WAS IST EIGENTLICH EIN KONFIX? LÄSST SICH DER BEGRIFF KONFIX EINDEUTIG DEFINIEREN ODER BEDARF ES WEITERER FORSCHUNGEN?

In the field of German word formation, a heated debate has been taking place concerning the problem of defining and classifying the relatively new word forming elements called confixes. In connection with word formation based on foreign material, the problem of analyzing and defining confixes has become particularly important. Many linguists argued that confixes should be distinguished from affixes, while other representatives of the discipline maintain that confixes should be classified as a subgroup of affixes. This article is devoted to the research done by well known German linguists (e.g. Günter D. Schmidt, Wolfgang Fleischer, Elke Donalies, Peter O. Müller, Anja Seiffert, Silke Flies, Angelika Feine, Mechthild Habermann, Sascha Michel) who concentrated on the elements belonging to the bio-, biblio-, anarch-, geo-, ident-, omni-, thermo- type, in order to arrive at a precise definition of the term “confix”. While trying to define and classify the word forming formants called confixes, one can opt for two methods: either taking into account the semantic dimension of the formant or rejecting the semantic approach altogether. Scholars have analyzed the problem of confixes for over twenty years. Elke Donalies [2009b: 60] offers a fairly convincing definition of confixes, but ultimately proposes that the controversial notion be abandoned. However, it is rather unlikely that other researchers will follow her suggestion. The research concerning confixes is still very intensive and the debate has certainly not come to a close, all the more so because in modern German word formation there is a tendency to adopt more and more foreign formants, which convey the meaning more precisely than native word forming elements.