sufixed

Sufixed is a term used in some linguistic and typological writings to refer to a bound morpheme that attaches to the right edge of a stem, effectively functioning as a suffix. The word emphasizes the fixed position of the morpheme after the base, distinguishing it from morphemes that attach elsewhere in a word under certain phonological or derivational processes. In practice, sufixed and suffix are often treated as synonymous, with sufixed appearing primarily in discussions that stress location rather than category.

In the standard typology of affixes, attachment sites are described as prefixes (before the stem), infixes (inside the stem), suffixes (after the stem), and circumfixes (surrounding the stem). The term sufixed is used in some traditions to highlight post-stem attachment as a distinct subcategory, especially when comparing languages with rich postbase morphology to those with more prominent inflectional or derivational suffix systems. Some scholars also employ sufixed to describe postbase morphemes that behave like affixes but arise from different historical processes, such as cliticization or periphrastic endings.

Examples commonly cited for sufixed phenomena include standard post-stem endings in many languages, such as the English plural -s or the noun plural/verb tense endings in other languages, which attach after the base and modify grammatical meaning. In other linguistic accounts, such endings are described simply as suffixes or as postposed morphemes, with sufixed used as a cross-linguistic label rather than a separate typology.

See also: affix, suffix, prefix, infix, circumfix, clitic.