  Context: It has been predicted that the object KIC 9832227 - a contact binary
star - will undergo a merger in 2022.2+/-0.7. We describe the near infrared
spectrum of this object as an impetus to obtain pre-merger data.
  Aims: We aim to characterise (i)~the nature of the individual components of
the binary and (ii)~the likely circumbinary environment, so that the merger -
if and when it occurs - can be interpreted in an informed manner.
  Methods: We use infrared spectroscopy in the wavelength range 0.7micron -
2.5microns, to which we fit model atmospheres to represent the individual
stars. We use the binary ephemeris to determine the orbital phase at the time
of observation.
  Results: We find that the infrared spectrum is best fitted by a single
component having effective temperature 5920K, log[g]=4.1 and solar metallicity,
consistent with the fact that the system was observed at conjunction.
  Conclusions: The strength of the infrared H lines is consistent with a high
value of log[g], and the strength of the CaII triplet indicates the presence of
a chromosphere, as might be expected from rapid stellar rotation. The HeI
absorption we observe likely arises in He excited by coronal activity in a
circumstellar envelope, suggesting that the weakness of the CaII triplet is
also likely chromospheric in origin.
