# Clitic
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{{Short description|Linguistic concept}}
In [morphology](/source/Morphology_(linguistics)) and [syntax](/source/syntax), a '''clitic''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|l|ɪ|t|ᵻ|k}} {{respelling|KLIT|ik}}, [backformed](/source/Back-formation) from [Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) {{lang|grc|ἐγκλιτικός}} {{grc-transl|ἐγκλιτικός}} "leaning" or "enclitic"[Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.]) is a [morpheme](/source/morpheme) that has syntactic characteristics of a word, but depends [phonologically](/source/phonology) on another word or phrase. In this sense, it is syntactically independent but phonologically dependent—always attached to a host.[SIL International (2003). SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms: What is a clitic? "This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003." Retrieved from {{cite web |url=http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsACliticGrammar.htm |title=What is a clitic? (Grammar) |access-date=2004-04-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040510110313/http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsACliticGrammar.htm |archive-date=2004-05-10 }}.] A clitic is pronounced like an [affix](/source/affix), but plays a syntactic role at the [phrase](/source/phrase) level. In other words, clitics have the ''form'' of affixes, but they are distributed like [function word](/source/function_word)s.
Clitics can belong to any grammatical category, although they are commonly [pronoun](/source/pronoun)s, [determiner](/source/determiner)s, or [adposition](/source/adposition)s. Note that [orthography](/source/orthography) is not always a good guide for distinguishing clitics from affixes: clitics may be written as separate words, but sometimes they are joined to the word they depend on (like the Latin clitic {{lang|la|-que}}, meaning "and").
==Classification==
Clitics fall into various categories depending on their position in relation to the word they connect to.[{{Cite journal |last=Culbertson |first=Jennifer |date=March 2010 |title=Convergent evidence for categorial change in French: From subject clitic to agreement marker |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/376555 |journal=Language |language=en |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=85–132 |doi=10.1353/lan.0.0183 |issn=1535-0665}}]
{{interlinear
| lang = fra
| indent = 2
| top = |Jean, '''il''' parle|Jean '''he''' speak.3.SG|Jean speaks.
}}
=== Enclitic ===
An enclitic appears after its host.[{{cite book
| last = Harris
| first = Alice C.
| year = 2002
| title = Endoclitics and the Origins of Udi Morphosyntax
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Oxford
| isbn=0-19-924633-5
}}
] Endoclitics have also been claimed for [Pashto](/source/Pashto_language)[[Craig A. Kopris](/source/Craig_Kopris) & Anthony R. Davis ([AppTek](/source/Apptek), Inc. / StreamSage, Inc.), September 18, 2005. Endoclitics in Pashto: Implications for Lexical Integrity ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060507073023/http://morbo.lingue.unibo.it/mmm/mm5-abstracts/kopris-davis.pdf abstract pdf])] and [Degema](/source/Degema_language).[{{cite book
| last = Kari
| first = Ethelbert Emmanuel
| year = 2003
| title = Clitics in Degema: A Meeting Point of Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax
| publisher = Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa
| location = Tokyo
| isbn=4-87297-850-1
}}
]
However, other authors treat such forms as a sequence of clitics docked to the stem.[[https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/007071 Martin Haspelmath (2022) 'Types of clitics in the world’s languages']]
=== Mesoclitic ===
A ''mesoclitic'' is a type of clitic that occurs between the [stem](/source/Word_stem) of a verb and its affixes. Mesoclisis is rare outside of formal standard Portuguese, where it is predominantly found. In Portuguese, mesoclitic constructions are typically formed with the infinitive form of the verb, a clitic pronoun, and a lexicalized tense affix.[{{Cite book |last=Vigário |first=Marina |title=The Prosodic Word in European Portuguese |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tn_bWSNjMisC |date=2011 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110900927 |page=270 |quote=...according to the analysis of Duarte and Matos (2000), mesoclitic constructions are formed by the infinitive form of the verb, a clitic pronoun and a "lexicalized T-affix."}}]
For example, in the sentence ''conquistar-'''se'''-á'' ("it will be conquered"), the reflexive pronoun "se" appears between the stem ''conquistar'' and the future tense affix ''á''. This placement of the clitic is characteristic of mesoclisis. Other examples include ''dá-'''lo'''-ei'' ("I will give it") and ''matá-'''la'''-ia'' ("he/she/it would kill her"). These forms are typically found much more frequently in written Portuguese than in spoken varieties. Additionally, it is possible to use two clitics within a verb, as in ''dar-'''no'''-'''lo'''-á'' ("he/she/it will give it to us") and ''dar-'''ta'''-ei'' (''ta'' = ''te'' + ''a'', "I will give it/her to you").[{{Cite book |last1=Duarte |first1=Inês |last2=Matos |first2=Gabriela |title=Romance Clitics and the Minimalist Program |date=2000 |editor-last=Costa |editor-first=João |pages=116–142 |publisher=Oxford University Press |hdl=10451/43757 |isbn=0-19-512575-4 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10451/43757}}]
This phenomenon is possible due to the historical evolution of the Portuguese synthetic future tense, which comes from the fusion of the infinitive form of the verb and the finite forms of the auxiliary verb ''haver'' (from Latin ''habēre''). This origin explains why the clitic can appear between the verb stem and its tense marker, as the future tense was originally a separate word.[{{Cite book |last=Vigário |first=Marina |title=The Prosodic Word in European Portuguese |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tn_bWSNjMisC |date=2011 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110900927 |page=270}}]
Colloquial [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language) exhibits an instance of a mesoclitic where the conjunction enclitic ''de'' ("also, as well") is inserted after the gerundive suffix ''-e'' connecting the verb stem to the potential suffix ''-(e)bilmek'',[{{cite book|last1=Göksel|first1=Aslı|last2=Kerslake|first2=Celia|date=2005|title=Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar|page=101|language=English|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-203-34076-0}}] effectively rendering it in its original auxiliary verb form ''bilmek'' (to know). Suffixed auxiliary verbs cannot be converted into individual verbs in Standard Turkish, and the gerundive suffix is considered an [inseparable](/source/separable_verb) part of them.
{{interlinear
| lang = tr
| indent = 2
| top = Standard Turkish:|Gidebilirim de, gitmeyebilirim de.|go-POT-AOR-1SG also, go-NEG-POT-AOR-1SG also.|Maybe I'll go, maybe I won't.
}}
{{interlinear
| lang = tr
| indent = 2
| top = Colloquial Turkish:|Gide de bilirim, gitmeye de bilirim.|go-GER also know-AOR-1SG, go-NEG-GER also know-AOR-1SG.|Maybe I'll go, maybe I won't.
| bottom = Because there is no standard form of this expression, it is also written together as ''"Gidedebilirim, gitmeyedebilirim."''
}}
==Distinction==
One distinction drawn by some scholars divides the broad term "clitics" into two categories, simple clitics and special clitics.[Miller, Philip H. "Clitics and Phrasal Affixes." Clitics and Constituents in Phrase Structure Grammar. New York: Garland, 1992. N. pag. Print.] This distinction is, however, disputed.[Bermúdez-Otero, Ricardo & John Payne (2011). There are no special clitics. In Alexandra Galani, Glyn Hicks & George Tsoulas (eds), ''Morphology and its interfaces'' (Linguistik Aktuell 178), 57–96. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.]
=== Simple clitics ===
Simple clitics are free morphemes that can stand alone in a phrase or sentence.{{Example needed|date=December 2018}} They are unaccented and thus phonologically dependent upon a nearby word. They derive meaning only from that "host".[{{cite book
| last = Hopper
| first = Paul J.
|author2=Elizabeth Closs Traugott
| year = 2003
| edition = 2nd
| title = Grammaticalization
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| location = Cambridge
| isbn=978-0-521-80421-9}}
]
{{in5}}lexical item → clitic → affix[[Klavans, Judith L.](/source/Judith_Klavans) On Clitics and Cliticization: The Interaction of Morphology, Phonology, and Syntax. New York: Garland Pub., 1995. Print.]
According to this model from [Judith Klavans](/source/Judith_Klavans), an autonomous lexical item in a particular context loses the properties of a fully independent word over time and acquires the properties of a morphological affix (prefix, suffix, infix, etc.). At any intermediate stage of this evolutionary process, the element in question can be described as a "clitic". As a result, this term ends up being applied to a highly heterogeneous class of elements, presenting different combinations of word-like and affix-like properties.[Klavans, Judith L. On Clitics and Cliticization: The Interaction of Morphology, Phonology, and Syntax. New York: Garland Pub., 1995. Print.]
Given this basic definition, further criteria are needed to establish a dividing line between clitics and affixes. There is no natural, clear-cut boundary between the two categories (since from a [diachronic point of view](/source/Diachrony_and_synchrony), a given form can move gradually from one to the other by morphologization). However, by identifying clusters of observable properties that are associated with core examples of clitics on the one hand, and core examples of affixes on the other, one can pick out a battery of tests that provide an empirical foundation for a clitic-affix distinction.
An affix attaches syntactically and [phonologically](/source/phonology) to a base [morpheme](/source/morpheme) of a limited [part of speech](/source/part_of_speech), such as a verb, to form a new word. A clitic syntactically functions above the word level, on the [phrase](/source/phrase) or [clause](/source/clause) level, and attaches only phonetically to the first, last, or only word in the phrase or clause, whichever part of speech the word belongs to.[{{cite book
| last = Zwicky
| first = Arnold
| author-link = Arnold Zwicky
| year = 1977
| title = On Clitics
| publisher = Indiana University Linguistics Club
| location = Bloomington}}
]
The results of applying these criteria sometimes reveal that elements that have traditionally been called "clitics" actually have the status of affixes (e.g., the Romance pronominal clitics discussed below).[
Zwicky and Pullum postulated five characteristics that distinguish clitics from affixes:][
* Clitics do not select their hosts. That is, they are "promiscuous", attaching to whichever word happens to be in the right place. Affixes do select their host: They only attach to the word they are connected to semantically, and generally attach to a particular part of speech.
* Clitics do not exhibit arbitrary lexical gaps. Affixes, on the other hand, are often lexicalized and may simply not occur with certain words. (English plural -s, for example, does not occur with "child".)
* Clitics do not exhibit morphophonological idiosyncrasies. That is, they follow the morphophonological rules of the rest of the language. Affixes may be irregular in this regard.
* Clitics do not exhibit semantic idiosyncrasies. That is, the meaning of the phrase-plus-clitic is predictable from the meanings of the phrase and the clitic. Affixes may have irregular meanings.
* Clitics can attach to material already containing clitics (and affixes). Affixes can attach to other affixes, but not to material containing clitics. That is, an affix may appear between a stem and a clitic, but a clitic may not occur between a stem and an affix to that stem.
An example of differing analyses by different linguists is the discussion of the [possessive marker](/source/Possessive_determiner) ('s) in English; some linguists treat it as an affix, while others treat it as a clitic.][{{Cite book|title=Clitics: An Introduction | first1=Andrew |last1=Spencer| first2=Ana R. |last2=Luis |isbn=9781139560313 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wLYgAwAAQBAJ |date= 2012 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |pages=292–293|quote=There are two alternatives that have been explored in recent literature.}}]
===Comparison with words===
Similar to the discussion above, clitics must be distinguishable from words. Linguists have proposed a number of tests to differentiate between the two categories. Some tests, specifically, are based upon the understanding that when comparing the two, clitics resemble affixes, while words resemble syntactic phrases. Clitics and words resemble different categories, in the sense that they share certain properties. Six such tests are described below. These are not the only ways to differentiate between words and clitics.[Zwicky, Arnold M. "Clitics and Particles." Language 61.2 (1985): 283–305. Print.]
*If a morpheme is bound to a word and can never occur in complete isolation, then it is likely a clitic. In contrast, a word is not bound and can appear on its own.
*If the addition of a morpheme to a word prevents further affixation, then it is likely a clitic.
*If a morpheme combines with single words to convey a further degree of meaning, then it is likely a clitic. A word combines with a group of words or phrases to denote further meaning.{{Contradictory inline|reason=Further above it is said that clitics work on the phrase level. The English possessive, for example, attaches to a complete phrase.|date=October 2014}}
*If a morpheme must be in a certain order with respect to other morphemes within the construction, then it is likely a clitic. Independent words enjoy free ordering with respect to other words, within the confines of the word order of the language.
*If a morpheme's allowable behavior is determined by one principle, it is likely a clitic. For example, "a" precedes indefinite nouns in English. Words can rarely be described with one such description.
*In general, words are more morphologically complex than clitics. Clitics are rarely composed of more than one morpheme.[{{Cite book
| vauthors=Wackernagel, W
| title = On a law of Indo-European word order: Über ein Gesetz der indogermanischen Wortstellung
| place = Berlin
| publisher = Language Science Press
| date = 2020
| format = pdf
| url = http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/270
| doi = 10.5281/zenodo.3978908
| doi-access=free
| isbn = 978-3-96110-271-6
}}]
*[Latin](/source/Latin_language) had three enclitics that appeared in second or third position of a clause: ''-enim'' 'indeed, for', ''-autem'' 'but, moreover', ''-vero'' 'however'. For example, ''quis enim (quisenim) potest negare?'' (from [Martial](/source/Martial)'s epigram LXIV, literally "who indeed can deny [her riches]?"). Spevak (2010) reports that in her corpus of [Caesar](/source/Caesar), [Cicero](/source/Cicero) and [Sallust](/source/Sallust), these three words appear in such position in 100% of the cases.[Spevak, Olga (2010). ''The Constituent Order of Classical Latin Prose''. In series: ''Studies in language Amsterdam / Companion series'' (vol. 117). {{ISBN|9027205841}}. Page 14.]
* [Russian](/source/Russian_language) has one: ли ''(li)'' which acts as a general question marker. It always appears in second position in its sentence or proposition, and if the interrogation concerns one word in particular, that word is placed before it:
** Он завтра придёт ''(on zavtra pridyot)'', He'll arrive tomorrow.
** Придёт ли он завтра?, Will he arrive tomorrow?
** Завтра ли он придёт?, Is it tomorrow that he'll arrive?
** Он ли завтра придёт?, Is it he who'll arrive tomorrow?
** Я не знаю, придёт ли он завтра ''(Ya nye znayu, pridyot li on zavtra)'', I don't know whether he'll arrive tomorrow.
==Indo-European languages==
===Germanic languages===
==== English ====
[English](/source/English_language) enclitics include the contracted versions of auxiliary verbs, as in ''I'm'' and ''we've''.[{{Cite book|last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |author-link1=Rodney Huddleston
|last2= Pullum |first2= Geoffrey |author-link2=Geoffrey Pullum
|title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge; New York |isbn=0-521-43146-8|pages=1614–1616}}
] Some also regard the [possessive marker](/source/English_possessive), as in ''The King of England's crown'', as an enclitic, rather than a (phrasal) genitival inflection.[{{Cite book|last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |author-link1=Rodney Huddleston|last2= Pullum |first2= Geoffrey |author-link2=Geoffrey Pullum|title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge; New York |isbn=0-521-43146-8|pages=480–481}}]
Some consider the [infinitive marker](/source/Uses_of_English_verb_forms) ''to'' and the [English articles](/source/English_articles) ''a, an, the'' to be proclitics.[{{cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/~zwicky/what-is-a-clitic.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031073058/http://web.stanford.edu/~zwicky/what-is-a-clitic.pdf |archive-date=2014-10-31 |url-status=live|title=What is a clitic?|website=stanford.edu|access-date=30 April 2018}}]
The negative marker ''-n't'' as in ''couldn't'' etc. is typically considered a clitic that developed from the lexical item ''not''. Linguists [Arnold Zwicky](/source/Arnold_Zwicky) and [Geoffrey Pullum](/source/Geoffrey_Pullum) argue, however, that the form has the properties of an affix rather than a syntactically independent clitic.[{{cite journal
| last= Zwicky
| first= Arnold M.
| year= 1983
| title= Cliticization vs. inflection: the case of English ''n't''
| journal= Language
| volume= 59
| pages= 502–513
| doi= 10.2307/413900
| issue= 3
| author2= Pullum| jstor= 413900
}}]
====Other Germanic languages====
*[Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse): The definite article was the enclitic {{lang|non|-inn}}, {{lang|non|-in}}, {{lang|non|-itt}} (masculine, feminine and neuter nominative singular), as in {{lang|non|álfrinn}} ("the elf"), {{lang|non|gjǫfin}} ("the gift"), and {{lang|non|tréit}} ("the tree"), an abbreviated form of the independent pronoun {{lang|non|inn}}, [cognate](/source/cognate) of the German pronoun {{lang|de|jener}}. It was fully declined for gender, case and number. Since both the noun and enclitic were declined, this led to "double declension". The situation remains similar in modern [Faroese](/source/Faroese_language) and [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language), but in [Danish](/source/Danish_language), [Norwegian](/source/Norwegian_language) and [Swedish](/source/Swedish_language), the enclitics have become [endings](/source/Suffix). Old Norse had also some enclitics of personal pronouns that were attached to verbs. These were {{lang|non|-sk}} (from {{lang|non|sik}}), {{lang|non|-mk}} (from {{lang|non|mik}}), {{lang|non|-k}} (from {{lang|non|ek}}), and {{lang|non|-ðu / -du / -tu}} (from {{lang|non|þú}}). These could even be stacked up, e.g. {{lang|non|fásktu}} ([Hávamál](/source/H%C3%A1vam%C3%A1l), stanza 116).
*[Dutch](/source/Dutch_language): {{lang|nl|'t}} definite article of neuter nouns and third person singular neuter pronoun, {{lang|nl|'k}} first person pronoun, {{lang|nl|je}} second person singular pronoun, {{lang|nl|ie}} third person masculine singular pronoun, {{lang|nl|ze}} third person plural pronoun
* [Plautdietsch](/source/Plautdietsch): {{lang|pdt|Deit'a't vondoag?}} ("Will he do it today?")
*[Gothic](/source/Gothic_language): Sentence clitics appear in 2nd position in accordance with [Wackernagel's Law](/source/Wackernagel's_Law), including {{lang|got|-u}} ([yes–no question](/source/yes%E2%80%93no_question)), {{lang|got|-uh}} ("and"), {{lang|got|þan}} ("then"), {{lang|got|ƕa}} ("anything"), for example {{lang|got|ab-'''u''' þus silbin}} ("of thyself?"). Multiple clitics could be stacked up, and split a [preverb](/source/preverb) from its rest of the verb if the preverb comes at the beginning of the clause, e.g. {{lang|got|diz-'''uh-þan'''-sat ijōs}} ("and then he seized them (fem.)"), {{lang|got|ga-'''u-ƕa'''-sēƕi}} ("whether he saw anything").
*[Yiddish](/source/Yiddish): The unspecified pronoun {{lang|yi|מען}} can be contracted to {{lang|yi|מ'}}.
===Celtic languages===
In [Cornish](/source/Cornish_language), the clitics ''ma'' ''/'' ''na'' are used after a noun and definite article to express "this" / "that" (singular) and "these" / "those" (plural). For example:
*''an lyver'' "the book", ''an lyver ma'' "this book", ''an lyver na'' "that book"
*''an lyvrow'' "the books", ''an lyvrow ma'' "these books", ''an lyvrow na'' "those books"
[Irish Gaelic](/source/Irish-Gaelic) uses ''seo'' ''/'' ''sin'' as clitics in a similar way, also to express "this" / "that" and "these" / "those". For example:
*''an leabhar'' "the book", ''an leabhar seo'' "this book", ''an leabhar sin'' "that book"
*''na leabhair'' "the books", ''na leabhair seo'' "these books", ''na leabhair sin'' "those books"
===Romance languages===
In [Romance languages](/source/Romance_languages), some have treated the object [personal pronoun](/source/personal_pronoun) forms as clitics, though they only attach to the verb they are the [object](/source/Object_(grammar)) of and so are affixes by the definition used here.[Andrew Spencer and Ana Luís, "The canonical clitic". In Brown, Chumakina, & Corbett, eds. ''Canonical Morphology and Syntax''. Oxford University Press, pp. 123–150.] There is no general agreement on the issue.[{{cite web |url=http://www.diplist.it/mmm8/handout/Gaglia_Schwarze.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-05-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518102639/http://www.diplist.it/mmm8/handout/Gaglia_Schwarze.pdf |archive-date=2014-05-18 }}] For the [Spanish object pronouns](/source/Spanish_object_pronouns), for example:
*'''''lo''' atamos'' {{IPA|['''lo'''aˈtamos]}} ("'''it''' tied-1PL" = "we tied it" or "we tied him"; can only occur with the verb it is the object of)
*''dá'''melo''''' {{IPA|[ˈda'''melo''']}} ("give '''me it'''")
[Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language) allows object suffixes before the conditional and future suffixes of the verbs:[
{{cite journal
|last=Gadelii
|first=Karl Erland
|year=2002
|title=Pronominal Syntax in Maputo Portuguese (Mozambique) from a Comparative Creole and Bantu Perspective
|journal=Africa & Asia
|volume=2
|pages=27–41
|issn=1650-2019
|url=http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa02027.pdf
|access-date=2006-09-20
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920015915/http://www.african.gu.se/aa/pdfs/aa02027.pdf
|archive-date=2006-09-20
}}
]
*''Ela levá-'''lo'''-ia'' ("''She take-'''it'''-would''" – "She would take it").
*''Eles dar-'''no'''-'''lo'''-ão'' ("''They give-'''us'''-'''it'''-will''" – "They will give it to us").
Colloquial [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language) allows '''ser''' to be conjugated as a verbal clitic adverbial adjunct to emphasize the importance of the phrase compared to its context, or with the meaning of "really" or "in truth":[
{{cite journal
|last = Bartens
|first = Angela, and Niclas Sandström
|year = 2005
|title = Novas notas sobre a construção com ser focalizador
|journal = EStudos Em Homenagem Ao Professor Doutor Mário Vilela
|volume = 1
|pages = 105–119
|url = http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/4523.pdf
|access-date = 2014-03-11
|url-status = live
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140312000606/http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/4523.pdf
|archive-date = 2014-03-12
}}
]
*''Ele estava '''é''' gordo'' ("''He was '''is''' fat''" – "He was very fat").
*''Ele ligou '''é''' para Paula'' ("''He phoned '''is''' Paula''" – "He phoned Paula (''with emphasis on the indirect object'')").
Note that this clitic form is only for the verb '''ser''' and is restricted to only third-person singular conjugations. It is not used as a verb in the grammar of the sentence but introduces prepositional phrases and adds emphasis. It does not need to concord with the tense of the main verb, as in the second example, and can be usually removed from the sentence without affecting the simple meaning.
===Proto-Indo-European===
In the [Indo-European languages](/source/Indo-European_languages), some clitics can be traced back to [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European_language): for example, {{lang|ine-x-proto|*-kʷe}} is the original form of [Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit) ''च'' (''-ca''), [Greek](/source/Greek_language) ''τε'' (''-te''), and [Latin](/source/Latin) ''-que''.
*Latin: ''-que'' "and", ''-ve'' "or", ''-ne'' ([yes–no question](/source/yes%E2%80%93no_question))
*Greek: ''τε'' "and", ''δέ'' "but", ''γάρ'' "for" (in a logical argument), ''οὖν'' "therefore"
===Slavic languages===
*[Russian](/source/Russian_language): ли (yes–no question), же (emphasis), то (emphasis), не "not" (proclitic), бы (subjunctive)
* [Czech](/source/Czech_language): special clitics: weak personal and reflexive pronouns (''mu'', "him"), certain auxiliary verbs (''by'', "would"), and various short particles and adverbs (''tu'', "here"; ''ale'', "though"). "''Nepodařilo '''by se mi mu to''' dát''" "I would not succeed in giving it to him". In addition there are various simple clitics including short prepositions.
* [Polish](/source/Polish_language): ''-by'' (conditional mood particle), ''się'' (reflexive, also modifies meaning of certain verbs), ''no'' and ''-że'' (emphasis), ''-m, -ś, -śmy, -ście'' (personal auxiliary), ''mi, ci, cię, go, mu'' &c. (unstressed personal pronouns in [oblique case](/source/oblique_case)s)
==== Serbo-Croatian ====
[Serbo-Croatian](/source/Serbo-Croatian): the [reflexive pronoun](/source/reflexive_pronoun) forms ''si'' and ''se'', ''li'' (yes–no question), unstressed [present](/source/Present_tense) and [aorist](/source/aorist) tense forms of ''biti'' ("to be"; ''sam, si, je, smo, ste, su''; and ''bih, bi, bi, bismo, biste, bi'', for the respective tense), unstressed [personal pronoun](/source/personal_pronoun)s in genitive (''me, te, ga, je, nas, vas, ih''), dative (''mi, ti, mu, joj, nam, vam, im'') and accusative (''me, te, ga (nj), je (ju), nas, vas, ih''), and unstressed present tense of ''htjeti'' ("want/will"; ''ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će'')
These clitics follow the first stressed word in the sentence or clause in most cases, which may have been inherited from [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European) (see [Wackernagel's Law](/source/Wackernagel's_Law)), even though many of the modern clitics became cliticised much more recently in the language (e.g. auxiliary verbs or the accusative forms of pronouns). In subordinate clauses and questions, they follow the connector and/or the question word respectively.
Examples (clitics – ''sam'' "I am", ''biste'' "you would (pl.)", ''mi'' "to me", ''vam'' "to you (pl.)", ''ih'' "them"):
* ''Pokažite '''mi ih'''.'' "Show (pl.) them to me."
* ''Pokazao '''sam vam ih''' jučer.'' "I showed them to you (pl.) yesterday."
* ''Sve '''sam vam ih''' (jučer) pokazao. / Sve '''sam vam ih''' pokazao (jučer).'' "I showed all of them to you (yesterday)." (focus on "all")
* ''Jučer '''sam vam ih''' (sve) pokazao.'' "I showed (all of) them to you yesterday." (focus on "yesterday")
* ''Znam da '''sam vam ih''' već pokazao.'' "I know that I have already shown them to you."
* ''Zašto '''sam vam ih''' jučer pokazao?'' "Why did I show them to you yesterday?"
* ''Zar '''sam vam ih''' jučer pokazao?'' "Did I (really) show them to you yesterday?"
* ''Kad '''biste mi ih''' sada dali...'' "If you (pl.) gave them to me now..." (lit. If you-would to-me them now give-''participle''...)
* ''Što '''sam''' god vidio...'' "Whatever I saw..." (lit. What I-am ever see-''participle''...)
In certain rural dialects this rule is (or was until recently) very strict, whereas elsewhere various exceptions occur. These include phrases containing conjunctions (e. g. ''Ivan i Ana'' "Ivan and Ana"), nouns with a genitival attribute (e. g. ''vrh brda'' "the top of the hill"), proper names and titles and the like (e. g. ''(gospođa) Ivana Marić'' "(Mrs) Ivana Marić", ''grad Zagreb'' "the city (of) Zagreb"), and in many local varieties clitics are hardly ever inserted into any phrases (e. g. ''moj najbolji prijatelj'' "my best friend", ''sutra ujutro'' "tomorrow morning"). In cases like these, clitics normally follow the initial phrase, although some Standard grammar handbooks recommend that they should be placed immediately after the verb (many native speakers find this unnatural).
Examples:
* ''Ja '''smo''' i on otišli u grad.'' "He and I went to town." (lit. I are and him gone to town) – this is dialectal.
* ''Ja i on '''smo''' otišli u grad.'' – commonly heard
* ''Ja i on otišli '''smo''' u grad.'' – prescribed by some standard grammars
* ''Moja '''mu je''' starija sestra to rekla.'' "My elder sister told him that." (lit. my to-him is elder sister that say-''participle'') – standard and usual in many dialects
* ''Moja starija sestra '''mu je''' to rekla.'' – common in many dialects
Clitics are however never inserted after the negative particle ''ne'', which always precedes the verb in Serbo-Croatian, or after prefixes (earlier preverbs), and the interrogative particle ''li'' always immediately follows the verb. Colloquial interrogative particles such as ''da li'', ''dal'', ''jel'' appear in sentence-initial position and are followed by clitics (if there are any).
Examples:
* ''Ne vidim '''te'''.'' "I don't (or can't) see you."
* ''Dovedite '''ih'''.'' "Bring them (over here)!" (a prefixed verb: ''do+vedite'')
* ''Vidiš '''li me'''?'' "Do/can you see me?"
* ''Vidiš '''li''' sestru?'' "Do you see the sister?" (It is impossible to say, e. g. **Sestru li vidiš?, although ''Sestru vidiš.'' "It's the sister that you see." is natural)
* ''Jel '''(me)''' vidiš?'' "Do/Can you see (me)?" (colloquial)
==Other languages==
*[Arabic](/source/Arabic_language): Suffixes standing for direct object pronouns and/or indirect object pronouns (as found in Indo-European languages) are suffixed to verbs, possessive determiners are suffixed to nouns, and pronouns are suffixed to particles.
*[Australian Aboriginal languages](/source/Australian_Aboriginal_languages): Many Australian languages use [bound pronoun](/source/Personal_pronoun) enclitics to mark inanimate [arguments](/source/Argument_(linguistics)) and, in many [pro-drop](/source/Pro-drop_language) languages like [Warlpiri](/source/Warlpiri_language), animate arguments as well. Pronominal enclitics may also mark [possession](/source/Possessive_(linguistics)) and other less common argument structures like causal and reciprocal arguments (see [Pintupi](/source/Pintupi_dialect)[Blake, Barry J. 2014. ''Australian Aboriginal Grammar'' (ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: LINGUISTICS). Vol. Volume 52. Oxon: Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781317918325 (11 June 2020).]). In some Australian languages, case markers also seem to operate like special clitics since they are distributed at the phrasal instead of word level (indeed, clitics have been referred to as "phrasal [affix](/source/affix)es"[{{Cite book|last=Anderson, Stephen R.|title=Aspects of the theory of clitics|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University|isbn=978-0-19-927990-6|location=New York|oclc=60776789}}]) see for example in [Wangkatja](/source/Wangkatja_language).[{{Cite journal|last=Shoulson|first=Oliver|date=2019|title=Case Suffixes as Special Clitics in Wangkatja|url=http://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.10204.00649|language=en|doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.10204.00649}}]
*[Finnish](/source/Finnish_language): Finnish has seven clitics, which change according to the [vowel harmony](/source/Vowel_harmony): ''-kO'' (''-ko ~ -kö''), ''-kA'' (''-ka ~ -kä''), ''-kin'', ''-kAAn'' (''-kaan ~ -kään''), ''-pA'' (''-pa'' ~ ''-pä''), ''-hAn'' (''-han ~ -hän'') and ''-s''. One word can have multiple clitics attached to it: ''on'''kohan'''?'' "'''I wonder''' '''if''' it is?"
**''-kO'' attached to a verb makes it a question. It is used in yes/no questions: ''Katsot televisiota'' "You are watching television" → ''Katsot'''ko''' televisiota?'' "Are you watching television?". It can also be added to words that are not verbs but the emphasis changes: ''Televisiota'''ko''' katsot?'' "Is it television you're watching?", ''Sinä'''kö''' katsot televisiota?'' "Is it you who is watching television?"
**''-kA'' gives the host word a colloquial tone: ''miten'' ~ ''miten'''kä''''' ("how"). When attached to a [negative verb](/source/Negative_verb) it corresponds with "and": ''En pidä mansikoista en'''kä''' mustikoista'' "I don't like strawberries '''nor''' blueberries". It can also make a negative verb stronger: ''En'''kä''' tule!'' "I '''definitely''' won't come!"
**''-kin'' is a focus particle, often used instead of ''myös'' ("also" / "as well"): ''Minä'''kin''' olin siellä'' "I was there, too". Depending on the context when attached to a verb it can also express that something happened according to the plan or as a surprise and not according to the plan. It can also make exclamations stronger. It can be attached to several words in the same sentence, changing the focus of the host word, but can only appear once per sentence: ''Minä'''kin''' olin siellä'' ("'''I, too,''' was there"), ''Minä olin'''kin''' siellä'' ("'''Surprisingly''', I '''was''' there" or "'''As expected''', I '''was''' there"), ''Minä olin siellä'''kin''''' ("I was '''there''' '''as well'''")
**''-kAAn'' is also a focus particle and it corresponds with ''-kin'' in negative sentences: ''Minä'''kään''' en ollut siellä'' "I wasn't there '''either'''". Like ''-kin'' it can be attached to several host words in the same sentence. The only word it cannot be attached to is a negative verb. In questions it acts as a confirmation, like the word ''again'' in English: ''Missä sanoit'''kaan''' asuvasi?'' "Where did you say you lived '''again'''?"
**''-pA'' is a tone particle which can either add an arguing or patronising tone, or strengthen the host word: ''Minä'''pä''' tiedän paremmin!'' "Well, I know better!", ''On'''pa''' kaunis kissa!'' "'''Wow''' what a beautiful cat!", ''No, kerro'''pa''', miksi teit sen!'' "Well, go ahead and tell why you did it"
**''-hAn'' is also a tone particle. In interrogative sentences it can make the question more polite and not as pressing: ''Onko'''han''' isäsi kotona?'' "('''I wonder''' if your dad is at home?" In command phrases it makes the command softer: ''Tule'''han''' tänne'' "Come here '''you'''". It can also make a sentence more explanatory, make a claim more self-evident, express that something happened according to one's expectations, or that something came as a surprise etc. ''Pekka tuntee minut, on'''han''' hän minun opettajani'' "Pekka knows me, he is my teacher '''after all'''", ''Kaikki'''han''' niin tekevät'' "Everyone does that '''after all'''", ''Maija'''han''' se siinä!'' "Well, if it isn't Maija!" ''Luulin, ettette osaisi, mutta te'''hän''' puhutte suomea hyvin'' "I thought you wouldn't be able to, but you speak Finnish well"
** ''-s'' is a tone particle as well. It can also be used as a mitigating or softening phrase like ''-hAn'': ''Anniko'''s''' se on?'' "'''Oh, but''' isn't it Anni?", ''Tule'''s''' tänne'' "Come here, '''you'''", ''Miksikä'''s''' ei?'' "'''Well''', why not?", ''Paljonko'''s''' kello on?'' "'''Say,''' what time it is?"
*[Ganda](/source/Ganda_language): ''-nga'' attached to a verb to form the [progressive](/source/progressive_aspect); ''-wo'' 'in' (also attached to a verb)
*[Georgian](/source/Georgian_language): Georgian has several clitics, that are used for paraphrasing, emphasis, question, focus, etc.
**-ო ''-o'' (2nd and 3rd person, as well as 1st person plural speakers), -მეთქი ''-metki'' (1st person speakers), and -თქო -tko (colloquial misspelling of თქვა ''tkva'' "they said", 3rd person singular form of the verb თქმა ''tkma'' "to say") are used once in a sentence and preferably attach to the last word of what someone else said to show reported speech. -მეთქი is used when repeating own words and is separated by a hyphen: ''ხომ მოგწერე, პური ვიყიდე-'''მეთქი''' khom mogts'ere, p'uri viq'ide-'''metki''''' "I told you I bought bread". -თქო is exclusively used when speaker (1st person) is asking a listener (2nd person) to convey their words to someone else (3rd person), and is also separated by a hyphen: ''ნინო, ანას უთხარი, ბებია გეძახის-'''თქო''' nino, anas utkhari, bebia gedzakhis-'''tko''''' "Nino, tell Anne I'm calling her". -ო has multiple uses. Usually, it reports a speech of 2nd and 3rd person singular speakers: ''ხომ თქვი, კინოში მივდივარ'''ო''' khom tkvi, k'inoshi mivdivar'''o''''' "you said you were going to the cinema" (2nd person); ''გიოს მეგობარმა დაურეკა, თეატრში წავიდეთ'''ო''' gios megobarma daurek'a, teat'rshi ts'avidet'''o''''' "A friend called Gio and said "let's go to the theater" (3rd person). It is also used when reporting a speech of 1st person plural speakers: ''მეგობრებს ვპატიჟობდით, საღამოს გვესტუმრეთ'''ო''' megobrebs vp'at'izhobdit, saghamos gvest'umret'''o''''' "we were inviting our friends and asking them to visit us on the evening". The -ო particle is never separated from a host word.
**-ც -''ts'' is a focus particle meaning "also" or "as well": ''მე'''ც''' მინდა თქვენთან ერთად პარკში წამოსვლა me'''ts''' minda tkventan ertad p'ark'shi ts'amosvla'' "I want to go to the park together with you too". -ც is also frequently used in a combination with an emphasis particle კი ''k'i'' → ''მე'''ც კი''' მინდა წამოსვლა me'''ts k'i''' minda ts'amosvla'' "even I want to come".
**-ღა ''-gha'' is an intensifier particle, that can also mean "only", "already" or "again". ''ეს'''ღა''' მაკლია es'''gha''' mak'lia''' "just what I needed/I don't need this at all". ''ერთი ფანქარი'''ღა''' დამრჩა erti pankari'''gha''' damrcha'' "I have only one pencil left".
**-მე -''me'' and -ღაც(ა) -''ghats(a)'' are particles, that form indefinite pronominal adjectives and adverbs: ''ვინ'''მე''' vin'''me''''' "somebody", ''სად'''მე''' sad'''me''''' "wherever", ''როგორ'''მე''' rogor'''me''''' "however", ''რამდენი'''მე''' ramdeni'''me''''' "a few", ''რა'''მე''' ra'''me''''' "something" and ''რა'''ღაც(ა)''' ra'''ghats(a)''''' "something", ''ვი'''ღაც(ა)''' vi'''ghats(a)''''' "someone", ''სად'''ღაც''' sad'''ghats''''' "somewhere", ''საიდან'''ღაც''' saidan'''ghats''''' "from somewhere", ''რომელი'''ღაც''' romeli'''ghats''''' "some kind" etc.
*[Hungarian](/source/Hungarian_language): the marker of indirect questions is ''-e:'' ''Nem tudja még, jön'''-e'''.'' "He doesn't know yet '''if''' he'll come." This clitic can also mark direct questions with a falling intonation. ''Is'' ("as well") and ''se'' ("not... either") also function as clitics: although written separately, they are pronounced together with the preceding word, without stress: ''Ő is jön.'' "He'll come too." ''Ő sem jön.'' "He won't come, either."
*[Korean](/source/Korean_language): The copula 이다 (''ida'') and the adjectival 하다 (''hada''), as well as some nominal and verbal particles (e.g. 는, ''neun'').[
{{cite journal
|last = Chae
|first = Hee-Rahk
|year = 1995
|title = Clitic Analyses of Korean "Little Words"
|journal = Language, Information and Computation Proceedings of the 10th Pacific Asia Conference
|pages = 97–102
|url = http://www.oasis.go.kr/ctrlu?cmd=resource-downview&type=resource&old_flag=N&FN=maincc.hufs.ac.kr%2F_hrchae%2F6publi.htm&resourceNo=95577
|access-date = 2007-03-28
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120207234322/http://www.oasis.go.kr/ctrlu?cmd=resource-downview&type=resource&old_flag=N&FN=maincc.hufs.ac.kr%2F_hrchae%2F6publi.htm&resourceNo=95577
|archive-date = 2012-02-07
}}
] However, alternative analysis suggests that the nominal particles do not function as clitics, but as phrasal affixes.[{{cite web
| url = http://www.linguistics.uiuc.edu/jyoon/Papers/Affix-order-final-single.pdf
| title = Non-morphological Determination of Nominal Particle Ordering in Korean
| author = James Hye Suk Yoon
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013419/http://www.linguistics.uiuc.edu/jyoon/Papers/Affix-order-final-single.pdf
| archive-date = 2007-09-27
}}]
*[Somali](/source/Somali_language): pronominal clitics, either subject or object clitics, are required in Somali. These exist as simple clitics postponed to the noun they apply to. Lexical arguments can be omitted from sentences, but pronominal clitics cannot be.[Mereu, Lunella. "Agreement, Pronominalization, and Word Order in Pragmatically-Oriented Languages." Boundaries of Morphology and Syntax. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1999. N. pag. Print.]
*[Turkish](/source/Turkish_language): there are some clitics which are independent words, while others are suffixes: the clitic ''mI'' (realised as ''mi, mı, mu,'' or ''mü'' depending on vowel harmony) is used to form yes/no questions, such as ''iyi mi?'' "is it good?". It can be inflected by person: ''iyi misin?'' "are you good?". The clitic ''dA'' (realised as ''da'' or ''de'') means "too", "as well" or "also": ''Sen de iyi misin?'' means "are you also good?". However, this word must be pronounced and written carefully, as the -''dA'' (another clitic) suffix creates the [locative case](/source/locative_case): ''o da'' means "him too", but ''oda'' means "room"; ''oda da'' means "the room too" and ''odada'' means in the room. Verbal clitics also exist, for pronouns as well as for certain meanings like "if" (''-sa'') or "can" (''-Abil''). Pronominal clitics make pronouns redundant in most situations.
==See also==
*[Clitic climbing](/source/Clitic_climbing)
*[Clitic doubling](/source/Clitic_doubling)
*[Functional item](/source/Functional_item)
*[Genitive case](/source/Genitive_case)
*[Grammatical particle](/source/Grammatical_particle)
*[Possessive case](/source/Possessive_case)
*[Separable affix](/source/Separable_affix)
*[Tmesis](/source/Tmesis)
*[V2 word order](/source/V2_word_order)
*[Weak and strong forms in English](/source/Weak_and_strong_forms_in_English)
*[Weak pronoun](/source/Weak_pronoun)
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last=Migdalski |first=Krzysztof |title=On the relation between V2 and the second position cliticization |journal=Lingua |volume=120 |issue=2 |date=2009 |doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2008.05.005 |pages=329–353 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0024384109000527 |url-access=subscription}}
==External links==
*{{wiktionary-inline}}
Category:Syntax
Category:Morphophonology
Category:Morphemes
Category:Linguistics terminology
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Clitic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitic) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitic?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.