || ''qʷayacʼiːk,'' || ''tak'''-aːt-ʻis-'''ˀaˑqƛ-q.''
|-
|  thinking-TEL || wolf || head.to'''-move.downstream-on.the.shore'''-FUT-SUB.3 
|-
|  thought || wolf || will.probably.go.down.the.stream 
|-
|colspan="3"| &lsquo;Wolves thought that he would probably go down the stream of the current.&rsquo; 
|-
|}

Nuu-cha-nulth ([[Nootka]]), ([[Wakashan]]), (Nakayama 1997:43)
{|
|-
| ''hiyisimyiɬˀaƛqʷin''
|-
| ''hiɬ'''-ʻis-imɬ'''-'''ʻiɬ'''-ʼaƛ-qʷin''
|-
|  there'''-on.the.beach-in.a.group-in.the.house'''-TEL-COND.1pl
|-
| &lsquo;We used to get together in a house on the beach.&rsquo;
|-
|}

==== Free order of affixes ====

In [[Kusunda]]  (a language isolate of Nepal), at least some verbal suffixes may appear in random order (Watters 2005:70):

{|
|-
| tsi || sip'''-tsi-n''' 
|-
| I || enter'''-1-REAL''' 
|-
|colspan="2" | ''I entered.'' 
|-
|}

is in free variation with:
{|
|-
| tsi || sip'''-n-tsi'''
|-
| I || enter'''-REAL-1''' 
|-
|colspan="2" | ''I entered.'' 
|-
|}

In [[Chintang]], a [[Kiranti]] language of Nepal, we find a random order of prefixes (Bickel et al., Ms.):

{|
|-
| '''u-kha-ma-'''cop-yokt-e
|-
| '''3nsA-1nsP-NEG'''-see-NEG-PAST
|-
| ''They didn't see us.''
|-
|}

is in free variation with:
{|
|-
| '''u-ma-kha-'''cop-yokt-e
|-
| '''kha-u-ma-'''cop-yokt-e
|-
| '''ma-u-kha-'''cop-yokt-e
|-
| '''kha-ma-u-'''cop-yokt-e
|-
| '''ma-kha-u-'''cop-yokt-e
|-
|}

== See also ==

dictionary article [[affix]]

== References ==

*{{:Bauer 1988}}
*Bauer, Laurie. 1983. ''English Word-formation.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Bickel, Balthasar & Nichols, Johanna. in press. ''Inflectional morphology.'' In: Shopen, Timothy [ed.], ''Language typology and syntactic description''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (revised second edition).
*Bickel, Balthasar & Banjade, Goma & Gaenszle Martin & Lieven Elena & Paudyal, Netra & Rai, Ichcha & Rai Manoj & Rai, Novel Kishore & Stoll, Sabine. Manuscript, 2005. ''News from Himalayas: languages with free prefix ordering.'' PDF [http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~ff/cpdp/frameset_publ.html| http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~ff/cpdp/frameset_publ.html]
*Nakayama, Toshihide. 1997. ''Discourse-Pragmatic Dynamism in Nuu-cha-nulth (Nootka) Morphosyntax'' UMI Dissertation 9809637
*Neukom, Lukas. 2001. ''Santali.'' Lincom Europa.
*Watters, David E. 2005. ''Notes on Kusunda grammar: a linguistic isolate of Nepal''. National Foundation for the Development of Indigenous Nationalities. Kathmandu, Nepal.

[[Category:En]]
[[Category:SURV]]
[[Category:Morphology]]