ˈsuperfix Phonetics.
[f. super- 2, after prefix, suffix, etc.]
A sequence of stress or other suprasegmental phonemes which is treated as part of the grammatical structure of words and phrases.
| 1951 Trager & Smith Outl. Eng. Structure ii. 56 Suprasegmental morphemes consisting of patterns of stress, with the possibility of including plus junctures, are called superfixes. Those consisting of pitches and a terminal juncture are called intonation patterns. Ibid., A morphemic phrase consists of two or more bases, with their suffixes, and a superfix. 1954 [see simulfix]. 1956 H. Whitehall in Kenyon Rev. XVIII. 415 In their Outline, Trager and Smith have..assembled some..linguistic tools. Their exposition of the superfix..throws.. light on the distinction between the verse of Wyatt, Donne,..Hopkins, and Eliot in which superfix patterns function freely..as part of the rhythm, and the verse of Surrey, Pope, Tennyson, in which the superfixes are frozen..in the rhythm. 1965 [see high-tone s.v. high a. 22 a]. 1972 Hartmann & Stork Dict. Lang. & Linguistics 226/1 Superfix, term used to describe the suprasegmental or prosodic features of a particular word or utterance, e.g. the stress pattern which distinguishes modifier + noun green house from the compound noun greenhouse. |