Suffix

A suffix is is a bound morpheme (or affix) which attaches at the righthand side of a base, i.e. which follows it.

Comments

• “The term “affix”, which was used in §§24 and 28, is grammatical: it subsumes bound forms of certain kinds. But the apparently parallel terms “prefix”, "suffix”, “infix” are not grammatical; they refer, rather to positional classes of the morphs which represent bound forms.” (Hockett 1958:286)

Example

the English morpheme -ness is a suffix, since it attaches to the right of adjectives (productiveness).

Synonyms

• infix (in African linguistics)
• ending (used especially for inflectional suffxes)
• desinence (used especially for inflectional suffxes)

Origin

The OED's first attestation is from 1778. The term is derived from Latin suffīgere ‘attach’.

Reference

• Hockett, Charles. 1958. A course in modern linguistics. New York: Macmillan.

Other languages

• German Suffix (de)
• Russian суффикс
• Czech přípona, sufix
• Spanish sufijo

Links

Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

STUB

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