Infix is also used to describe mathematical notation where an operator comes between two terms (like "1 + 2") and as opposed to prefix notation (as in LISP which uses "(+ 1 2)") or postfix notation (as used in Reverse Polish Notation "1 2 +").
I read in some cognitive science book (Steven Pinker, I think) that there are rules about which words can have tmesis/infix, with "Man-fucking-hattan" as an example which can have it, while "Brook-fucking-lyn" or "Bos-fucking-ton" sound wrong to native speakers.
There are indeed rules governing where infixes can go, and there are people who study them -- in the sense of trying to work out explicitly what we understand intuitively. It's fascinating stuff.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2017-09-19 03:58 am (UTC)I read in some cognitive science book (Steven Pinker, I think) that there are rules about which words can have tmesis/infix, with "Man-fucking-hattan" as an example which can have it, while "Brook-fucking-lyn" or "Bos-fucking-ton" sound wrong to native speakers.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-19 03:02 pm (UTC)