Suprafix

In linguistics, a suprafix is a type of affix that adds a suprasegmental pattern (such as tone or stress) to a neutral base in order to convey a derivational or inflectional meaning. For example, a number of African languages express tense /aspect distinctions by tone. The term was suggested by Eugene Nida and taken up in Peter Matthews' influential morphology textbook but is not very widely used. Some linguists prefer superfix, which was introduced by George L. Trager for the stress pattern of a word, which he regarded as a special morpheme that combines and unifies the parts of a word.