Compound Affix Ordering Generalization

In morphology, Compound Affix Ordering Generalization is a generalization which entails that Class I affixes cannot appear outside compounds, while some Class II affixes may appear both inside and outside compounds. In other words, only Class II affixes may attach to compounds.

Examples

The English Class I negative prefix in- may not attach to compound adjectives (*in-self-sufficient), while its Class II counterpart un- may (un-self-sufficient).

Link

Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

References

• Halle, M. & Mohanan, K.P. 1985. Segmental phonology of Modern English. Linguistic Inquiry 16, 57-116.
• Kiparsky, P. 1982. From Cyclic Phonology to Lexical Phonology. In The Structure of Phonological Representations (I). van der Hulst, H. & Smith, N. (eds.), 131-175.
• Selkirk, E. O. 1982. The Syntax of Words. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
• Spencer, A. 1991. Morphological Theory. Blackwell, Oxford.