For 10 points, name this specialized linguistic process in which an emotive intensifier is inserted into a word or phrase to heighten its impact, as in "Ala-bloody-bama" and "un-fucking-believable."
John McCarthy wrote a 1982 paper discussing the prosodic structure of this linguistic phenomenon, and James MacMillan wrote a 1980 paper on it in which he discusses five forms in which it can occur, including genuine tmesis, and shows where it might occur in words like "OK," "incredible," and "fantastic." The required modification usually happens immediately preceding the syllable with primary lexical stress or in the middle of a two-word phrase, a common example being after the word "Jesus" in "Jesus Christ." For 10 points, name this specialized linguistic process in which an emotive intensifier is inserted into a word or phrase to heighten its impact, as in "Ala-bloody-bama" and "un-fucking-believable."
John McCarthy wrote a 1982 paper discussing the prosodic structure of this linguistic phenomenon, and James MacMillan wrote a 1980 paper on it in which he discusses five forms in which it can occur, including genuine tmesis, and shows where it might occur in words like "OK," "incredible," and "fantastic."
{expletive infixation} [also accept {expletive infixing}, prompt on “tmesis” before mentioned, prompt on “infixing”]