infiksid

Infiksid is a term used in linguistics to describe a class of infixes—affixes inserted inside a word stem—that are proposed to modify grammatical meaning. The concept is discussed mainly in theoretical work on non-concatenative morphology and in the design of constructed languages. The term combines the idea of an internal infix with a designation used in some studies to denote internal morphological operations.

In infiksid systems, the infix is typically a short segment placed at a fixed position within the stem, most commonly after the initial consonant or consonant cluster. It can interact with the stem’s phonology and stress, potentially triggering changes such as vowel alternation or altered syllable structure. Infiksid may be used to encode tense, aspect, mood, number, or focus, depending on the language system.

Examples (fictional): In the constructed language Valle, the infiksid -ri- inserted after the first consonant marks past tense. The root pata meaning “to strike” becomes pa-ri-ta, glossed as a past tense form. In another system, the infiksid -nu- placed after the first syllable marks plural on nouns; the root mira becomes mi-nu-ra, glossed as plural.

See also: infix, affixation, morphology, non-concatenative morphology, constructed languages.