Affixes

Here are some kinds of affixes:

• An infix is an affix that is inserted within a root. or stem

example :
The focus marker -um- is a infix which is added after the first consonant of the root.
bili: root ‘buy’
-um-: infix ‘AGT’
bumili: word ‘bought’

• A prefix is an affix that is joined before a root or stem.

Example (English) :The prefix un- attaches to the front of the stem selfish to form the word unselfish.

• A suffix is an affix that is attached to the end of a root or stem.

Example (English) :The past tense suffix -ed attaches to the end of the stem walk to form the past tense verb walked.

• A circumfix is an affix made up of two separate parts which surround and attach to a root or stem.The morphological process whereby this is achieved is called circumfixation.

Example (Tuwali Ifugao, Philippines) :
The circumfix ka--an is a nominalizer and surrounds a root.
baddang: root ‘help’ v.
ka--an: circumfix ‘NOMR’
kabaddangan: word ‘helpfulness’

• A simulfix is a change or replacement of vowels or consonants (usually vowels) which changes the meaning of a word.

Examples (English) :
Eat in past tense becomes ate.
Tooth becomes teeth when plural .

• A suprafix is a kind of affix in which a suprasegmental is superimposed on one or more syllables of the root or stem, signalling a particular morphosyntactic operation.This is a morphological process.

Example (English) :
The placement of stress in the following words signals the difference between a noun and a related verb:
'produce, n.
pro'duce, v.

• A separable affix is an affix that can be detached from its stem and located elsewhere in a construction.

Example (German)
The affix an- is a separable affix. It is attached to its stem in the verb ankommen ‘to arrive’; but it can be detached from the stem, as in the sentence Ich komme an ‘I arrive’.

• A derivational affix is an affix by means of which one word is formed (derived) from another. The derived word is often of a different word class from the original.

In contrast to an inflectional affix, a derivational affix :

1. is not part of an obligatory set of affixes
2. generally occurs closer to the root
3. generally is more meaningful, and
4. is more likely to result in a form that has a somewhat idiosyncratic meaning.

Examples (English) :

1. Joyful
2. Joyfulness
3. Stapler

• An inflectional affix is an affix that expresses a grammatical contrast that is obligatory for its stem's word class in some given grammatical context does not change the word class of its stem is typically located farther from its root than a derivational affix, and produces a predictable, nonidiosyncratic change of meaning.

Examples (English) :
Here are some examples of grammatical categories that are expressed by inflectional affixes:

1. Aspect
2. Case
3. Modality
4. Number
5. Person
6. Tense
7. Voice