Fanf-kingtastic and Edumacational: The Case of English ...

Infixation is yet another morphological process which occurs internally in a base word, rather than at either end of the base. Skiptocontent LinguaObscura Fanf–kingtasticandEdumacational:TheCaseofEnglishInfixation Fromshiznittowel-diddly-elcome,theevolutionofinfixationinEnglishlanguage. CREDIT:FOX/CourtesyNealPetersCollection By: ChiLuu April28,2015 August15,2018 5minutes Share Tweet Email Print Wel-diddly-elcometotheabsoschmuckinglutelycrizazyworldofEnglishinfixation. Wheresomeotherlanguagesmaysoberlycherish thesanctityoftheirwordformsandvocabulary,Englishisnotoriousforbeingplayfulandexpressivewithitslinguisticmorphologyorword-building. Well-known examplesoftheinfixationphenomenonarethecolorfullyoffensiveexpletiveinfixation,theso-calledHomericma-infixation,theFlanderian diddly-infixationandhiphop’s‘iz’/’izn’infixation(shiznitandthelike).Butwhatexactlyisinfixation? Mostreaderswillalreadybefamiliarwithmorecommon word-building processessuchasprefixationandsuffixation,inwhichanaffixisaddedtothebeginningorendofabasewordrespectively.Thesemorphologicalprocessesusually alter themeaning, case,orpartofspeech ofthewordandsohaveagrammaticalpurpose: Prefixde-:de+activate‘deactivate’(theoppositeofactivate) Suffix-hood:child+hood‘childhood’(thestateofbeingachild). Prefixesandsuffixesofcoursecanbeenthusiasticallylayered ontopofoneanother,likethelongandshortof semihemidemisemiquaver,yetcanoftenstillbemeaningfullyreconstructedandunderstood,orperhapsmisunderstood,orevenmisunderestimated.Takenoteoftheunwieldypileofaffixesinthecaseof oneofthelongestwordsintheEnglishlanguage, anti-dis-establish-ment-ari-an-ism. Infixationisyetanothermorphologicalprocesswhichoccursinternallyinabaseword,ratherthanateitherendofthebase.InotherlanguagessuchasTagalog,LetiandsomedialectsofMandarin, infixationisusedforVery SeriousandImportantgrammaticalfunctions,insimilarwaystoprefixationandsuffixationinEnglish,commonlychangingthegrammaticaluseoftheword. Instances of infixationinEnglish,however,aremostlyfoundinnon-standardvernacularspeechandusuallyadda playful, extra-grammaticalsensetothewordratherthanchangingitsgrammaticalmeaning.Forexample,theprocessof expletiveinfixation isusedforaddedemotionalemphasis,whilema-infixation,madefamousbyHomerSimpson, asdescribedbyAlanYu,layersanuance ofpseudo-sophisti-ma-cationontoaword.Despitetheiruseinslangratherthanstandardlanguage,linguistshavefoundthattheseinfixesfollowsystematicphonological rulesinthewaytheymaybeplacedandtheserulestellusalotaboutprosodicstructureandtheinternallinguisticknowledgeofspeakersofthelanguage. Inexpletiveinfixation,commonobsceneexpletivesortheirmildervariants,suchasfucking/fuckin,freaking,flipping,effing,goddamn,damn(andbloody/blooming inBritishandAustralianEnglishcontexts)areinsertedproductivelyintowordstoexpressastrongervehemence. absolutely:abso-fucking-lutely,abso-bloody-lutely,abso-goddamn-lutely,abso-freaking-lutely Minnesota:Minne-fucking-sota fantastic:fan-bloody-tastic Wecanseehowdifferentexpletivescanbeinsertedinexactlythesamespaceinthewordabsolutely.Englishspeakerscan alsoquicklynotethatconstructionssuchas*ab-fucking-solutely (infixedafterthefirstsyllable)and*fanta-bloody-stic (infixedafterthesecondsyllable)aretechnicallypossibleyetdonotsoundright(linguisticallyindicatedbyanasterisk).Thisisthecaseeventhoughtheexpletivehappilyappearsafterthefirstsyllableinfan-tasticbutthesecondsyllableafterabso-lutely. Theysomehow violatetheunwrittenrulesofthisinfixationconstruction.Whyisthisso? Inhis1982studyonEnglishprosodicstructureandexpletiveinfixation,JohnJ.McCarthy outlineshowthisproductiveprocesscanbedescribed intermsof certaincomplexrulesofword stressplacementandmetricalfeet.Tosimplifymatters,theexpletiveinfixmaybeplacedprecedingastressedfoot ofaword.Thestresshappenstooccuronthethirdsyllableofabsolutelyandthesecondinfantasticandsodictateswheretheexpletiveinfixcanbeplaced. ThisideaisdiscussedanddevelopedfurtherinAlanC.L.Yu’s2004paper ReduplicationinEnglishHomericInfixation,inwhichhegivesthefollowingexamplesofthema-infixationconstruction: saxophone:saxo-ma-phone secretary:secre-ma-tary Mississippi:Missi-ma-ssippi hippopotamus:hippo-ma-potamus What’sinterestingisthatnativeEnglishspeakerswillalreadyhaveabsorbeda knowledgeandintuitionofhowtoapplytheseinfixationprocesses tonewwordsandconstructionswithoutactuallyknowinganyovertrulesofmetricalstress.Speakerswillalsoknowwherenottoapplytheinfix.Forexample,forawordthatmaynotcommonlyappearwithanexpletiveinfixinslang,suchasinstantiate, in-fucking-stantiate willnaturallysoundrighttoanEnglishspeakerandnotrightas *inst-fuckin-antiate, aswecanseeinthefollowingnovelexamplesfromMcCarthy’spaper: amalga-bloody-mated emanci-motherfuckin-pator every-bloody-body handi-bloody-cap hypo-bloody-crite kinder-goddamn-garten Lauder-damn-dale SimilarprocessessuchasNedFlanders’ diddly-infixation(inwordssuchaswel-diddly-elcome)andtheiz/iznconstructionfoundinhiphopslang,inwordslikeshiznit,hizouse,showfurtherhowregularmorphological processesusedgrammaticallyinotherlanguagescanbeemployedplayfullyinEnglishtoextendaword’sexpressivesense. Thoughthesenon-standardslangformsmaybefunandinventive,theystilldofollowrulesofEnglishword-building,whichwehappentoknowalready,thoughwemaynotbeawareofit.Sothemorewe playwiththesetypesofwordconstructions,themoreevidencewe’llhavetofurther edumacateourselves aboutsomeof thesehiddenrulesoflanguage. Share Tweet Email Print Haveacorrectionorcommentaboutthisarticle?Pleasecontactus. Chi LuulinguisticsAmerican SpeechJournal of East Asian LinguisticsLanguageOceanic Linguistics Resources JSTORisadigitallibraryforscholars,researchers,andstudents.JSTORDailyreaderscanaccesstheoriginalresearchbehindourarticlesforfreeonJSTOR. AnotherEffingEuphemism By:MichaelAdams AmericanSpeech,Vol.74,No.1(Spring,1999),pp.110-112 DukeUniversityPress ProsodicStructureandExpletiveInfixation By:JohnJ.McCarthy Language,Vol.58,No.3(Sep.,1982),pp.574-590 LinguisticSocietyofAmerica InfixingwithaVengeance:PingdingMandarinInfixation By:AlanC.L.Yu JournalofEastAsianLinguistics,Vol.13,No.1(Jan.,2004),pp.39-58 Springer UntanglingLetiInfixation By:JulietteBlevins OceanicLinguistics,Vol.38,No.2(Dec.,1999),pp.383-403 UniversityofHawai'iPress JoinOurNewsletter GetyourfixofJSTORDaily’sbeststoriesinyourinboxeachThursday. PrivacyPolicy ContactUs Youmayunsubscribeatanytimebyclickingontheprovidedlinkonanymarketingmessage. Δ LinguaObscura ChiLuuisaperipateticlinguistwhospeaksAustralianEnglishandstudiesdeadlanguages.Onceamonth,she’lluncovercuriousstoriesaboutlanguagefromaroundtheglobeforLinguaObscura. Readthisnext Arts&Culture InFlightwithAntoinedeSaint-Exupéry ThelittleknownaviationcareerofAntoinedeSaint-Exupéry,authorofTheLittlePrince. 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