Re: Phrasal Affixes
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 3:01 pm
Looks to me as if The Good Doctor just found a possible GWOTD: clitic.. . .
Clitics are unaccented particles that attach themselves to words at the beginning (proclitics) or end of phrases (enclitics) very much like the way affixes attach themselves to words.
. . .
IN PLAY: The rock band was surrounded by groupies that clung like clitics to a phrase, the difference being that while proclitics and enclitics serve to help a phrase convey its meaning, the groupies' proclivities were to serve no useful purpose whatsoever.