agglutinative
Morphemes strung together
Agglutinative describes languages that build words by stringing together distinct, unchanging units of meaning.
Turkish, Japanese, and Swahili are agglutinative—a single word might contain a root plus several suffixes marking tense, person, and number, each clearly separable: Turkish "evlerimde" breaks down as ev-ler-im-de: house-plural-my-in.
The term contrasts with fusional languages like Latin, where meanings blend together in ways harder to segment.
Word-modifying additions
- suffixesElements following roots
- prefixesElements preceding roots
- infixesMorphemes embedded within words
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
stem · derivational · inflectional · concatenation · segmentable · transparent
Examining by decomposition
- isolatingSetting apart from contact
- syntheticProduced artificially, not natural
- incorporatingAdding as a component
- inflectionalRelating to word-form changes
derivational · Turkic · Dravidian · Bantu · Finnish · Turkish · Japanese · Korean
Shared position between parties
- conjugationVerb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- tenseStrained or nervous
- aspectFeature or dimension
mood · person · number · postpositions · pluralization · voice · causative · passive
Creating new vocabulary items
- long wordsLengthy linguistic units
- regularityConsistent, predictable occurrence
- predictabilityCapacity to be anticipated
- segmentationDivision into sections
Absorbing into a whole
- elisionDropped sounds in speech
- syllable structureSound unit organization pattern
affixes
Word-modifying additions
- suffixesElements following roots
- prefixesElements preceding roots
- infixesMorphemes embedded within words
root · stem · derivational · inflectional · concatenation · segmentable · transparent
analytic
Examining by decomposition
- isolatingSetting apart from contact
- syntheticProduced artificially, not natural
- incorporatingAdding as a component
inflectional · derivational · Turkic · Dravidian · Bantu · Finnish · Turkish · Japanese · Korean · Swahili
agreement
Shared position between parties
- conjugationVerb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- tenseStrained or nervous
aspect · mood · person · number · postpositions · pluralization · voice · causative · passive · negation
word formation
Creating new vocabulary items
- long wordsLengthy linguistic units
- regularityConsistent, predictable occurrence
- predictabilityCapacity to be anticipated
segmentation · parsing · root word · reduplication · compounding
assimilation
Absorbing into a whole
- elisionDropped sounds in speech
- syllable structureSound unit organization pattern
agglutinativeisolating
Setting apart from contact
analytic · inflectional · inflecting · synthetic · uninflected
agglutinativenonadhesive
Unable to stick
dispersive · non-binding · separating · repellent · disaggregating