In linguistics, a libfix is a

productive Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

bound morpheme In linguistics, a bound morpheme is a morpheme (the elementary unit of morphosyntax) that can appear only as part of a larger expression; a free morpheme (or unbound morpheme) is one that can stand alone. A bound morpheme is a type of bound form, ...

affix In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. Affixes may be derivational, like English ''-ness'' and ''pre-'', or inflectional, like English plural ''-s'' and past tense ''-ed''. They ...

created by

rebracketing Rebracketing (also known as resegmentation or metanalysis) is a process in historical linguistics where a word originally derived from one set of morphemes is broken down or bracketed into a different set. For example, ''hamburger'', originall ...

and

back-formation In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the ...

, often a generalization of a component of a blended or portmanteau word. For example, ''walkathon'' was coined in 1932 as a blend of ''walk'' and ''marathon'', and soon thereafter the ''-athon'' part was reinterpreted as a libfix

morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...

meaning "event or activity lasting a long time or involving a great deal of something". Words formed with this suffix include ''talkathon'', ''telethon'', ''hackathon'', and so on. Affixes whose morpheme boundaries are etymologically based, and which are used in their original sense, are not libfixes.

History

''Splinters'' were defined by Berman in 1961 as non-morphemic word fragments. This includes not just libfixes, but also word fragments which become words, like ''burger'' (< ''hamburger''), ''flu'' (< ''influenza''), and ''net'' (< ''network''). The name ''libfix'' was coined by

Arnold Zwicky Arnold M. Zwicky (born September 6, 1940) is a perennial visiting professor of linguistics at Stanford University, and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Ohio State University. Early life and education Zwicky was b ...

in 2010 as a blend of "liberated" and "affix" specifically for splinters used as productive morphemes.

Criticism

Some of these formations have been considered barbarisms by prescriptive writers on style,Tom McArthur, ed., ''The Oxford companion to the English language'', 1992, , ''s.v.'' 'Greek', p. 453-454 though other writers have praised them. Speaking of the ''-tron'' suffix, a philologist commented:

I once heard an unkind critic allude disparagingly to these neologisms as dog-Greek. To a lover of the language of Sophocles and Plato these recent coinages may indeed appear to be Greek debased. More appropriately, perhaps, they might be termed lion-Greek or chameleon-Greek. They are Neo-Hellenic in the genuine Renaissance tradition.

Examples

Each example gives the affix, the source word(s) from which it was formed, the meaning, and examples. This list does not include: * affixes based on English words like ''tech'' or ''burger'' used literally, even if they are shortened forms, in this case, for ''technology'' and ''hamburger''; * affixes which are aligned in form and meaning with their etymological source, like ''-(o)cracy'' or ''-orama'' in ''cyclorama'' and ''diorama'' from 'spectacle'; ''motorama'' is a portmanteau of ''motor'' and ''orama'', not a compound of ''mot-'' and ''-orama''; * words which have been separated from phrases, ''e.g.'' ''fu'' from ''

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

''.

English

Suffixes

; ''-ana'' :things related to a given person, place, period :: ''Churchilliana'', ''Americana'', ''Victoriana'' ; ''

-ase The suffix -ase is used in biochemistry to form names of enzymes. The most common way to name enzymes is to add this suffix onto the end of the substrate, ''e.g.'' an enzyme that breaks down peroxides may be called peroxidase; the enzyme that pro ...

'' :an enzyme ::''

lactase Lactase is an enzyme produced by many organisms. It is located in the brush border of the small intestine of humans and other mammals. Lactase is essential to the complete digestion of whole milk; it breaks down lactose, a sugar which gives ...

'', ''

polymerase A polymerase is an enzyme ( EC 2.7.7.6/7/19/48/49) that synthesizes long chains of polymers or nucleic acids. DNA polymerase and RNA polymerase are used to assemble DNA and RNA molecules, respectively, by copying a DNA template strand using ba ...

'' ; ''-cation'' :kinds of vacation ::'' staycation'', ''girlcation'' ; ''-copter'' :having a spinning rotor allowing for flight ::'' gyrocopter'' ; ''-core'' : aesthetic ::'' speedcore'', ''

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. ...

'', '' cottagecore'', ''

bardcore Bardcore or tavernwave is a musical microgenre that became popular in 2020, consisting of medieval-inspired remakes of popular songs. History Before the term Bardcore was widely known, in December 2017 a medieval version of "Toxicity" by ...

'' ; ''-dar'' :the skill of detecting qualities or things :: ''gaydar'', ''humordar'', ''Jewdar'' ; ''-erati'' :groups of people with common interests ::'' digerati'', '' glitterati'' ; ''-gate'' :a scandal ::''

gamergate Gamergate may refer to: * Gamergate (ant), a worker ant that can store sperm and reproduce sexually * Gamergate (harassment campaign), targeting women in the video game industry * Lt. Gamergate, a character in the ''Adventure Time'' episode "Dent ...

'', '' troopergate''; see List of "-gate" scandals ; ''-(m)(a)geddon'' :major disasters (usually facetious) ::''snowgeddon'', ''carmageddon'' ; ''-kini'' :type of bathing suit ::''burkini'', ''monokini'', ''tankini'' ; ''-(i/e/a/∅)licious'' :a high degree of some property (usually jocular) ::''bootylicious'', ''babelicious'', ''yummalicious'', ''sacrilicious'', ''crunchalicious'' ; ''-(o)nomics'' :an economic policy or philosophy ::''

Reaganomics Reaganomics (; a portmanteau of ''Reagan'' and ''economics'' attributed to Paul Harvey), or Reaganism, refers to the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly associat ...

'', '' freakonomics'' ; ''-ola'' :used to form commercial products; later, for forms of bribery ::''Victrola'', ''moviola'', ''shinola''; ''payola'', ''plugola'' ; ''-oma'' :a kind of tumor, swelling, or cancer ::''

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

'', ''

adenoma An adenoma is a benign tumor of epithelial tissue with glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or both. Adenomas can grow from many glandular organs, including the adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid, prostate, and others. Some adenom ...

'', '' papilloma'' ; ''-ome'', ''-omics'' : a map of a biological system; and other uses in biology :: ''

connectome A connectome () is a comprehensive map of neural connections in the brain, and may be thought of as its "wiring diagram". An organism's nervous system is made up of neurons which communicate through synapses. A connectome is constructed by tr ...

'', ''

proteome The proteome is the entire set of proteins that is, or can be, expressed by a genome, cell, tissue, or organism at a certain time. It is the set of expressed proteins in a given type of cell or organism, at a given time, under defined conditions. ...

''; ''

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

'', ''

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow ...

'', ''vacuome'' ; ''-on'' :an elementary particle or quasiparticle ::''

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

'', ''

neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the atomic nucleus, nuclei of atoms. Since protons and ...

'', ''

meson In particle physics, a meson ( or ) is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticles, ...

'', ''

phonon In physics, a phonon is a collective excitation in a periodic, elastic arrangement of atoms or molecules in condensed matter, specifically in solids and some liquids. A type of quasiparticle, a phonon is an excited state in the quantum mechani ...

'', ''etc.''; see List of particles ; ''-(o)rama'', ''-o-rama'' :a spectacle or event, also an

augmentative An augmentative ( abbreviated ) is a morphological form of a word which expresses greater intensity, often in size but also in other attributes. It is the opposite of a diminutive. Overaugmenting something often makes it grotesque and so in s ...

::''

Cinerama Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporati ...

'', ''

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. T ...

'', ''

Foodarama Foodarama, also known as Cox's Foodarama, is a supermarket chain in Texas, with its headquarters in Foodarama Store #1 in Brays Oaks, Houston. In Greater Houston, Foodarama operated ten stores.intrapreneur'', '' ecopreneur'', '' mompreneur'' ; ''-tard'' :people who are foolish or stupid;

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

::''fucktard'', ''libtard'' ; ''-(a)thon'', ''-a-thon'' :things that last a long time or require remarkable endurance ::'' walkathon'', ''

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

'', ''

hackathon A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of hacking and marathon) is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. Th ...

'' ; ''-tron'' :a kind of vacuum tube; a subatomic particle; a device :: '' magnetron''; ''

positron The positron or antielectron is the antiparticle or the antimatter counterpart of the electron. It has an electric charge of +1 '' e'', a spin of 1/2 (the same as the electron), and the same mass as an electron. When a positron collide ...

''; ''

cyclotron A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Jan ...

'' ; ''-verse'' : the collection of all things in a category, or a fictional universe :: ''blogoverse'', ''Twitterverse'', '' Whoniverse'' ; ''-wich'' :sandwich ::''fishwich'', ''hamwich'', ''snackwich'' ; ''

-zilla ''-zilla'' is an English slang suffix, a libfix back-formation derived from the English name of the Japanese movie monster Godzilla. It is popular for the names of software and websites. It is also found often in popular culture to imply some f ...

'' :monstrous, scary, or large things; can function as an

and

bridezilla A bridezilla is a bride whose behavior is seen as demanding or unreasonable. The word comes from bride + -zilla. * ''Bridezillas ''Bridezillas'' is an American reality television series that airs on WE tv and debuted on June 1, 2004. It chronicl ...

Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, ...

Prefixes

; ''alt-'' :outside the mainstream ::''

alt-rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

'', ''

alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...

'' ; '' cyber-'' :issues or policies related to computers ::''

cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday re ...

'', ''

cybercrime A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing t ...

'' ; ''eco-'' :related to the environment, to ecology, or to sustainability ::''

eco-terrorism Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence o ...

'', '' eco-nationalism'', '' eco-investing'' ; ''econo-'' :related to economics; economical, inexpensive ::''

econometrics Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. ...

'' (not *''economometrics''), ''

econophysics Econophysics is a heterodox interdisciplinary research field, applying theories and methods originally developed by physicists in order to solve problems in economics, usually those including uncertainty or stochastic processes and nonlinear dynam ...

''; '' econobox'' ; ''franken-'' :related to “human efforts to interfere with nature” :: ''frankenfood'', ''frankenplant'', ''frankenscience'' ; ''glut-'' :related to the amino acid, glutamic acid ::''

glutamine Glutamine (symbol Gln or Q) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Its side chain is similar to that of glutamic acid, except the carboxylic acid group is replaced by an amide. It is classified as a charge-neutral ...

'', ''

glutamate Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can synt ...

'' ; ''heli-'' :types of helicopters; things related to helicopters''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

''
''s.v.'' heli-, ''combining form''
/ref> :: ''helibus''; ''

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard ...

'', ''

heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

'', ''

helidrome A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. ...

'', ''heliborne'' ; ''petro-'' :things related to petroleum ::'' petrodollar'', ''

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewabl ...

'', ''

petrocurrency Petrocurrency (or petrodollar) is a word used with three distinct meanings, often confused: #Dollars paid to oil-producing nations (petrodollar recycling)—a term invented in the 1970s meaning trading surpluses of oil-producing nations. #Currenci ...

'' ; ''syn-'' :synthetic; related to (musical) synthesizers :: ''

syngas Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, in various ratios. The gas often contains some carbon dioxide and methane. It is principly used for producing ammonia or methanol. Syngas is combustible and can be used as ...

'', ''

synfuel Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel, or sometimes gaseous fuel, obtained from syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, in which the syngas was derived from gasification of solid feedstocks such as coal or biomass or by reformi ...

'', '' syncrude'', ''

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the earl ...

Italian

Suffix

; ''-opoli'' :a scandal ::'' Bancopoli'', ''

Calciopoli ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A and to a lesser extent Serie B. Involving various clubs and numerous executives, both from the same clubs and from the main Italian football ...

Bibliography

* Bernard Fradin, "Combining forms, blends, and related phenomena", in Ursula Doleschal, Anna M. Thornton, eds., ''Extragrammatical and Marginal Morphology'', ''LINCOM studies in theoretical linguistics'' 12 (2000), , papers from a workshop in Vienna, 1996, p. 11-5
full text
* Otto Jespersen, ''Language: Its Nature, Development, and Origin'', 1922, 19''
13-15
* Muriel Norde, Sara Sippach, "''Nerdalicious scientainment'': A network analysis of English libfixes", ''Word Structure'' 12:3:353-384 {{doi, 10.3366/word.2019.0153. * Yuval Pinter, Cassandra L. Jacobs, Max Bittker. "NYTWIT: A Dataset of Novel Words in the New York Times", ''Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Computational Linguistics'' (Barcelona), p. 6509–6515, December 8–13, 2020
full text
* Neal Whitman, "A linguistic tour of the best libfixes, from ''-ana'' to ''-zilla'', ''The Week''
September 17, 2013
*

, "Playing with your Morphology", ''Language Log''
August 28, 2006

Notes

Word coinage Affixes