Infixesaffixes

Infixesaffixes is a linguistic term describing the study of infixes within the broader category of affixation. It considers morphemes that are inserted inside a base form and how such internal morphemes interact with other affixes—prefixes, suffixes, and, in some languages, circumfixes—in word formation and grammatical marking. The term highlights the interaction between internal insertion and external affixation in the construction of complex words.

Infixes differ from prefixes and suffixes in their position. They can convey tense, aspect, voice, mood, or part of speech, and may subtly shift meaning. A widely cited example comes from Austronesian languages, where infixes inserted after the first consonant alter the form and function of a verb or noun; Tagalog is often cited for infixation patterns such as an infix that appears inside the stem to produce related forms.

Infixation is productive in some languages but not universal. English shows expletive infixation in casual speech (for example, abso-bloomin-lutely) used to add emphasis rather than grammatical meaning. In other languages, infixes may be tightly restricted by phonology or morphology, triggering specific phonological adjustments or requiring certain base shapes.

Research on infixes intersects morphophonology and typology, informing how languages expand word-formation possibilities and how historical change can affect affix inventory. As a topic, infixes often pose analysis challenges for computational parsing and linguistic description due to irregular placement and phonological interdependencies. See also: affix, infix, circumfix.