Affixation
Affixation
One of the most common morphological processes, affixation involves the attachment of morphemes to a stem. There are several types of affixes, classified in terms of where they attach to a stem: beginning, end, middle, or around. Prefixes attach to the beginning of a stem. For example, the morpheme un- attaches to stems in such words as unbelievable or unkind. Suffixes attach to the end of stems, such as the plural morpheme –(e)s in English: languages, bushes. Turkish uses the plural morpheme –lar: kitap ‘book’ kitaplar ‘books.’
Affixation is used in many languages to mark inflections on verbs. Spanish marks verbs for person with a suffix:
Hablar ‘to speak’ hablo ‘I speak’ hablas ‘you (singular) speak’ habla ‘he/she speaks’
Swahili, on the other hand, uses a series of prefixes to mark person, tense, and object of a verb:
Verbal prefixes in Swahili: a- ta- ni- penda he-FUT-me-like ‘He will like me’
Only prefixation and suffixation are found in English, but other languages display additional affixation processes. These include infixes, in which case a morpheme is inserted within another stem morpheme rather than at the word edge. The following examples from Leti (Blevins 1999) provide an example:
Nominalizing -ni- in Leti kaati ‘to carve’ k-ni-aati ‘carving’ kasi ‘to dig’ k-ni-asi ‘act of digging’ kakri ‘to cry’ k-ni-akri ‘act of crying’
Finally, a circumfix is a morpheme with two parts, one that attaches to the beginning of the word/stem, and one to the end. A common example is the past tense in German, which is formed by affixing a verbal root with ge- and –t. Thus lachen (laugh) becomes gelacht (laughed). Circumfixation can also be seen the simultaneous prefixation and suffixation.
One of the most common morphological processes, affixation involves the attachment of morphemes to a stem. There are several types of affixes, classified in terms of where they attach to a stem: beginning, end, middle, or around. Prefixes attach to the beginning of a stem. For example, the morpheme un- attaches to stems in such words as unbelievable or unkind. Suffixes attach to the end of stems, such as the plural morpheme –(e)s in English: languages, bushes. Turkish uses the plural morpheme –lar: kitap ‘book’ kitaplar ‘books.’
Affixation is used in many languages to mark inflections on verbs. Spanish marks verbs for person with a suffix:
Hablar ‘to speak’ hablo ‘I speak’ hablas ‘you (singular) speak’ habla ‘he/she speaks’
Swahili, on the other hand, uses a series of prefixes to mark person, tense, and object of a verb:
Verbal prefixes in Swahili: a- ta- ni- penda he-FUT-me-like ‘He will like me’
Only prefixation and suffixation are found in English, but other languages display additional affixation processes. These include infixes, in which case a morpheme is inserted within another stem morpheme rather than at the word edge. The following examples from Leti (Blevins 1999) provide an example:
Nominalizing -ni- in Leti kaati ‘to carve’ k-ni-aati ‘carving’ kasi ‘to dig’ k-ni-asi ‘act of digging’ kakri ‘to cry’ k-ni-akri ‘act of crying’
Finally, a circumfix is a morpheme with two parts, one that attaches to the beginning of the word/stem, and one to the end. A common example is the past tense in German, which is formed by affixing a verbal root with ge- and –t. Thus lachen (laugh) becomes gelacht (laughed). Circumfixation can also be seen the simultaneous prefixation and suffixation.