enclitics

Enclitics are clitics that attach to a host word, forming a phonological unit with it rather than existing as independent words. They are phonologically light, typically lacking full stress of their own, and must be pronounced with the host. In this sense they differ from affixes, which attach to a stem as bound morphemes, whereas enclitics retain a degree of syntactic independence but depend on the host for pronunciation.

Enclitics are often pronouns or particles and are especially common with verbs in many languages. They are usually found to the right of their host (enclisis), though some languages allow more flexible placement within a clitic group and impose constraints from prosody, syntax, and information structure. They contrast with proclitics, which attach to the following word, and with suffixes, which attach to the end of a stem.

Languages worldwide show enclitics in action. In Italian, pronouns commonly appear enclitic to the verb: dimmi “tell me,” dammi “give me,” dammelo “give it to me.” Spanish uses affixed forms such as dímelo in affirmative commands. French employs enclitic pronouns in imperative forms: donne-le-moi “give it to me.” In English, contracted forms like I'd, you'll, and it's function similarly to cliticized units attached to a host word, though they are typically analyzed as contractions rather than the same kind of clitics found in many other languages.

Enclitics interact with the phonology and syntax of their language, affecting stress patterns and word order. They often carry information about focus, emphasis, or argument structure and can illuminate historical changes in pronoun systems and verb morphology.