View source for Infix

{{short description|Affix inserted inside a word stem}}
{{about|infixes in natural languages|the mathematical notation|Infix notation}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=January 2024}}
{{Affixes}}

An '''infix''' is an [[affix]] inserted inside a [[word stem]] (an existing word or the core of a family of words). It contrasts with ''[[adfix]],'' a rare term for an affix attached to the outside of a stem, such as a [[prefix]] or [[suffix]].{{Efn|In mathematics, the terms prefix ("[[Polish Notation]]") and [[postfix notation|postfix]] are used.|name=|group=note}}

When marking text for [[interlinear gloss]]ing, most affixes are separated with a hyphen, but infixes are separated with {{angle bracket|angle brackets}}.

== English ==
English has almost no true infixes and those it does have are marginal. Most are heard in [[Colloquialism|colloquial]] speech;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Luu |first=Chi |date=2015-04-28 |title=Fanf-kingtastic and Edumacational: The Case of English Infixation |url=https://daily.jstor.org/fanfuckingtastic-and-edumacational-the-case-of-english-infixation/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=JSTOR Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> although there are other examples, such as in [[technical terminology]], these examples are often more accurately described as [[tmesis]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McMillan |first=James B. |date=1980 |title=Infixing and Interposing in English |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/455082 |journal=American Speech |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=163–183 |doi=10.2307/455082 |jstor=455082 |issn=0003-1283|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Colloquialisms===
None of the following are recognized in [[standard English]].
* The infix {{infix|-iz-}} or {{infix|-izn-}} is characteristic of [[Hip hop culture|hip-hop]] [[slang]], for example ''h'''-iz-'''ouse'' for ''house'' and ''sh'''-izn-'''it'' for ''[[shit]].''
* The {{infix|-ma-}} infix (or "Homeric infix," after [[Homer Simpson]]),<ref>{{Harvnb|Yu|2004}}</ref> gives a word an [[irony|ironic]] pseudo-sophistication, as in ''sophisti'''-ma-'''cated (sophisticated), saxo'''-ma-'''phone,'' (saxophone) and ''edu'''-ma-'''cation.'' (education) This exists as a slang phenomenon.
*Infixes also occur in some [[language game]]s.
* The use of '[[Expletive infixation|expletive infixes]]' such as ''-fucking-'' and ''-bloody-'', which are words rather than affixes, is known as [[tmesis]].

==Indo-European nasal infix==
{{main|Nasal infix}}<!-- NB: There is ambiguity whether [[Nasal infix]] is a general-linguistics or a PIE-specific article, it needs to be fixed. But pro tem...-->
The [[present tense]] of some [[Proto-Indo-European verb]]s, in the case of a certain number of roots, adds a [[nasal infix]] (''m'', ''n'') to the basic [[Proto-Indo-European root|root]]. The stems of the other tenses have the root without the infix, and thus these verbs are called ''nasal-presents''. This phenomenon is inherited, and preserved to varying degrees, by some early [[Indo-European languages|daughter]] languages such as [[Sanskrit]], [[Ancient Greek]], [[Latin language]], etc.<ref name=Fort525>{{Harvnb|Fortson|2010|loc=§5.25}}</ref>

* Sanskrit exhibits the greatest transparency of this feature amongst the [[Indo-European languages]], with the phenomenon manifesting in three of the ten traditional verb classes, where the infix is higher-grade and accent-bearing in the strong forms, and reduced-grade in the weak forms.<ref name=SzInf>{{Harvnb|Szemerényi|1996|loc=§9.4.1.3}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Burrow|2001|p=289}}</ref> For example, {{lang|sa|√yuj-}}, 'join' has {{lang|sa|yu·ná·k·ti}} 's/he joins' ↔ {{lang|sa|yu·ñj·ánti}}, 'they join'.<ref>{{Harvnb|Burrow|2001|loc=§7.8}}</ref>
<!-- I don't think there's supposed to be a square root sign there, maybe it represents some other character, or was a typo that was meant to be something else, or it should just be removed entirely, I'm not sure -->
* Latin present {{lang|la|vi'''n'''cō}} "I win" (cf. [[perfect (grammar)|perfect]] [[voice (grammar)|passive]] [[participle]] {{lang|la|victus}} "conquered")<ref>{{L&S|vinco|ref}}</ref>
* Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|la'''m'''bánō}} (also with {{lang|grc|-an-}} suffix) "I take" (cf. [[aorist]] {{lang|grc|élǎbon}} "I took")<ref>{{LSJ|lamba/nw|λαμβάνω|ref}}</ref>

==Spanish==
In [[Nicaraguan Spanish|Nicaraguan]], [[Costa Rican Spanish|Costa Rican]], and [[Honduran Spanish]], the Spanish [[diminutive]] affix becomes an infix {{infix|it}} in names: {{lang|es|Óscar}} {{IPA|[ˈoskar]}} → {{lang|es|Osquítar}} {{IPA|[osˈkitar]}} (cf. standard {{lang|es|Oscarito}}); {{lang|es|Edgar}} → {{lang|es|Edguítar}}; {{lang|es|Victor}} → {{lang|es|Victítor}}. This diminutive infix can also be found for the word {{lang|es|azúcar}}, due to its unusual form as a paroxytone word with a final /r/, giving {{lang|es|azuquítar}}.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Linguistics : An Introduction to Language and Communication 
|date=2017 
|publisher=MIT Press 
|location=Cambridge, Mass. 
|isbn=9780262533263
|edition=7th
|last1=Akmajian
|first1=Adrian
|last2=Farmer
|first2=Ann K.
|last3=Bickmore
|first3=Lee
|last4=Demers
|first4=Richard A.
|last5=Harnish
|first5=Robert M.}}</ref>

== Portuguese ==
In Portuguese, some pronominal verbal forms have infixes, like ''dir-lhe-ei'' "(I) will tell him" where ''lhe'' is the "him" pronoun. Most seen on conditional and futures tenses of the indicative mode, but not very common.

==Arabic==
[[Arabic language|Arabic]] uses a common infix, {{infix|t}} {{lang|ar|ت}} for [[Arabic verbs|Form VIII verbs]], usually a [[Reflexive voice|reflexive]] of Form I. It is placed after the first [[consonant]] of the [[Root (linguistics)|root]]; an [[Epenthesis|epenthetic]] ''i-'' prefix is also added, since words cannot begin with a consonant cluster. An example is {{lang|ar|اجتهد}} {{lang|ar|ijtahada}} "he worked hard", from {{lang|ar|جهد}} {{lang|ar|jahada}} "he strove". (The words {{lang|ar|[[ijtihad]]}} and {{lang|ar|[[jihad]]}} are nouns derived from these two verbs.)

==Austronesian and Austroasiatic languages==
Infixes are common in some [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] and [[Austroasiatic languages]], but not in others. For example,  in [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]], a grammatical form similar to the [[active voice]] is formed by adding the infix {{infix|um}} near the beginning of a verb. The most common infix is {{infix|in}} which marks the perfect aspect, as in '{{lang|tl|giniba|italic=no}}', meaning 'ruined' (from '{{lang|tl|giba}}', an adjective meaning 'worn-out'); '{{lang|tl|binato}}', meaning 'stoned' (from '{{lang|tl|bato}}', 'stone'); and '{{lang|tl|ginamit}}', meaning 'used'{{vague|say from what word.|date=February 2025}}. Tagalog has borrowed the English word ''graduate'' as a verb; to say "I graduated" a speaker uses the derived form {{lang|tl|gr'''um'''aduate}}.

[[Khmer language|Khmer]], an Austroasiatic language, has seven different infixes. They include the nominalizing infix {{infix|b}}, which derives {{lang|km|l'''b'''ɨən}} 'speed' from {{lang|km|lɨən}} 'fast' and  {{lang|km|l'''b'''ɑɑng}} ' trial' from {{lang|km|lɔɔng}} 'to test, to haunt', or the agentive {{infix|m}} deriving {{lang|km|c'''m'''am}} 'watchman' from {{lang|km|cam}} 'to watch'. These elements are no longer productive, and occur crystallized in words inherited from [[Old Khmer]].

In [[Malay language|Malay]] and [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]], there are three infixes (''sisipan''), {{infix|el}}, {{infix|em}}, and {{infix|er}}. All infixes are no longer [[Productivity (linguistics)|productive]] and cannot be used to derive new words.
Examples include:
* The word 'gembung' (variant of 'kembung') means "bloated", while 'g'''el'''embung' means "bubble"'.
* The word 'cerlang' means "luminous", while 'c'''em'''erlang' means "brilliant"'.
* The word 'gigi' means "tooth", while 'g'''er'''igi' means "serration"'.

==Seri==
In [[Seri language|Seri]], some verbs form the plural stem with infixation of {{infix|tóo}} after the first vowel of the root; compare the singular stem ''ic'' 'plant (verb)' with the plural stem ''itóoc''. Examples: ''itíc'' 'did s/he plant it?' and ''iti'''tóo'''c'' 'did they sow it?'.

== Similar processes ==
[[Tmesis]], the use of a [[lexical word]] rather than an affix, is sometimes considered a type of infixation. These are the so-called "expletive infixes", as in ''abso-bloody-lutely''. Since these are not affixes{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}, they are commonly disqualified from being considered infixes.

Sequences of adfixes ([[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]es or [[suffix (linguistics)|suffix]]es) do not result in infixes: an infix must be internal to a [[word stem]]. Thus, the word ''originally,'' formed by adding the suffix ''-ly'' to ''original,'' does not turn the suffix ''-al'' into an infix. There is simply a sequence of two suffixes, ''origin-al-ly.'' In order for ''-al-'' to be considered an infix, it would have to have been inserted in the non-existent word ''*originly.'' The "infixes" in the tradition of [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] linguistics are often sequences of prefixes of this type, though there may be debate over specific cases.

The [[Semitic languages]] have a form of ''[[ablaut]]'' (changing the vowels within words, as in English ''sing, sang, sung, song)'' that is sometimes called infixation, as the vowels are placed between the consonants of the root. However, this interdigitation of a discontinuous root with a discontinuous affix is more often called ''[[transfix]]ation''.

An ''[[interfix]]'' joins a [[compound word]], as in ''speed-o-meter''.

== Glossing ==

When [[Interlinear gloss|gloss]]ing, it is conventional to set off infixes with {{angle bracket|angle brackets}}, rather than the hyphens used to set off prefixes and suffixes:
:''sh{{infix|izn}}it, saxo{{infix|ma}}phone, pi{{infix|pe}}coline''

Compare:
:''origin-al-ly''
which contains the suffix ''-ly'' added to the word ''original,'' which is itself formed by adding the suffix ''-al'' to the root ''origin.''

== See also ==
{{Wiktionarycat|type=infixes|category=Infixes by language}}
* [[Circumfix]]
* [[Clitic]]
* [[Expletive infixation]]
* [[Tree traversal]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Fortson |first1=Benjamin W |title=Indo-European Language and Culture |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-8895-1 |date=2010}}
* {{cite book |last1=Szemerényi |first1=Oswald JL |title=Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics |date=1996 |publisher=Clarendon Oxford |location=Great Britain |isbn=0-19-824015-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Burrow |first1=T |title=The Sanskrit Language |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=81-208-1767-2 |date=2001}}
* {{cite conference|url=https://www.academia.edu/264805|conference=|url-access=registration|title=Reduplication In English Homeric Infixation|last1=Yu|first1=Alan C. L.|date=2004|publisher=University of Massachusetts|book-title=Proceedings of the North East Linguistic Society}}

==Further reading==
*[https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00831338 ''Alexis Amid Neme  and Eric Laporte (2013), Pattern-and-root inflectional morphology: the Arabic broken plural'' |year=]
*[https://www.academia.edu/13002690/Do_computer_scientists_deeply_understand_the_traditional_Arabic_morphology_%D9%87%D9%84_%D9%8A%D9%81%D9%87%D9%85_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%87%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%91%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%81_%D9%81%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8B_%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%8B_   ''Alexis Amid Neme  and Eric Laporte (2015), Do computer scientists deeply understand Arabic morphology? - هل يفهم المهندسون الحاسوبيّون علم الصرف فهماً عميقاً؟'', available also in Arabic, Indonesian, French]

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[[Category:Infixes| ]]