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 semantics of affixes

In linguistic semantics, an affix is a morpheme that is added to a root word to change its meaning, grammatical function, or part of speech. There are two main types of affixes: prefixes and suffixes.

Prefixes are affixes that are added to the beginning of a root word. They can change the meaning of the word, for example, "unhappy" is the opposite of "happy" because of the prefix "un-".

Suffixes are affixes that are added to the end of a root word. They can change the grammatical function of the word, for example, "walk" becomes "walker" with the suffix "-er" indicating a person who performs the action.

Infixes are affixes that are inserted into a root word. They are less common in English but are found in some languages such as Tagalog, Malay and Javanese.

Circumfixes are affixes that are added to both the beginning and the end of a root word. They are also less common in English but are found in some languages such as German.

Affixes can also be categorized as derivational or inflectional. Derivational affixes are used to create new words or change the meaning of a word, while inflectional affixes are used to indicate grammatical function such as tense, number, or possession.

It's worth noting that the meaning and function of affixes can vary depending on the language and the specific affix. Affixes play a critical role in the morphological structure of words and are crucial in understanding the meaning and grammatical function of words. Additionally, the use of different affixes can create a wide range of words and expressions with different meanings, which contributes to the richness of a language. Understanding the semantics of affixes can also help in understanding the meaning of a word, especially in the case of unfamiliar or complex words.

In terms of the effect on the meaning, prefixes can indicate negation, opposite, or reversal, for example, "unhappy", "dislike" and "misunderstand" respectively. They can also indicate location, time, or intensity, for example, "post-", "pre-" and "super-".

Suffixes can indicate grammatical function such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, for example, "-ness", "-ize" and "-ly" respectively. They can also indicate number, person, and tense, for example, "-s", "-ing" and "-ed" respectively.

Infixes can be used to indicate emphasis, for example, "abso-bloody-lutely" or to create a new word, for example, "fan-bloody-tastic".

Circumfixes are less common in English, but they are used in some languages such as German to indicate grammatical function and tense, for example, "ge-...-t" in "gekommen" (come).

In conclusion, affixes play a crucial role in the meaning and grammatical function of words, and understanding the semantics of affixes can help in understanding the meaning of a word and the structure of a language.