infiksowy

Infiksowy is a linguistic term used to describe something that relates to or involves infixes. An infix is a bound morpheme inserted inside a word rather than at its edges, as opposed to prefixes or suffixes. The adjective infiksowy therefore characterizes processes, forms, or languages that employ infixation as a productive means of word formation.

Infixation is a subtype of affixation found in a limited set of languages and is often phonologically conditioned. Infixes are typically short morphemes that articulate grammatical information such as tense, aspect, voice, or derivational nuance. Because infixes occur within the base rather than at the boundaries, they can yield noticeable changes in rhythm or accentuation of the word. The exact position and shape of an infix can vary across languages, and not all languages permit infixation.

Languages with well-documented infix systems are relatively few and are most prominently found in certain Philippine languages, such as Tagalog, where infixes can be inserted into word stems to create new forms or meanings. In other languages, infixation may be more limited or occasional, and in many linguistic traditions infixes are analyzed as a special case of internal derivation or as part of complex affixal systems.

The concept of infiksowy thus sits at the intersection of morphology and typology, describing a particular internal affixation strategy and the linguistic phenomena associated with it. In academic usage, the term helps distinguish internal infixal processes from more common external affixation strategies like prefixes and suffixes.