Editing Tmesis (section)

==Verbs==
Tmesis of [[prefix]]ed verbs (whereby the prefix is separated from the simple verb) was thought to be an original feature of the [[Ancient Greek]] language, common in [[Homer]] (and later poetry), but not used in [[Attic Greek|Attic]] prose.{{cn|date=October 2023}}  Such [[separable verb]]s are also part of the normal grammatical usage of some modern languages, such as [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[German language|German]].

===Ancient Greek===
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}
Tmesis in [[Ancient Greek]] is something of a misnomer, since there is not necessarily a splitting of the prefix from the verb; rather the consensus now seems to be that the separate prefix or pre-verb reflects a stage in the language where the prefix had not yet joined onto the verb.  There are many examples in Homer's epics, the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'', both of which preserve archaic features.  One common and oft-cited example is {{lang|grc|κατὰ δάκρυα λείβων}} (''kata dakrua leibōn;'' "shedding tears"), in which the [[pre-verb]]/[[prefix]] {{lang|grc|κατά-}} ''kata-'' "down" has not yet joined the verbal participle {{lang|grc|λείβων}} ''leibōn'' "shedding". In later Greek, these would combine to form the compound verb {{lang|grc|καταλείβων}} ''kataleibōn'' "shedding (in a downwards direction)".

===Latin===
Tmesis is found as a poetic or rhetorical device in classical [[Latin]] poetry, such as [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]''{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}. Words such as ''circumdare'' ("to surround") are split apart with other words of the sentence in between, e.g. ''circum virum dant'': "they surround the man" (circumdant (circum- prefix + dant)). This device is used in this way to create a visual image of surrounding the man by means of the words on the line. In the work of the poet [[Ennius]], the literal splitting of the word ''cerebrum'' creates a vivid image: ''saxo cere comminuit brum'' "he shattered his brain with a rock."<ref name="Cruttwell">{{cite book |last=Cruttwell |first=Charles Thomas |author-link=Charles Thomas Cruttwell |title=A History of Roman Literature: From the Earliest Period to the Death of Marcus Aurelius |url=http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_histromlit_1_6.htm |access-date=2013-12-20 |archive-date=2017-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105084213/http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_histromlit_1_6.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Old Irish===
Tmesis can be found in some early Old Irish texts, such as [[Audacht Morainn]] (The Testament of Morann). Old Irish verbs are found at the beginning of clauses (in a VSO word order) and often possess prepositional pre-verbal particles, e.g. ''ad-midethar'' (ad- prefix) "evaluates, estimates". Tmesis occurs when the pre-verbal particle is separated from the verbal stem and the verbal stem is placed in clause final position while the pre-verbal particle/prefix remains at the beginning of the clause. This results in an abnormal word order, e.g. ''ad- cruth caín -cichither'' "[the] fair form will be seen" (where ''ad-chichither'' is the future third-person singular passive of ''ad-cí'' "sees").<ref name="Russell">{{cite book |last=Russell |first=Paul |title=An Introduction to the Celtic Languages |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |location=London |pages=288 }}</ref>

===Old Norse===
Examples of tmesis have been found in [[Skald|skaldic poetry]]. In addition to the use of [[kennings]], [[skald]]s used tmesis to obscure the meaning of the poem.<ref name="Ross">{{cite book |last=Ross |first=Margaret Clunies |title=A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics |publisher=D. S. Brewer |year=2005 |location=Cambridge |pages=109–110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvROUzj4DBoC |isbn=1-84384-034-0}}</ref> One use of tmesis was to divide the elements of personal names.<ref name="Ross"/>

===English===
Colloquial examples include ''un-bloody-believable'', ''[[Wiktionary:absobloodylutely|abso-bloody-lutely]]'',<ref>{{cite web| website= yourdictionary.com| url= https://www.yourdictionary.com/absobloodylutely |title= absobloodylutely | publisher= | date= | access-date= 2 May 2024}}</ref> and several variants. Numerous English words are joined with the vulgar [[infix]] ''[[wikt:-fucking-|-fucking-]]'', such as ''[[Wiktionary:unfuckingbelievable|unfuckingbelievable]]'' <ref>{{cite web| website= Dictionary.com| url= https://www.dictionary.com/browse/unfuckingbelievable |title= unfuckingbelievable| publisher= | date= | access-date= 2 May 2024}}</ref> or ''[[Wiktionary:fanfuckingtastic|fanfuckingtastic]]''.<ref>{{cite web| website= Dictionary.com| url= https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fanfuckingtastic |title= fanfuckingtastic | publisher= | date= | access-date= 2 May 2024}}</ref> Tmesis at arbitrary points in words is not grammatically proper, e.g., no other location in un·be·liev·a·ble is quite as suitable for the infix -fucking-.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} Another example is ''[[Wiktionary:scrumdiddlyumptious|scrumdiddlyumptious]]''.<ref>{{cite web| website= OED.com| url= https://www.oed.com/dictionary/scrumdiddlyumptious_adj?tl=true |title= scrumdiddlyumptious | publisher= | date= | access-date= 2 May 2024}}</ref>

English employs a large number of [[phrasal verb]]s, consisting of a core verb and a particle. A phrasal verb is written as two words that are analyzed semantically as a unit, but the unit may be separable under certain circumstances. For example, regarding a phrasal verb that has a transitive sense: 
:''Turn off'' the light  OR  ''Turn'' the light ''off''. (optional tmesis)
:''Hand in'' the application OR ''Hand'' it ''in''. (obligatory tmesis: *''hand in it'' is ungrammatical)

Similarly, tmesis can occur regarding a phrasal verb that has an intransitive sense. For example:
:''Come back'' tomorrow OR ''Come'' on ''back'' tomorrow. ([[adjunct (grammar)|adjunctive]] tmesis)
:Let's ''head out'' OR Let's ''head'' right ''out''. (adjunctive tmesis)

The intervention of an adverb or transitive object in the middle of the phrasal verb can be viewed as a form of tmesis even though the semantic unit being separated is written as two words even when not separated.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}