| 释义 |
▪ I. ˈinflex, n.
[ad. L. inflexus (u-stem), synonymous with inflexio inflexion.]
In the grammar of the Bantu languages, the particle prefixed to a root, to form a noun, which has functions similar to those of inflexional suffixes in the Aryan and Semitic languages. (Also called prefix or initial.)
1859Colenso First Steps Zulu-Kafir ii. 4 Every Zulu noun consists of two parts, the root and the inflex, the latter being a small particle, which is set before the root, forming with it the complete noun... We give the name of inflex to this initial particle, because, by changes of it, certain modifications of the noun are effected, as they are in Latin and Greek, by means of terminal particles..Thus..in the Zulu word umuntu, person, the root is ntu, and the inflex umu, which is changed to aba for the plural, and the whole word becomes abantu, people.
▪ II. † inˈflex, a. Bot. Obs. rare.
[ad. L. inflex-us, pa. pple. of inflectĕre to inflect.]
= inflexed.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Leaf, Inflex Leaf, that which in growing from its base, turns its point again toward the plant. 1794Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvii. 234 The petals are inflex, or bent upwards at the end. |