What is an enclitic?

Definition
	An enclitic is a clitic that is phonologically joined at the end of a preceding word to form a single unit.

Examples (English)

The English negative morpheme not becomes an enclitic when de-stressed and joined to the preceding auxiliary verb, as in the following:

Source:

Mish 1991 409

Concept module: enclitic
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): E
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004