word looked is a sign for past tense in English. In addition, based on their position in a word that they are added to, affixes can be divided into several kinds; they are
prefixes, infixes, suffixes, confixes, interfixes, transfixes, ambifixes, and circumfixes
25
. In addition, according to Kridalaksana, there are six kinds of affixes; they are prefixes, infixes, suffixes, simulfixes, confixes, and superfixes
26
. On the other hand, Bauer differentiated affixes into seven kinds that consist of six
segmental affixes prefixes, suffixes, circumfixes, infixes, interfixes, and transfixes, and one supra-segmental affix that is superfix or simulfix
27
. However, the writer can only find some of those kinds of affixes in
English. The writer can not find all kinds of affixes above in English because English and other languages have different affixes in their system. For further
discussion of affixes and affixation in English, in the subtitle bellow the writer will discuss specifically affixation in English.
a. Affixation in English
An affix in English, as in other languages, is a bound morpheme that 1 is not a root and2 is a constituent of a word rather than of a phrase or sentence.
Some examples that follow illustrate the implications of 1 and 2. The next section surveys the kinds of affixation that occur, and the last sections discuss
theoretical issues. In most complex words, identifying a root or roots, if the word
25
Abdul Chaer, Linguistik Umum, Jakarta: Rineka Cipta, 2003, p. 178.
26
Kridalaksana, Harimurti ddll. 1985. Tata Bahasa Deskriptif Bahasa Indonesia: Sintaksis. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, p. 19-21
27
Laurie Bauer, Introducing Linguistic Morphology, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1988, pp. 19-29
is a compound presents little difficulty. For example, in the words misfortunes and premeditated, the roots are clearly fortune and medit- because these morphs
make the most concrete and distinctive contributions to the meanings of these words; furthermore, fortune is free, as most English roots are. The root of
premeditated is medit-, not meditate, because -ate is a verb-forming affix that occurs also in generate, vibrate, and many other words. Only rarely do English
speakers encounter a morph whose status seems unclear or dependent on context. One such example is fu:l, which might be considered the same morph in fullness
where it is a root and spoonful where it is an affix. These certainly have the same historical origin. However, most analysts of contemporary English prefer to
distinguish three morphs: a root in full and fullness, a nounforming affix in spoonful, and an adjective-forming affix in peaceful and cheerful. In misfortunes
and spoonful, the nonroot morphs mis-, -s, and -ful are clearly parts of words rather than parts of phrases. But that is not so clearly true of the bound morphs -’ll
and -’s in she’ll come tomorrow and the man next door’s car. These are generally classified as clitics rather than affixes because what they are attached to
grammatically is not a word or part of a word but a phrase: come tomorrow and the man next door. Phonologically, -’ll is attached more closely to she than to
come tomorrow, but that does not affect its grammatical status. Clitics constitute a third kind of bound morph, alongside bound roots and affixes. Occupying a kind
of no-man’sland between morphology and syntax, their analysis is controversial
28
.
28
Keith Brown and Anne Anderson, Ensyclopedia of Language and Linguistics 2
nd
Edition, Boston: Elsevier, 2006, pp. 83-84
Moreover, in English there are only three affixes; they are prefixes, suffixes, and infixes
29
. These affixes can be derivative morphemes or inflective morpheme. However, Infixes in English are a very limited set. English infixing
was a subject of the Linguists List, a discussion group on the Internet, in November of 1993, and again in July of 1996. The interest in these infixes in
English may be due to the fact that one can only infix obscenities as full words that are inserted in other words, usually into adjectives or adverb. The most
common infix is word fuckin and all the euphemism for it, such as friggin, freakin, flippin, or fuggin as in abso-fuggin-lutely or Kalama + flippin + zoo. In
Britain, a common infix is bloody, an obscene term in British English, and its euphemisms, such as bloomin. In the movie and stage musical My Fair Lady, abso
+ bloomin + lutely occurs in one of the songs sung by Eliza Doolittle
30
. In addition, there are some interesting issues related to infix in English.
Some Linguists said that in English there are infixes in a certain situation. Yule said that in English there is infix ‘bloody’ to express emotion, for example
Hallebloodyluyah from word Halleluyah
31
. Katamba said that infixes in modern English are impossible to be used in a polite condition, example: in-fuckin-
stantiate
32
. Thus, according to the writer opinion, a word, which is possible to have more than a morpheme, should not to be included in affixes category. It is
29
Francis Katamba, Modern Linguistics: Morphology, London: The Macmillan Press Lt, 1994, pp. 44-45
30
Victoria Fromkin, An Introduction to Language, Orlando: Harcourt Brace College Publisher, 1998, pp. 72-23
31
George Yule, The Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p 37
32
Francis Katamba, Modern Linguistics: Morphology London: The Macmillan Press Lt, 1994, pp. 44-45
because affixes are bound morphemes. Therefore, according to the writer’s opinion, English doesn’t have infixes.
b. Affixation and Blocking process in English
