Infrared spectra of a K 4 C 60 single-phase thin film have been measured between room temperature and 20 K. At low temperatures, the two high-frequency T 1u modes appear as triplets, indicating a static D 2h crystal-field stabilized Jahn-Teller distortion of the C 60 4Ϫ anions. The T 1u (4) mode changes into a known doublet above 250 K, a pattern which could have three origins: a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect, static disorder between ''staggered'' anions, or a phase transition from an orientationally ordered phase to one where molecular motion is significant. The electronic structure of fulleride salts has been a topic of intense interest since their discovery. Three recent reviews summarized the situation: Reed and Bolskar 1 focused on isolated ions; Forró and Mihály 2 treated fulleride solids; and Gunnarson 3 concentrated on the theory of superconductivity and on band-structure calculations, including the important concepts of the Jahn-Teller ͑JT͒ effect. 4 Fulleride anions with charges other than 0 or 6 are susceptible to Jahn-Teller coupling between electrons occupying partially filled t 1u orbitals and H g phonons. Because of the high degeneracy of the phonons involved, the coupled electronic Hamiltonian acquires an SO͑3͒, higher than the original icosahedral configuration. 5 Thus the electronic structure of the outer shell can be discussed in complete analogy with p electrons on an atom. 2 In any uniaxial crystal field, one expects a twofold orbital splitting to e 2u and a u , whereas in a biaxial system the degeneracy is completely lifted, resulting in three distinct electronic levels. ͓It follows from the SO͑3͒ symmetry that the principal axes of the distortions can be taken as the axes of the crystallographic unit cell, regardless of the position of the molecule within the crystal.͔ In solids the orbital splitting is small compared to the bandwidth; thus electron correlation has to be taken into account. The most comprehensive theoretical treatment of this interplay was given by Fabrizio and co-workers, who introduced the concept of the ''Mott-Jahn-Teller insulator'' ͑M-JT͒. 6,7 The model of p-like electrons on a spherical or ellipsoidal surface was indeed succesful in the interpretation of NMR, 8,9 photoelectron spectroscopy, 10,11 resonance Raman, 12 and magnetic 13 data. The situation becomes different, however, once we try to measure properties that reflect the internal degrees of freedom within the C 60 ball itself. Typical examples are magnetic resonance measurements and vibrational spectroscopy. When atomic motion has to be taken into account, the symmetry can no longer be regarded as spherical. Instead, the actual shape of the molecule is determined by the combined internal ͑JT͒ and external ͑crystal field͒ distorting forces. If these result in a potential surface with several shallow wells, then the balls will assume different shapes and positions with respect to the lattice. The result will be either static disorder or random fluctuations between the minima, called the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect....