Interfix

In phonology, an interfix or (more commonly) linking element is a part of a word that is placed between two morphemes (such as two roots or a root and a suffix) and lacks a semantic meaning.

Examples

Formation of compound words

In German, the interfix ''-s-'' has to be used between certain nouns in compound words, but not all, such as ''Arbeitszimmer'' ("workroom") as opposed to ''Schlafzimmer'' ("bedroom"). This originates from the masculine and neuter genitive singular suffix ''-s''. German has many other interfixes, for example ''-es'', ''-(e)n-'', ''-er-'' and ''-e-''. Not all of them originate from the genitive. Likewise, it is often stated that German interfixes originated from plural forms, when in fact German plural forms and linking forms developed parallel to each other and are only partly similar by coincidence.

In Dutch, the interfix ''-e-'' ( schwa) sometimes can be traced back to the original form of the first part ending in an ''-e'' that has been lost in the present day form: ''zielerust'' ("peace of mind") was derived in Middle Dutch from ''ziele'' ("soul") and ''rust'' ("rest, peace"), but modern Dutch has ''ziel'' for "soul". In other compounds the ''-e-'' stems from a case suffix: ''petekind'' ("godchild") from ''peet'' ("godfather") and ''kind'' ("child"). The very common interfixes ''-s-'' and ''-en-'' originally were genitive suffixes. The much less frequent ''-er-'' in compounds can be seen as the remnant of an original plural suffix: ''rundergehakt'', "ground beef" from ''rund'', plural ''runderen'' "bovine(s)".

In English, when technical compound words are formed from non-technical roots, an ''-o-'' interfix is sometimes used, as ''o'' has come to be seen as a connecting vowel (''speed-o-meter, mile-o-meter'') by analogy to ''tacho-meter, odo-meter'', compounds of which the first part comes from an Ancient Greek noun whose stem includes ''o''.

In Swedish, compound nouns are written as one word, and interfixes are very common. ''-s-'' is frequently used in this way, as in ''fabriksarbetare'', which consists of ''fabrik'' ("factory") and ''arbetare'' ("worker"). Examples of other interfixes are ''-e-'', as in when ''familj'' and ''far'' ("family" and "father") become ''familjefar'', and ''-a-'', when ''viking'' and ''by'' ("viking" and "village") become ''vikingaby''. However, just like in Norwegian, not all compound words are written with an interfix. For example ''stenålder'', which consists of ''sten'' ("stone") and ''ålder'' ("age"). Some words ending in a vowel lose the last letter. For example ''arbetarklass'' ("working class") consists of ''arbetare'' ("worker") and ''klass'' ("class").

Norwegian is closely related to Swedish and has a similar pattern, but uses interfixing somewhat more moderately. Examples: ''arbeid'' + ''rom'' = ''arbeidsrom'' ("workroom"), but ''fabrikk'' + ''arbeider'' = ''fabrikkarbeider'' and ''familie'' + ''far'' = ''familiefar''. The most common interfix is ''-s-'', but there are examples with ''-e-'': ''barn'' + ''hage'' = ''barnehage'' ("kindergarten"), and ''bjørn'' + ''hi'' = ''bjørnehi'' ("bear hive" / "bear's nest").

In Serbo-Croatian, interfixes ''-o-'' and ''-e-'' are obligatory when forming a compound. For example, ''brod'' + ''gradilište'' = ''brodogradilište'' ("shipyard"), but ''kuća'' + ''pazitelj'' = ''kućepazitelj'' ("concierge"). Unless an interfix is added, the new-formed word is considered to be a word-joining, such as ''zimzelen'' (''zima'' + ''zelen'', "evergreen").

In Russian the most popular interfixes are letters ''-o-'' and ''-e-'' (Russian letters). For example: the word ''паровоз (пар-о-воз) — "parovoz" (par-o-voz)'' means "locomotive"; ''par'' means "steam" and ''voz'' means "cart".

See also

* Compound
* Linking and intrusive R
* Sandhi
* Thematic vowel

Notes

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Affixes