Affixations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A process that involves attaching additional elements to a base form in linguistics
2. Comprising the addition of prefixes, suffixes, or infixes to modify meaning or function of words
3. Involves creating new forms of words by adding morphemes, impacting their grammatical or semantic properties

Etymology: "Affixations" is the plural of "affixation", a noun meaning the attaching of a word-part such as a prefix or suffix to a base word. The English noun is formed from "affix" plus the suffix "-ation", which turns a verb into a noun of action or process. The suffix itself descends through Old French "-ation" from Latin "-ātiō", a noun-forming ending used to make nouns of action from verb stems. The core verb lies behind the whole word. "Affix" was borrowed into English from Latin "affīxus", the past participle of "affīgere", meaning "to fasten to" or "to fix onto". That Latin verb combined "ad", "to" or "toward", with "fīgere", "to fasten" or "to fix", a root shared with the English word "fix" itself. So an affixation, at root, is simply the act of fastening one thing onto another, which is exactly what grammarians describe when a prefix or suffix is bolted onto a base.

Synonyms: attachments, additions