Cliticaugmented

Cliticaugmented is a linguistic term used to describe languages or constructions in which clitics play an augmentative role, extending or enriching the host word rather than simply marking grammatical category. A clitic is a morpheme that is syntactically dependent and phonologically weak, attaching to a host word and forming part of its prosodic word.

In cliticaugmented systems, clitics can contribute additional semantic or morphophonological material. They may carry information such as definiteness, number, mood, aspect, evidentiality, or emphasis, and in some cases they alter the phonological shape of the host. The result can be a fused or multiword unit that behaves as a single morphological or prosodic complex in the syntax.

What counts as augmentation can vary by analysis. Some examples involve noun clitics that add definiteness and plurality to a noun and form a single prosodic word with the noun, while verb clitics may bear aspect or evidential meaning and produce a verb form that exceeds the information carried by the verb stem alone. In either case, the clitic contributes material that extends the functional and/or semantic load of the host.

Typologically, cliticaugmentation is discussed as a feature in studies of clitic systems, especially in contact situations, polysynthetic or heavily clitic-based languages, and theoretical surveys of clitic behavior. The term is not universally standardized and is mainly used in descriptive or theoretical discussions to describe a spectrum of clitic–host interactions.

See also: clitic, enclitic, proclitic, clitic doubling, affix, fusion.