postbasen.
/ˈpəʊs(t)beɪs/, U.S. /ˈpoʊs(t)ˌbeɪs/ Linguistics.
A derivational suffix.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > morpheme > [noun] > affix > suffix
termisona1400
termination1495
paragoge1577
paragogic1593
desinence1598
terminative1649
suffix1778
subfix1795
postfix1805
ending1864
postbase1958
1958 A. A. Hill Introd. Ling. Struct. viii. 121 The other class of morphemes which can follow a base, we shall call postbases... Postbases, like suffixes, are non-initial. Since more than one postbase can be added to a single base, as in boy-ish-ness, a postbase must be described as a morpheme which can follow a base or another postbase.
1967 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 13 i. 22 OE adverbs also fall into subsets marked by comparative and superlative postbases.
1996 Handbk. N. Amer. Indians XVII. 350 No postbase [in Yupik] is known to be a reduced form of a once independent base.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1958