Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Inflectional Affix

Definition: 

An inflectional affix is an affix that:

  • expresses a grammatical contrast that is obligatory for its stem's word class in some given grammatical context
  • does not change the word class of its stem
  • is typically located farther from its root than a derivational affix
  • produces a predictable, nonidiosyncratic change of meaning.
Examples: 

(English)

Here are some examples of grammatical categories that are expressed by inflectional affixes:

  • Aspect
  • Case
  • Modality
  • Number
  • Person
  • Tense
  • Voice