Asymmetric Infixation

Abstract

In this paper, I present novel evidence supporting the claim that there are no right-edge infixes. Based on a typological survey, I demonstrate that all putative right-edge infixes only surface in languages with right-edge prosodic prominences. It is therefore possible to reanalyze all right-edge infixes as prominence-oriented infixes. Infixes, as a result, are highly asymmetric: they can occur in the left edge of a stem or in a prosodically prominent position, but nowhere else. To account for this asymmetric distribution, I propose that infix subcategorization is implemented by Anchor, rather than Alignment. Anchor has been previously argued to also be asymmetric (Nelson 2003), where it can target left edges or prominent positions, but crucially never right edges alone. By contrast, Alignment does not predict this asymmetry. I therefore conclude that affixation is divided into two distinct typologies: reduplication and infixation are governed by Anchor, but generic affixation is governed by Alignment.