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Circumfix

MORPHOLOGY: the combination of a prefix and a suffix that attach to a base simultaneously to express a single meaning or category. Another term is discontinuous affix. This type of affixation is referred to as parasynthesis. EXAMPLE: Dutch collective nouns may be formed by adding the circumfix ge-..-te to underived nouns as in (i):

(i) berg	'mountain'	ge+berg+te	'mountains'	(*geberg, *bergte)
    vogel	'bird'		gevogelte	'poultry'	(*gevogel, *vogelte)
    raam	'frame'		geraamte	'skeleton'	(*geraam, *raamte)
The existence of circumfixes is controversial. Many linguists argue that all cases of alleged circumfixation can be reduced to suffixation and concomitant prefixation (e.g. Scalise 1984, Schultink 1987). One objection to circumfixes is that they violate the Binary Branching Constraint.
LIT. Scalise, S. (1984)
Schultink, H. (1987)
Spencer, A. (1991)