Disfix Explained

In linguistic morphology, a disfix is a subtractive morpheme, a morpheme manifest through the subtraction of segments from a root or stem. Although other forms of disfixation exist, the element subtracted is usually the final segment of the stem.

Productive disfixation is extremely rare among the languages of the world but is important in the Muskogean languages of the southeastern United States. Similar subtractive morphs in languages such as French and Portuguese are marginal.[1]

Terminology

The terms "disfix" and "disfixation" were proposed by Hardy and Timothy Montler in a 1988 paper on the morphology of the Alabama language.[1] The process had been previously described by Leonard Bloomfield who called it a minus feature, and Zellig Harris who called it a "minus morpheme". Other terms for the same or similar processes are subtraction, truncation, deletion, and minus formation.[2]

Examples

Muskogean

In Muskogean, disfixes mark pluractionality (repeated action, plural subjects or objects, or greater duration of a verb). In the Alabama language, there are two principal forms of this morpheme:

balaaka 'lies down', balka 'lie down'

batatli 'hits', batli 'hits repeatedly'

cokkalika 'enters', cokkaka 'enter'[3]

salatli "slide", salaali 'slide repeatedly'

noktiłifka "choke", noktiłiika 'choke repeatedly'[3]

French

Bloomfield described the process of disfixation (which he called minus features) through an example from French[4] although most contemporary analyses find this example to be inadequate because the masculine forms might be taken as the base form and the feminine forms simply as suppletives.[2] Though not productive like Muscogean and therefore not true disfixation,[5] some French plurals are analysed as derived from the singular, and many masculine words from the feminine by dropping the final consonant and making some generally predictable changes to the vowel:

trans.
in French pronounced as /bœf/ (bœuf)in French pronounced as /bø/ (bœufs)'cattle'
in French pronounced as /œf/ (œuf)in French pronounced as /ø/ (œufs)'eggs'
in French pronounced as /ɔs/ (os)in French pronounced as /o/ (os)'bones'
  
trans.
in French pronounced as /blɑ̃ʃ/ (blanche)in French pronounced as /blɑ̃/ (blanc)'white'
in French pronounced as /fʁɛːʃ/ (fraîche)in French pronounced as /fʁɛ/ (frais)'fresh'
in French pronounced as /sɛʃ/ (sèche)in French pronounced as /sɛk/ (sec)'dry'
in French pronounced as /ɡʁos/ (grosse)in French pronounced as /ɡʁo/ (gros)'large'
in French pronounced as /fos/ (fausse)in French pronounced as /fo/ (faux)'wrong'
in French pronounced as /fʁɑ̃sɛːz/ (française)in French pronounced as /fʁɑ̃sɛ/ (français)'French'
in French pronounced as /ɑ̃ɡlɛːz/ (anglaise)in French pronounced as /ɑ̃ɡlɛ/ (anglais)'English'
in French pronounced as /fʁwad/ (froide)in French pronounced as /fʁwɑ/ (froid)'cold'
in French pronounced as /ɡʁɑ̃d/ (grande)in French pronounced as /ɡʁɑ̃/ (grand)'big'
in French pronounced as /pətit/ (petite)in French pronounced as /pəti/ (petit)'small'
in French pronounced as /fʁit/ (frite)in French pronounced as /fʁi/ (frit)'fried'
in French pronounced as /bɔn/ (bonne)in French pronounced as /bɔ̃/ (bon)'good'
in French pronounced as /bʁyn/ (brune)in French pronounced as /bʁœ̃/ (brun)'brown'
in French pronounced as /fɔl/ (folle)in French pronounced as /fu/ (fou)'insane'
in French pronounced as /bɛl/ (belle)in French pronounced as /bo/ (beau)'beautiful'
in French pronounced as /nuvɛl/ (nouvelle)in French pronounced as /nuvo/ (nouveau)'new'
in French pronounced as /vjɛj/ (vieille)in French pronounced as /vjø/ (vieux)'old'
in French pronounced as /epuz/ (épouse)in French pronounced as /epu/ (époux)'spouse'
in French pronounced as /ʃamɛl/ (chamelle)in French pronounced as /ʃamo/ (chameau)'camel'

Historically, this reflects that the masculine was once pronounced similar to the current feminine, and the feminine formed by adding pronounced as //ə//. The modern situation results from regular apocope which removed a consonant from the masculine and the final schwa of the feminine.

Portuguese

In Portuguese, some words which have the masculine ending -ão have a feminine equivalent -ã, synchronically analyzable as a disfixation.

The root cause of this disfixation is the loss of intervocalic -n- in the evolution of Latin to Portuguese. Therefore, the Latin ending -anus became -ão in Portuguese and its feminine -ana became -ãa and then -ã. For comparison, notice the Spanish equivalents hermano-hermana, cristiano-cristiana, etc.

It is important to note, however, that not all words with -ão come from Latin -anus, meaning that their feminine derivation will be different (cf. leão-leoa, for instance). There are also words whose disfixation was made by comparison (the case of charlatão, which is a French loanword).

There are also two words which have feminine derivations made through disfixation: mau (bad) and réu (defendant, as used in law), whose feminines are má and ré respectively.

Estonian

Genitive forms of nouns belonging to the Estonian nominal types 5e, 7, and 7e, are formed by disfixing the last consonant -s, may be also accompanied with consonant gradation: kallas → genitive kalda "shore".[6]

See also

Notes

  1. Hardy & Montler, 1988, "Alabama H-infix and Disfixation", in Haas, ed., In Honor of Mary Haas: From the Haas Festival Conference On Native American Linguistics, p. 399.
  2. Manova 2011:125-6
  3. Hardy & Montler 1988:391-2
  4. Bloomfield 1933:217
  5. Speakers of French may learn these words by rote as suppletive pairs rather than deriving one from the other morphologically. Without active morphology, there is arguably no affix involved (cf. Wolfgang U. Dressler, "Subtraction", in: Geert E. Booij, Christian Lehmann & Joachim Mugdan (eds.), Morphology, Berlin, New York: de Gruyter 2000, 581-587, p 582).
  6. http://www.eki.ee/dict/qs2018/muuttyybid.html

Bibliography

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