Talk:-/-

-*-
These three entries (-/-, -_- and -*-) contain only one sense:

POS section: Interfix


 * 1)  Used to separate multiple gendered inflections in gender-neutral writing.


 * 1) Used to separate multiple gendered inflections in gender-neutral writing.


 * 1) Used to separate multiple gendered inflections in gender-neutral writing.

I don't speak German, but I believe these are just punctuation marks (/, and *) that can be used inside words, not interfixes. The first one looks like just the punctuation mark found in "I want to meet him/her." It's used like this in Portuguese, too. We already have a couple of senses like those at /, though I'm not sure why they are marked as "proscribed" and "sometimes proscribed".


 * 1)  exclusive or
 * I think she/he writes very well.
 * I think s/he writes very well.
 * 1)  inclusive or
 * He's an actor/model.

These uses also resemble a sense currently in with multiple examples:


 * Go get the dog(s) - Here, s is a shorthand for the plural dogs.
 * You should (re)write that story. - Here, re is an optional prefix re-.
 * Blue is my favo(u)rite colo(u)r. - Here, u is an alternative spelling (color/colour).
 * A variable with persistence that is currently above (below) its mean will tend not go below (above) its mean for some time.
 * A variable with persistence that is currently above (below) its mean will tend not go below (above) its mean for some time.

Plus if I want to know the meaning of the slash in "Freund/innen", I guess it's more intuitive to search for / than -/-.

If that / were an interfix, then by that logic I believe ! would be a suffix and would be  a circumfix. (which they aren't) --Daniel Carrero (talk) 18:32, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Delete per Danliel's reasoning. Korn &#91;kʰũːɘ̃n&#93; (talk) 14:58, 24 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Aah, please can we change the entry into cute smilies instead of deleting them. The first one could be for Two-Face. The second one a sleeping dude, and the third one perhaps for a Hindu with a dot on the forehead. I vote for being Cute. --Quadcont (talk) 13:22, 1 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Creating emoticon entries for -/-, -_- and -*- sounds plausible (especially this, IMO: -_-) iff they are citable. This is separate from the idea I proposed above of deleting these specific German senses. --Daniel Carrero (talk) 13:36, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

" would be a circumfix": Aren't circumfixes only added at the begining and at the end like [circumfix part 1][word or stem][circumfix part 2]? instead is added elsewhere like in "dog(s)", "(re)write", "colo(u)r". So if would be some affix, it would be of another type. But well, the POS "Punctuation mark" might be more fitting and then / might be the proper entry. However, one has to differ between "ein/e" and "ein/eine": 1. In case of "ein/e" something has to be added (a single "e" makes no sense there). 2. / in "ein/eine" has the meaning of or and so "ein/eine" is bi-gendered (like "a man or woman"). "ein/e" on the other hand is said to include various sociological genders and is multi-gendered (like "a man or woman or possibly other"). 3. / meaning or as in "ein/eine" can be used elsewhere like in "und/oder" (= and or or, i.e. an emphasised inclusive or).
 * -/- in "ein/e Beamt/er/in" is different from / in "his/her" or German "sein/ihr": While "his/her" could be rephrased as "his or her" and "sein/ihr" as "sein oder ihr", "Beamt/er/in" would be, but with change of meaning, "Beamter oder Beamtin" and "ein/e" would be "ein oder eine" (bold part has to be added when -/- is used). If one would incorrectly treat a -/- like a /, one would get "ein oder e" which doesn't make sense.
 * "We already have a couple of senses like those at /": Well, one could move some of the senses from / to -/-.
 * "I'm not sure why they are marked as "proscribed" and "sometimes proscribed"": It could depend on the spelling, and not necessarily on the meaning. "she/he" could be "sometimes proscribed" like "actor/model" while "s/he" is "proscribed".
 * "Plus if I want to know the meaning of the slash in "Freund/innen", I guess it's more intuitive to search for / than -/-.": It is more intuitive, but intuitions can be wrong. One could add -/- in an or mention it like / / in / ("See also: / / for the use ..." and "See / / for uses of ...").
 * "! would be a suffix": ! is not added to a word, at least in usual English words or German. In English words like !Kung and in African languages ! might be a prefix or suffix when originally representing some click sounds, but that's something different.
 * -84.161.53.36 16:34, 1 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Keep (as creator) "Freund/innen" is a good example of why -/- isn't simply a slash. It's not "Freund"/"innen", nor is it even "Freund [singular]"/"Freundinnen" - it's "Freunde [plural] and Freundinnen". The slash specifically draws attention to the fact the use of the -innen suffix does not necessarily mark the gender of the friends (It makes more sense for words like Mitarbeiter/innen where the masculine plural is the same as the singular). Similarly, in "Beamt/er/in", it's not "Beamt"/"er"/"in", it's "Beamter"/"Beamtin". It's doing something unique that it only does when inserted into words. All of the examples given by the OP, with the exception of the slash in s/he, are punctuation marks with the same meaning both inside and outside words. (There's also the fact that, for -*- and -_-, you can't use these symbols any other way: you couldn't write "ja/nein" as "ja*nein" or "ja_nein". They only work as interfixes). Smurrayinchester (talk) 15:33, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
 * For people who believe this should be kept, but that it's not an interfix, would you say it's an infix? eg in "für eine/n andere/n", where it's inserted into the middle of the -en suffix? (e.g. in 1, 2, [3)? [[User:Smurrayinchester|Smurrayinchester]] (talk) 14:23, 3 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Delete: I'm still not seeing why this usage can't be explained within . — SMUconlaw (talk) 15:57, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Delete, but move the information, as I don't think it's a true interfix, but it needs to be covered more thoroughly at /, *, and _. Andrew Sheedy (talk) 03:52, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Deleted, as I'm seeing consensus for this result. The relevant senses have been relocated to /, *, and _. — SGconlaw (talk) 07:34, 1 February 2018 (UTC)