semeology semiology semi-affix [Lat. semi- ‘half’]

Cover term for all affix-like derivational ele-ments that also exist as independently occurring stems. The criteria for classifying elements caught up in this transition from free to bound status are a series formation (fireproof, waterproof, winterproof) and a generalization of meaning. ( also semi-prefix, semi-suffix)

Lexical morpheme that is attached to one (and only one) base morpheme and whose original meaning can no longer be analyzed synchronically, as e.g. cran-, in cranberry. Pertinent to the classification of a semi-morpheme is that (a) the morpheme with which it occurs can be unequivocally classified, (b) the semimorpheme has a distinctive function in the paradigm (cf. cranberry vs boysenberry and huckleberry), but (c) does not form a series (by which it would be differentiated from other stems). If a semi-morpheme occurs in derivations, it is called a pseudomorpheme.