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Affixation)
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a base morpheme to form a word. An affix can be a prefix (attached before another morpheme), a suffix (attached after another morpheme), an infix (inserted within another morpheme), a circumfix (attached before and after another morpheme), or a suprafix (attached suprasegmentally to another morpheme). Affixes are bound morphemes by definition. Prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes.
Affixes are central to the process of agglutination.
| affix | example
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| prefix | undo prefix + root
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| suffix | looking root + suffix
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| infix 1 | fanfuckingtastic ro- + infix + -ot
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| circumfix 2 | enlighten circum- + root + -fix
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| suprafix | produce (noun) produce (verb) (changing stress)
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1 English infixes only exist in exclamatory constructions like the given example.
2 English circumfixes do not exist other than en- -en, which is not productive now.
See also