• Following Bauer's (2003) analysis of German participles, the process of forming past participles in Afrikaans is considered here as circumfixation.
• The participial circumfix ge-...-t/d is most frequently realised as its allomorph ge-...-ø, as in example (4) above. Since this form of the verb (i.e. only with ge- before the verbal stem) is so frequently used in the past tense construction and the passive voice construction, this circumfix has evolved to become only a prefix in such constructions. Hence, it is of more practical value, and theoretically simpler to say that the past participle in the past tense construction and in the passive voice construction is formed by means of the prefix [ge](PST) and [ge](PASS) respectively, rather than by means of a circumfix with a zero right-hand part. In all other constructions where the past participle is used (i.e. as an adjective), it is preferable to analyse the past participle as a verb stem plus circumfix.
• For verbs ending in l, m, n, ng, r, a vowel, or a diphthong, the allomorph ge-...-d (as in (7)) is optionally realised as a variant of ge-...-ø (as in (8)) when the participle is used postnominally (AWS-11, rule 19.11). However, when used prenominally in the attributive function, ge-...-d is always realised (as in (9); AWS-11, rule 11.9).
  Example 7

  
  

  Die katoen sal dus nie ge·sertifiseer·d wees nie.

  the cotton shall therefore not PST.PTCP·certify·PST.PTCP be PTCL.NEG

  The cotton will therefore not be certified.

  VivA-KP

  Example 8

  
  

  ... elke bladsy moet ge·sertifiseer·ø wees.

  ... each page must PST.PTCP·certify·PST.PTCP be

  ... each page should be certified.

  VivA-KP

  Example 9

  
  

  'n ge·sertifiseer·d·e afskrif

  a PST.PTCP·certify·PST.PTCP·ATTR copy

  a certified copy

  VivA-KP

• The allomorph ge-...-d is always realised in attributively used prenominal past participles of verb stems ending in b or d, preceded by a short vowel (except [i] or [u]) (AWS-11, rule 11.10). For example:
  Example 10

  
  

  ge·rib·d·e materiaal

  PST.PTCP·rib·PST.PTCP·ATTRT fabric

  ribbed fabric

• We see that ge-...-t is only realised when the past participle of verb stems ending in k and p is used prenominally with an attributive -e (AWS-11, rule 11.6). In (4) above, ge·koek·ø will be used typically in a sentence like (11). This is contrasted with the prenominally used form in example (12).
  Example 11

  
  

  Haar hare is ge·gekoek·ø.

  her hair be.PRS PST.PTCP·mat·PST.PTCP

  Her hair is matted

  Example 12

  
  

  ge·koek·t·e hare

  PST.PTCP·mat·PST.PTCP·ATTR hair

  matted hair

• When used prenominally in the attributive function, the past participles of verb stems ending in f, g, or s can be formed by either ge-...-d or ge-...-t (AWS-11, rule 11.7). For example, both (13) and (14) are found in corpora:
  Example 13

  
  

  'n in+ge·lig·d·e aanbieder

  an in+PST.PTCP·light·PST.PTCP·ATTR presenter

  an informed presenter

  VivA-KP

  Example 14

  
  

  'n in+ge·lig·t·e besluit

  an in+PST.PTCP·light·PST.PTCP·ATTR decision

  an informed decision

  VivA-KP

• The allomorphs ø-...-t/d and ø-...-ø are realised when the verbal stem begins with an unstressed prefix, as in (15) below (also see Conradie 2012, as well as the discussion here). The same principles as above hold true for the realisation of ø-...-d (example (15)), vs. ø-...-t (example (16)), vs. ø-...-ø (example (17)).
  Example 15

  
  

  ... dat ons veilig en beskerm·d sal voel ...

  ... that we safe and protect·PST.PTCP shall feel ...

  ... that we will feel safe and protected ...

  VivA-KP

  Example 16

  
  

  'n ontsnap·t·e misdadiger

  an escape·PST.PTCP·ATTR criminal

  an escaped criminal

  Example 17

  
  

  Hy was erg ø·verbaas·ø.

  he was very PST.PTCP·surprise·PST.PTCP

  He was highly surprised.

• The past participle form of a separable complex verb is also formed by means of circumfixation, but only applied to the verbal stem (i.e. excluding the left-hand particle) (AWS-11, rule 19.6). The verbal stem also serves as the phonological context to determine which allomorph will be realised. In (18) the seperable complex verb is af+takel [[af](PREP.PTCL)[takel](V)](V) down+rig to demolish, which then becomes af+ge·takel·d [[af](PREP.PTCL)[ge](PST.PTCP)[takel](V)[d](PST.PTCP)](ADJ) demolished by appending the participial circumfix to the verb stem only. Inseparable verb compounds, like rang+skik rank+order to arrange (e.g. flowers), are circumfixed like ordinary verbs, as in (19).
  Example 18

  
  

  Het jy al iets meer af+ge·takel·d ge·sien?

  have you ever something more down+PST.PTCP·rig·PST.PTCP PST·see

  Have you ever seen something more demolished?

  VivA-KP

  Example 19

  
  

  alfabeties ge·rang+skik·t·e temas

  alphabetically PST.PTCP·rank+order·PST.PTCP·ATTR themes

  alphabetically arranged themes

  VivA-KP

• Lexicalised past participle forms of roundabout 200 verbs have been inherited from Dutch strong verbs. It is of no practical or theoretical use to analyse such forms morphologically. Hence, a past participle like gebroke broken is usually glossed/annotated as gebroke break.PST.PTCP < breek to break.

Like the participial circumfix, all other circumfixes in Afrikaans are from the native stratum, and they are all stress neutral. They are all practically unproductive.

Based by and large on Combrink (1990), the table below presents known circumfixes in Afrikaans words.