Controversies over the Functional Status of Some Linguistic Units

An attempt is made to clarify the functional status of affixoids as a morphological category intermediate between affixes & roots. A survey of the linguistic literature is conducted to consider the various proposals made both vis-a-vis appropriate terminology (eg, the designations "semi-affix" or "radixoid") & the form class affiliation of these units, most of which derive from autonomous words in Greek or Latin; the issues pertaining to affixoids addressed here are illustrated with examples from Romance languages. The behavior of affixoids is compared with that of prefixes & suffixes proper, & their status as free vs bound morphemes/lexemes is investigated. It is concluded that from a synchronic, word-formational perspective, items composed with affixoids, in either prefixal or suffixal position, should not be treated differently from words derived with traditional affixes. However, such derivatives can be subsumed into a special class of learned or cultivated formations when composed of Greco-Latin elements. Z. Dubiel