English
clitic
Clitic comes from Ancient Greek κλιτικός ‘inflexional’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκλιτικόςklitikós‘inflexional’
- Englishearliest quotation 1997clitic
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκλιτικόςklitikós‘inflexional’
- Englishearliest quotation 1997clitic
Earliest quotation: 1997, Raffaella Zanuttini, Negation and Clausal Structure: “In fact, even within the northern Italian dialects, subject…”
Every English word from Ancient Greek κλιτικός
Today it means
noun A morpheme that functions like a word, but never appears as an independent word, instead being always attached to a following or preceding word (or, in some cases, within a surrounding word).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek κλιτικός / clitic