Affix

Affix

An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. Affixes are crucial in the study of morphology, the branch of linguistics that deals with the structure of words. They can be classified into several types based on their position relative to the stem.

Types of Affixes

Affixes can be broadly categorized into the following types:

Prefix

A prefix is an affix that is added to the beginning of a word. For example, in the word "unhappy," "un-" is a prefix that modifies the meaning of the word "happy."

Suffix

A suffix is an affix that is added to the end of a word. For instance, in the word "happiness," "-ness" is a suffix that changes the adjective "happy" into a noun.

Infix

An infix is an affix inserted within a word. Infixes are less common in English but can be found in other languages. For example, in Tagalog, the word "sulat" (write) can become "sinulat" (wrote) with the infix "-in-."

Circumfix

A circumfix is an affix that surrounds a word. It is a combination of a prefix and a suffix that together modify the word. Circumfixes are not common in English but are found in other languages.

Interfix

An interfix is a type of affix that is placed between two morphemes. It often serves a phonological purpose, such as in the German word "Schönheit" (beauty), where "-heit" is an interfix.

Functions of Affixes

Affixes serve various functions in language, including:

• Derivation: Affixes can create new words by changing the meaning or grammatical category of a word. For example, adding "-er" to "teach" forms "teacher."
• Inflection: Affixes can modify a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, mood, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, and case. For example, adding "-s" to "cat" forms "cats," indicating plural.

Affixation in Different Languages

Affixation is a universal linguistic phenomenon, but the types and uses of affixes can vary significantly across languages. For example:

• In English, prefixes and suffixes are common, while infixes are rare.
• In Arabic, affixation is used extensively in the form of prefixes, suffixes, and infixes to convey grammatical relationships.
• In Turkish, agglutination is a prominent feature, where multiple affixes are added to a root word to express complex meanings.

See Also

• Morpheme
• Morphology (linguistics)
• Word formation

References

• Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University Press.
• Katamba, Francis. Morphology. Palgrave Macmillan.