The first distinction is that between morphemes that can stand alone, like {\/l\u0251\u02d0\/}<\/span> law<\/em>, and those that cannot, like {-\/l\u0259s\/} in lawless<\/em>. The former are called free morphemes<\/strong>, the latter are called bound morphemes<\/strong>. Polymorphemic words may consist of several free morphemes, like \/\u02c8a\u028at.l\u0251\u02d0\/<\/span> outlaw<\/em>, which consists of the preposition {\/a\u028at\/} and the noun {\/l\u0251\u02d0\/}<\/span> or \/\u02c8l\u0251\u02d0.m\u0259n\/<\/span> lawman<\/em>, which consists of the nouns {\/\u02c8l\u0251\u02d0\/}<\/span> law<\/em> and {\/m\u00e6n\/}<\/span> man<\/em> (the latter is pronounced with a schwa in lawman<\/em> because it is unstressed). Such words are called compound words<\/strong> (or simply compound). Polymorphemic words can also consist of a free morpheme and one or more bound morphemes, like \/\u02c8l\u0251\u02d0.l\u0259s\/<\/span> lawless<\/em> or \/l\u0251\u02d0z\/<\/span> laws<\/em>. In this case, the free morpheme \u2014 {\/l\u0251\u02d0\/}<\/span> law<\/em> \u2014 is called the root<\/strong>, the bound morphemes \u2014 {-\/l\u0259s\/}<\/span> or {-\/z\/}<\/span> \u2014 are called affixes<\/strong>. Depending on their position in the word, there are more specific labels: affixes that attach to the beginning are called prefix<\/em>, affixes are attached to the end are called suffix<\/em> (we will see more types of affixes in a moment). Affixes can also attach to words that are already polymorphemic \u2014 like {\/\u028cn\/-}<\/span>, which attaches to \/\u02c8l\u0251\u02d0.f\u0259l\/<\/span> lawful<\/em>, which itself consists of the root {\/\u02c8l\u0251\u02d0\/}<\/span> and the affix {-f\u0259l\/}<\/span> –ful<\/em>. A more general term for the thing an affix attaches to is base<\/strong> \u2014 bases can be simple, in which case they are also roots, or complex, in which case they are not.<\/p>\n Most affixes attach only to bases of a particular word class, or, in a few cases, a small set of word classes. For example, the prefix {un<\/em>-} only attaches to adjectives, so we get unlawful<\/em>, but not *unlaw.<\/em>\u00a0You may think that verbs like undo<\/em>, unlock<\/em>, unfold<\/em>, unravel<\/em>, unveil<\/em> etc. contradict this claim, as in all these cases it looks as though the prefix {un<\/em>-} attaches to verbal bases. However, we are actually dealing with two different affixes here: {un<\/em>-}1<\/sub> \u2018not\u2019, which attaches to adjectives, and {un<\/em>-}2<\/sub> \u2018reverse\u2019, which attaches to verbs: unlawful<\/em> means \u2018not lawful\u2019 (and likewise for the other adjectives), but \u2018undo\u2019 does not mean \u2018not do\u2019, it means \u2018reverse what was done earlier\u2019 (and likewise for the other verbs).<\/p>\n We can represent the structure of complex words using tree diagrams like the one shown in Figure 5.1.1.<\/p>\n Figure 5.1.1: Tree diagram of the word unlawful<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n The distinction between bound and free morphemes is usually very clear, but there are morphemes that fall somewhere in-between. An example is {\/la\u026ak\/}<\/span> in \/\u02c8a\u028at.l\u0251\u02d0la\u026ak\/<\/span> outlaw-like<\/em> (e.g. She had an outlaw-like appearance<\/em>). The meaning of –like<\/em> is still more or less identical to the meaning of the preposition like<\/em> (as in Her appearance was like that of an outlaw<\/em>), and the form is identical. One might think that they are, in fact, the same morpheme, and that outlaw-like<\/em> is a compound. This would not only explain that they seem to have the same meaning, but it would also explain why like<\/em> has secondary stress, which affixes do not. Note that we would not confuse the {-less<\/em>} in lawless<\/em> with the less<\/em> in There is less crime now that there is a new lawman in town<\/em>: the meaning of the two morphemes is different ({less<\/em>} means \u2018not as much\u2019 while {-less<\/em>} means \u2018not having\u2019), and the word less<\/em> is pronounced \/l\u025bs\/ while the affix is pronounced \/l\u0259s\/. On the other hand, note that outlaw-like<\/em> does not behave like a compound: compounds typically have the same word class as their second part, but outlaw-like<\/em> is an adjective, while like<\/em> is a preposition. Morphemes that have this type of ambiguity between free and bound are sometimes referred to as affixoids<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The distinction between monomorphemic and polymorphemic words is also usually clear, but here, too, there are borderline cases. Take the example of the Japanese loan word \/\u02cct\u025br\u026a\u02c8j\u0251\u02d0ki\/ teriyaki<\/em>. If you like Japanese food, you might have noticed that the sequence [j\u0251\u02d0ki] yaki<\/em> occurs not only in teriyaki<\/em>, but also in teppanyaki<\/em>, takoyaki<\/em> and yakitori<\/em> (to name just a few). You might therefore suspect that these words consist of more than one morpheme and that yaki<\/em> means the same thing in all of them. And as far as Japanese is concerned, you would be right: yaki<\/em> (\u713c\u304d) roughly means \u2018grilled\u2019, \u2018fried\u2019 or \u2018broiled\u2019 in Japanese, teri<\/em> (\u7167\u308a) means \u2018shine\u2019, teppan<\/em> (\u9244\u677f) means \u2018iron plate\u2019, tako<\/em> (\u305f\u3053) means \u2018octopus\u2019 and tori<\/em> (\u9ce5) means \u2018bird\u2019. But while this is relevant for the analysis of Japanese, it is not relevant to English: from the perspective of English, teriyaki<\/em>, teppanyaki<\/em>, takoyaki<\/em> and yakitori<\/em> are simple morphemes.<\/p>\n However, when a sufficient number of loanwords enter a language, the speech community may at some point connect the form and meaning. Consider the following loanwords from Latin: circumstance<\/em>, circumvent<\/em>, circumference<\/em>, circumscribe<\/em>, circumspect<\/em>, circumcise<\/em>, circumnavigate<\/em>, circumlocution<\/em>, circumflex<\/em>. These are just a few of the many Latin loanwords containing the form circum<\/em>, and the meaning of all of these words includes something like AROUND. In Latin, it is the adverbial accusative of the word circus<\/em> \u2018circle, ring\u2019. In English, the first loanwords were likely treated as monomorphemic by speakers, just like teriyaki<\/em>, teppanyaki<\/em> etc. But at some point, a sufficiently large number of speakers recognized the systematic form-meaning relationship and began to treat {circum<\/em>-} as a morpheme with the meaning \u2018around\u2019. We know this, because words like circumantarctic<\/em>, circumpolar<\/em>, circumlunar<\/em>, circumsolar<\/em>, and circumterrestrial<\/em> were formed in English, meaning \u2018around the antarctic, pole, moon, sun, earth\u2019 respectively. In other words, what speakers treat as a morpheme may change in the course of the history of a language.<\/p>\n Note that affixes differ in their relationship to the base. In English, there are only the two types of affixes we have already mentioned: prefixes and suffixes, but other languages have other types of affixes.<\/p>\n Prefixes<\/strong> attach to the beginning of a base: {un<\/em>-} in unlawful<\/em> (or unusual<\/em>, unable<\/em>, unlikely<\/em>, unknown<\/em>, etc.) is a prefix.<\/p>\n Suffixes<\/strong> attach to the end of a base: {-ful<\/em>} in lawful<\/em> (or beautiful<\/em>, successful<\/em>, powerful<\/em>, wonderful<\/em>, useful<\/em>, etc.) and {-less<\/em>} in lawless<\/em> (or endless<\/em>, countless<\/em>, useless<\/em>, helpless<\/em>, harmless<\/em> etc.) are suffixes.<\/p>\n Circumfixes<\/strong>, also known as discontinuous affixes, are affixes that come in two parts with a single, unified function. They attach to the beginning and<\/em> the end of a base simultaneously. This happens, for example, in German past participles:<\/p>\n The affix in these cases is {ge<\/em>– \u2026 –en<\/em>}.<\/p>\n Note that, in linguistics, examples from languages other than the one in which a book or research paper is written are presented in the three-line format introduced here:<\/p>\n![\"[WORD](\"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/lei\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/morph-unlawful.png\")
Types of affixes<\/h2>\n
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