Interfixes and Connecting Vowels

An interfix is a bound morpheme that connects two morphemes. A type of interfix, a connecting vowel is a vowel grapheme that joins together two morphemes. This page presents an alphabetical list of English interfixes and connecting vowels identified through Structured Word Inquiry (SWI), a framework for studying spelling through the meaning, morphology, relatives, and letters/sounds of a word. Each interfix and connecting vowel entry includes the denotation (core meaning), etymology (historical origin), and evidence from real words to support the existence of the interfix or connecting vowel.

E

-e- (Germanic connecting vowel)

-el- (Latin interfix)

-er- (French interfix before some suffixes)

I

-i- (Latin connecting vowel)

-in- (Latin interfix)

N

-n- (used between a morpheme-final vowel and a morpheme-initial vowel)

O

-o- (Ancient Greek connecting vowel)

U

-u- (Latin connecting vowel)