Editing Circumfix

{{Short description|Type of agglutinative inflection}}
{{distinguish|Circumflex}}
{{Affixes}}

A '''circumfix''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbr]]: '''{{sc|circ}}''')<ref>{{Cite web| last1 = Comrie| first1 = Bernard| last2 = Haspelmath| first2 = Martin| last3 = Bickel| first3 = Balthasar| title = Leipzig glossing rules: Conventions for interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme glosses| date = 2008| url = https://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php| access-date = 2016-04-12| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190804103429/https://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php| archive-date = 2019-08-04| url-status = dead}}</ref> (also '''parafix''',<ref>''The Oxford Handbook of Language Production'' (by Matthew Goldrick, Victor Ferreira, Michele Miozzo), [[Oxford University Press]], 2014, ISBN 9780199393459, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yjg_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA159 p. 159] at [[Google Books]]: "Circumfixation (or parafixation) is the most sparsely attested type of affixation, [...]"</ref> '''confix''', or '''ambifix''') is an [[affix]] which has two parts, one placed at the start of a word, and the other at the end.  Circumfixes contrast with [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]es, attached to the beginnings of words; [[suffix]]es, attached at the end; and [[infix]]es, inserted in the middle. Circumfixes are common in [[Malay language|Malay]]<ref>{{citation |last=Tadmor |first=Uri |contribution=Malay-Indonesian and Malayic languages |editor-last=Strazny  |editor-first=Philipp |title=Encyclopedia of Linguistics |pages=644–647 |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |place=New York |date=2005}}</ref><!--
 --> and [[Georgian language|Georgian]].<ref>{{citation |last=Colarusso |first=John | author-link=John Colarusso |contribution=Georgian and Caucasian languages |editor-last=Strazny  |editor-first=Philipp |title=Encyclopedia of Linguistics |pages=380–383 |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |place=New York |date=2005}}</ref>

Its related operation is called '''circumfixation''' (or '''parafixation''', '''confixation''', '''ambifixation''').

== Examples ==

{{circumfix|Angle brackets}} are used to mark off circumfixes. 

===Germanic languages===
The circumfix is probably most widely known from the [[German language|German]] [[past participle]], which is ''ge-''{{circumfix|...}}''-t'' (ge- prefix + -t suffix) for regular verbs. The verb ''spiel-en'', for example, has the participle ''ge-spiel-t''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zingler |first1=Tim |title=Circumfixation: A semasiological approach |journal=Word Structure |date=15 March 2022 |volume=15 |pages=55–113 |doi=10.3366/word.2022.0199 |s2cid=247488121 |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/word.2022.0199?role=tab |access-date=29 November 2022 |language=en|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, a number of so-called [[Germanic strong verb|''strong'' verbs]] display the suffix ''-en'' (''ge-sung-en'' 'sung'), while all verbs carrying non-initial stress come without the prefix part ''ge-'', as in ''telefonier-t'' 'telephoned'.

[[Dutch language|Dutch]] has a similar system (''spel-en'' → ''ge-speel-d'' in this case). In Dutch, the circumfix ''ge-''{{circumfix|...}}''-te'' (ge- prefix + -te suffix) can be used to form certain [[collective nouns]] (''berg'' (mountain) → ''ge-berg-te'' (mountain range)).

===East Asian languages===
In [[Japanese language|Japanese]], some linguists consider ''o-{{circumfix|...}}-ni naru'' (o- [[Honorific speech in Japanese#Honorific prefixes|honorific prefix]] + ni particle + verb naru) and ''o-{{circumfix|...}}-suru'' (o- prefix + -suru suffix/verb suru) to be [[Honorific speech in Japanese|honorific]] circumfixes;<ref>{{citation |last1=Boeckx |first1=Cedric |last2=Niinuma |first2=Fumikazu |title=Conditions on Agreement in Japanese |journal=[[Natural Language and Linguistic Theory]] |volume=22 |issue=3 |year=2004 |pages=453–480 |doi=10.1023/B:NALA.0000027669.59667.c5|s2cid=170936045 }}</ref> for example ''yom-u'' (′read′) ...→ ''o-{{circumfix|yom-i}}-ni naru'' (respectful), ''o-{{circumfix|yom-i}}-suru'' (humble).

In addition, Old Japanese had a prohibitive construction ''na-{{circumfix|...}}-so<sub>2</sub>(ne)'' (where the bracketed ''ne'' is optional), which at least [[Bjarke Frellesvig|one linguist]] ([[:ja:ビャーケ・フレレスビッグ|ja]]) considers to be a circumfixal word form; an example using the Old Japanese verb ′write′ (''kak-u'') would be ''na-{{circumfix|kak-i<sub>1</sub>}}-so<sub>2</sub>(ne)''.  The form without the bracketed ''ne'' survived marginally into Early Middle Japanese, but has no equivalent in any modern Japanese dialect or any other Japonic language.  Instead, all modern Japonic languages and dialects express the prohibitive with a ''suffixal'' particle ''na'' (which is probably related to the prefixal part of the Old Japanese construction) attached to a non-past form of the verb; e.g., Tōkyō Japanese ''{{overline|ka}}ku-na'', [[Kansai dialect#Kyoto|Kyōto Japanese]] ''ka{{overline|ku}}-na'', [[Kagoshima dialect|Kagoshima Japanese]] ''kaʔ-{{overline|na}}'' or ''kan-{{overline|na}}'', [[Hachijō language|Hachijō]] ''kaku-na'', Yamatohama [[Amami_Ōshima_language|Amami]] ''kʰakʰu-na'', Nakijin [[Kunigami language|Kunigami]] ''hḁkˀu:-{{overline|na}}'', Shuri [[Okinawan language|Okinawan]] ''{{overline|kaku-na}}'', Irabu [[Miyakoan language|Miyakoan]] ''kafï-na'', Hateruma [[Yaeyama language|Yaeyaman]] ''hḁku-na'', and [[Yonaguni language|Yonaguni]] ''kʰagu-n-na'' (all ′don't write!′).  In addition to the circumfixal forms, Old Japanese also had a suffixal form similar to the modern forms (e.g., ''kak-u-na''), as well as a ''prefixal'' form ''na-kak-i<sub>1</sub>'', which is also not reflected in any modern Japonic variety.

===Austronesian languages===
[[Malay language|Malay]] has eight circumfixes:
: ''per-''{{circumfix|...}}''-kan''
: ''per-''{{circumfix|...}}''-i''
: ''ber-''{{circumfix|...}}''-an''
: ''ke-''{{circumfix|...}}''-an''
: ''pen-''{{circumfix|...}}''-an''
: ''per-''{{circumfix|...}}''-an''
: ''se-''{{circumfix|...}}''-nya''
: ''ke-''{{circumfix|...}}''-i''

For example, the circumfix ''ke-''{{circumfix|...}}''-an'' can be added to the root ''adil'' "fair/just" to form ''ke-adil-an'' "fairness/justice".<ref>{{cite book |title=Morfologi dalam Ilmu Bahasa |last=Baryadi |first=I. Praptomo |year=2011 |publisher=Sanata Dharma University Publishers |location=Yogyakarta |language=id |pages=42–43 }}</ref>

===Other languages===
In most North African and some Levantine [[varieties of Arabic]], verbs are negated by placing the circumfix ''ma''{{circumfix|...}}''š'' around the verb together with all its prefixes and suffixed direct- and indirect-object pronouns. For example, [[Egyptian Arabic|Egyptian]] ''bitgibuhum-laha'' "you bring them to her" is negated as ''ma{{circumfix|bitgibuhum-lahā}}š'' "you don't bring them to her".

In [[Berber languages]] the feminine is marked with the circumfix ''t''{{circumfix|...}}''t''. The word ''afus'' "hand" becomes ''t''{{circumfix|''afus''}}''t''. In [[Kabyle language|Kabyle]], ''θ''{{circumfix|''issli''}}''θ'' "bride" derives from ''issli'' "groom". From ''bni'', to build, with ''t''{{circumfix|...}}''t'' we obtain ''tbnit'' "thou buildest". 

Negation in [[Guaraní language|Guaraní]] is also done with circumfixes, ''nd''{{circumfix|...}}''i'' and ''nd''{{circumfix|...}}''mo'ãi'' for [[future tense|future]] negation.

In some [[Slavic languages]], and in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], the [[superlative]] of adjectives is formed with a circumfix. For example, in [[Czech language|Czech]], the circumfix ''nej''{{circumfix|...}}''ší'' is used – ''mladý'' "young" becomes ''nejmladší'' "youngest". The corresponding circumfix in Hungarian is ''leg''{{circumfix|...}}''bb'', as in ''legnagyobb'' "biggest", from ''nagy'' "big". (In both cases, the [[comparative]] form is produced using the suffix without the prefix: ''mladší'' "younger"; ''nagyobb'' "bigger".) 

In [[Gurmanchema language|Gurmanchema]] and [[Wolof language|Wolof]], noun classes are indicated by circumfix.

== See also ==
*[[Circumposition]]
* [[Silent e|Silent (''or'' magic) ''e'']], a discontiguous digraph in English<!--consisting of two distinct elements like a circumfix-->
*[[Epenthesis]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [[wikt:Category:Circumfixes_by_language|Circumfixes by language]] on Wiktionary

[[Category:Affixes]]