stem

Pinned sense (Law 11d): both as technical categories of morphological analysis. DERIVED_FROM test (Law 7) — which came first, from independent historical reasoning, not the graph's epoch: the ROOT concept is the older category, attested in the oldest grammatical traditions (Sanskrit dhatu 'verbal root' in Panini, 4th c. BCE; Semitic triconsonantal roots as the classic paradigm; 'etymological root' in Indo-European historical linguistics). The technical STEM category — the unit to which inflection attaches, distinct from the etymological core — crystallized in 19th-century comparative morphology, when the older root/base idea was split into Wurzel (etymological root) and Stamm (inflectional stem). The stem concept was carved out of the root concept by peeling off derivational material; the reverse history is not available. Ordering rests on the history of grammatical literature, not on the graph's epoch estimate (Law 7 anti-circularity).

A stem is the morpheme or combination of morphemes to which inflectional affixes attach. It is a kind of morpheme — specifically, the base form that carries the core lexical meaning and to which grammatical markers are added. A competent speaker classifies a stem as a morpheme.

Suffix is a type of affix that attaches to the end of a word stem. Removal test (Laws 8/8b): remove the concept of stem — the host material the suffix attaches to — and suffix loses its operational meaning. A suffix is defined by its attachment to a stem; without stem, suffix is an unanchored bound morpheme. Constitutive dependency.

Pinned sense (Law 11d): circumfix as the affix type spanning both stem edges. DEPENDS_ON test: remove the concept of stem — the base unit the circumfix wraps around — and the circumfix type loses its operational meaning. A circumfix is defined by its relationship to stems (attaching to both sides of one); without the stem concept, the type is an unanchored position label. Constitutive per Laws 8/8b.

An infix requires a stem to infix into — the stem is the host structure that the infix interrupts. Remove the stem and the infix ceases to operate; it has no host to attach within. This is a structural dependency, not merely conceptual.

Pinned sense: affixation as the process attaching a bound morpheme to a word stem (its accepted definition's own parameter 1 names the stem as the host). Removal test (Laws 2b/8b): remove stems — the host material affixation attaches to — and there is nothing left to attach an affix to; the process stops operating. Constitutive dependency on the host material, the same process-to-material pattern as affixation DEP affix.

Pinned sense: infixation as the operation inserting a bound morpheme into the interior of a word stem. Removal test (Laws 2b/8b): remove stems — the word whose interior hosts the inserted material — and there is nothing to insert into; the process stops operating. Constitutive dependency on the host material; not a sayability or cognition claim.

Prefix is a type of affix that attaches to the beginning of a word stem. Removal test (Laws 8/8b): remove the concept of stem — the base unit the prefix wraps — and prefix loses its operational meaning. A prefix is defined by its attachment to a stem; without stem, the prefix is an unanchored bound morpheme with no structural position. Constitutive dependency.