Appositions clarify or explain by offering more information than just one word or phrase. They can be restrictive or non-restrictive. False headlines are a common form of affixing, and some appositive sentences break away from the simple common syntax. The word “affixation” has other meanings.
An affixation is a noun or phrase used alongside another noun or phrase with the same function. Appositions can be restrictive or non-restrictive and are used to clarify or explain, offering more information than just one word or phrase. For example, in the sentence “My neighbor Sam stopped by,” the sentence “my neighbor” and the proper noun “Sam” both identify the person who is the subject of the sentence. In this sentence, these parts form an adposition, with each half helping to define the subject.
A restrictive adposition provides details that specify or further define the first noun. Referring again to the example sentence above, the phrase “my neighbor” is further clarified by the name “Sam,” limiting or “narrowing down” the list of neighbors to the one called Sam. Restrictive affixations usually have a strong impact on the meaning of a sentence. Commas are not generally used to separate the halves of a restrictive affixation.
Non-restrictive adjectives do not refine definitions but instead offer additional detail about the initial noun or phrase. By reversing the sentence in the example sentence to “Sam, my neighbor, stopped,” the sentence “my neighbor” does not limit the meaning of the proper noun “Sam.” Instead, it provides additional information about Sam, making this affixing nonrestrictive. Generally, commas are used to separate portions of non-restrictive affixations.
False headlines are a common form of affixing, especially in journalism. A bogus title is an unofficial label or title attached to a noun. For example, in the sentence “Alleged felon John Doe appeared in court today,” the phrase “alleged felon” is used as a pseudonym for John Doe, resulting in a restrictive affixation. This is not to be confused with genuine titles such as Doctor or Reverend, which are not affixing and are instead used as part of the proper noun of the noun.
Some appositive sentences break away from the simple common syntax of more restrictive and non-restrictive affixations. “Of” is sometimes used to give weight to a sentence, as in the “city of Philadelphia.” The first example can be restructured as “Sam, my neighbor.” The song “Molly Malone” begins with “In Dublin’s fair city”, where the possessive “‘s” is used to form an adjunctive phrase, but this is a very unusual structure.
Outside of this grammatical structure, the word “affixation” has other meanings. For example, it may refer to the juxtaposition of two objects placed close to each other by contrast. It is also used to describe both the layered growth of cells along a cell wall and the wall created by this process.
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