subprefixes
Subprefixes are a theoretical concept in morphology referring to a second level of prefixing within a word that already bears a prefix. In languages that allow more than one prefix to attach to a stem, an outer prefix may be combined with an inner prefix, yielding a form such as p1(p2(root)). Subprefixes thus describe a hierarchical arrangement of prefixes rather than a single affix attached to the bare stem.
Terminology and usage: The term “subprefix” appears in some morphological discussions to denote this nesting, but
Function and interpretation: The presence of subprefixes can affect meaning by combining the semantic contributions of
Languages and typology: Nested prefixation occurs most clearly in highly agglutinative or otherwise prefix-rich languages, where
Notation and analysis: Linguists typically analyze such forms by segmenting the word into sequential prefix layers
See also: nested morphology, affix stacking, multilevel prefix derivation, circumfix.