infixes
Mid-word morpheme additions
Infixes are word elements inserted into the middle of another word rather than attached to the beginning or end.
English has few true infixes, but expletive insertion is common: abso-fucking-lutely, un-bloody-believable.
The infix intensifies without changing the word's grammar.
In other languages, infixes carry grammatical meaning more systematically.
Science of language sounds
- phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit
- allophoneNon-distinctive sound variation
- syntaxRules for arranging words
- semanticsStudy of linguistic meaning
conjugation · declension · paradigm · Tagalog · Austronesian · productive · unproductive
Creating words via affixes
- inflectionalRelating to word-form changes
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
- stemPlant's central axis
base · clitic · reduplication · agglutination · lexeme · word formation · affixation
Profane emotional utterance
- intensifierSomething that strengthens
- abso-bloody-lutelyEmphatic total agreement
- emphasisStress given to something
- colloquialCasual, everyday language
slang · profanity · interruption · intensification · exclamation
Insertion between existing elements
- embeddingPlacing within surrounding mass
- interpolationEstimating between known values
- incorporationForming a legal entity
- interpositionPlacing something between others
interjection · insertion · integration · implantation · interweaving · interleaving · interruption · intrusion
phonology
Science of language sounds
- phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit
- allophoneNon-distinctive sound variation
- syntaxRules for arranging words
semantics · conjugation · declension · paradigm · Tagalog · Austronesian · productive · unproductive
derivational
Creating words via affixes
- inflectionalRelating to word-form changes
- morphemeSmallest meaningful language unit
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
stem · base · clitic · reduplication · agglutination · lexeme · word formation · affixation
expletive
Profane emotional utterance
- intensifierSomething that strengthens
- abso-bloody-lutelyEmphatic total agreement
- emphasisStress given to something
colloquial · slang · profanity · interruption · intensification · exclamation
intercalation
Insertion between existing elements
- embeddingPlacing within surrounding mass
- interpolationEstimating between known values
- incorporationForming a legal entity
interposition · interjection · insertion · integration · implantation · interweaving · interleaving · interruption · intrusion · splicing
- linguistic termsacronym, anagram, antonym, synonym, homonym
- word studyword origins, word roots, word meaning, word meanings, word formation
- Akkadian grammarverb conjugation, verb forms, stative, preterite, present tense
- Arabic grammarverb conjugation, declension, verb forms, conjugation, pronouns
- inflectioninflection, inflections, conjugation, declension, case
- Korean grammarverb conjugation, conjugations, verb endings, tense, tenses
infixesprefixes
Elements preceding roots
suffixes · affixes · postfixes · enclitic · bound morphemes
infixesroot words
Morphemes carrying core meaning
stems · ablaut · zero derivation · subtraction · deletion