What type of language change does affixation represent?

Affixation represents a morphological change because it involves the addition of prefixes, suffixes, or infixes to base words to create new words or alter their meanings. Morphology is the study of the structure of words and the rules for word formation, and affixation directly pertains to how morphemes (the smallest units of meaning) combine to form complete words.

For instance, adding the suffix "-ness" to the adjective "happy" transforms it into the noun "happiness," demonstrating how affixation modifies the grammatical category and meaning of the base word. In this way, affixation is a clear example of morphological change, showcasing how language evolves through the manipulation of its foundational structures.

In contrast, phonetic change relates to the sounds of language, syllabic change concerns the structure of syllables, and syntactic change involves changes in sentence structure or grammar. These other types of changes do not encompass the systematic addition of affixes to words as seen in affixation.