Infix Definition and Examples

An infix is a word element (a type of affix) that can be inserted within the base form of a word—rather than at its beginning or end—to create a new word or intensify meaning.  The process of inserting an infix is called  infixation. The most common type of infix in  English grammar  is the  expletive, as in fan-bloody-tastic.   [A]s the term suggests, [an  infix] is an affix which is incorporated inside another word. It is possible to see the general principle at work in certain expressions, occasionally used in fortuitous or aggravating circumstances by emotionally aroused English speakers:  Hallebloodylujah!...In the movie  Wish You Were Here, the main character expresses her aggravation (at another characters trying to contact her) by screaming  Tell him Ive gone to Singabloodypore!  (George Yule, The Study of Language, 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2006) How and When Infixes Are Used Rarely used in  formal writing, expletive infixation can sometimes be heard in  colloquial language  and slang though probably not in polite company.   Infixation can make it into more casually themed press coverage (more likely in pop culture, as opposed to hard news), such as in Prince Williams former nanny [Tiggy Pettifer] has spoken of her joy at the engagement between the Prince and Kate Middleton, describing their union as fan-flaming-tastic. (Roya Nikkhah, Prince Williams Nanny Says Engagement Is Fan-Flaming-Tastic.  The Telegraph  [UK], Nov. 21, 2010) And author Ruth Wajnryb has further examples—from literature, no less. This linguistic phenomenon is also known as the integrated adjective. In fact, a poem of that name by John OGrady (aka Nino Culotta) was published in the  eponymously  titled  A Book About Australia, in which numerous examples of the integrated adjective appear:  me-bloody-self, kanga-bloody-roos, forty-bloody-seven, good e-bloody-nough. (Expletive Deleted: A Good Look at Bad Language. Free Press, 2005) In English, additions normally attach to the end or start of a word, with prefixes and suffixes, such as pre- or -ed. There are even circumfixes, which attach to the front and the back, as in  enlighten.  In Austroasiatic languages in Southeast Asia and eastern India, the use of the infix is more common and not used just to create expletives, as in English. In fact, English has no true  infixes, but the plural suffix  -s  behaves something like an infix in unusual plurals like  passers-by  and  mothers-in-law (R.L. Trask, The Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar, 2000).   Creating an Infix Authors Kristin Denham and Anne Lobeck give a detailed explanation of where the infixes are inserted into a word: Native speakers of English have intuitions about where in a word the infix is inserted. Consider where your favorite expletive infix goes in these words:fantastic, education, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Stillaguamish, emancipation, absolutely, hydrangeaMost speakers agree on these patterns, though there are some dialectal variations. You likely found that the infix is inserted at the following points:fan-***-tastic, edu-***-cation, Massa-***-chusetts, Phila-***-delphia, Stilla-***-guamish, emanci-***-pation, abso-***-lutely, hy-***-drangeaThe infix gets inserted before the syllable that receives the most stress. And it cannot be inserted anywhere else in the word. (Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction. Wadsworth, 2010)