Infix

An infix is an

When marking text for interlinear glossing, most affixes are separated with a hyphen, but infixes are separated with ⟨angle brackets⟩.

For a list of words relating to infixes, see the Infixes by language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

English

English has almost no true infixes and those it does have are marginal. Most are heard in

None of the following are recognized in standard English.

• The infix ⟨-iz-⟩ or ⟨-izn-⟩ is characteristic of
  hip-hop slang, for example h-iz-ouse for house and sh-izn-it for shit
  .
• The ⟨-ma-⟩ infix (or "Homeric infix," after Homer Simpson),^[3] gives a word an ironic pseudo-sophistication, as in sophisti-ma-cated (sophisticated), saxo-ma-phone, (saxophone) and edu-ma-cation. (education) This exists as a slang phenomenon.
• Infixes also occur in some language games.
• The use of 'expletive infixes' such as -fucking- and -bloody-, which are words rather than affixes, is known as tmesis.

Indo-European nasal infix

The

• Sanskrit exhibits the greatest transparency of this feature amongst the Indo-European languages, with the phenomenon manifesting in three of the ten traditional verb classes, where the infix is higher-grade and accent-bearing in the strong forms, and reduced-grade in the weak forms.^[5][6] For example, √yuj-, 'join' has yu·ná·k·ti 's/he joins' ↔ yu·ñj·ánti, 'they join'.^[7]
• Latin present vincō "I win" (cf. perfect passive participle victus "conquered")^[8]
• Ancient Greek lambánō (also with -an- suffix) "I take" (cf. aorist élǎbon "I took")^[9]

Spanish

In Nicaraguan, Costa Rican, and Honduran Spanish, the Spanish diminutive affix becomes an infix ⟨it⟩ in names: Óscar [ˈoskar] → Osquítar [osˈkitar] (cf. standard Oscarito); Edgar → Edguítar; Victor → Victítor.^[10]

Arabic

Infixes are common in some Austronesian and Austroasiatic languages, but not in others. For example, in Tagalog, a grammatical form similar to the active voice is formed by adding the infix ⟨um⟩ near the beginning of a verb. The most common infix is ⟨in⟩ which marks the perfect aspect, as in 'giniba', meaning ‘ruined’ (from ‘giba’, an adjective meaning ‘worn-out’); 'binato’, meaning ‘stoned’ (from ‘bato’, ‘stone’); and 'ginamit’, meaning ‘used’. Tagalog has borrowed the English word graduate as a verb; to say "I graduated" a speaker uses the derived form grumaduate.

Khmer, an Austroasiatic language, has seven different infixes. They include the nominalizing infix ⟨b⟩, which derives lbɨən 'speed' from lɨən 'fast' and lbɑɑng ' trial' from lɔɔng 'to test, to haunt', or the agentive ⟨m⟩ deriving cmam 'watchman' from cam 'to watch'. These elements are no longer productive, and occur crystallized in words inherited from Old Khmer.

In Malay and Indonesian, there are three infixes (sisipan), ⟨el⟩, ⟨em⟩, and ⟨er⟩. All infixes are no longer productive and cannot be used to derive new words. Examples include:

• The word 'gembung' (variant of 'kembung') means "bloated", while 'gelembung' means "bubble"'.
• The word 'cerlang' means "luminous", while 'cemerlang' means "brilliant"'.
• The word 'gigi' means "tooth", while 'gerigi' means "serration"'.

Seri

In Seri, some verbs form the plural stem with infixation of ⟨tóo⟩ after the first vowel of the root; compare the singular stem ic 'plant (verb)' with the plural stem itóoc. Examples: itíc 'did s/he plant it?' and ititóoc 'did they sow it?'.

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