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In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a word which is not a noun (e.g. a verb, an adjective or an adverb) as a
noun, or as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation. The term refers, for instance, to the process of
producing a noun from anotherpart of speech by adding a derivational affix (e.g., the noun legalization from the verb legalize).[1]
Some languages simply allow verbs to be used as nouns without inflectional difference (conversion or zero derivation), while others
require some form of morphological transformation. English has cases of both.
Nominalization is a natural part of language, but some instances of it are more noticeable than others. Writing advice sometimes
focuses on avoiding uncritical overuse of nominalization.
Contents
In various languages
English
With derivational morphology
With zero-derivation
Other Indo-European languages
Chinese
Japanese
Hawaiian
Zero-derivation in other languages
See also
Notes
References
In various languages
English
Two types of nominalization are found in English. One type requires the addition of a derivational suffix to create a noun. In other
cases, English uses the same word as a noun without any additional morphology. This second process is referred to as zero-
derivation.
With zero-derivation
Some verbs and adjectives in English can be used directly as nouns without the addition of a derivational suffix. Some examples
include:
change
increase
use
Two other particles, found throughout the Chinese varieties, are used to explicitly indicate the nominalized noun as being either the
agent or patient of the verb being nominalized. 所 (suǒ in Mandarin) is attached before the verb to indicate patient, e.g. 吃 (to eat)
becomes 所吃 (that which is eaten), and者 (zhě in Mandarin) are attached after the verb to indicate agent, e.g. 吃 (to eat) becomes 吃
者 (he who eats). Both particles date fromClassical Chinese and retain limited productivity in modern Chinese varieties.
There are also many words with zero-derivation. For instance, 教育 jiàoyù is both verb (to educate) and noun (education). Other
cases include 变化 biànhuà (v. to change; n. change), 保护 bǎohù (v. to protect; n. protection), 恐惧 kǒngjù (v. to fear; n. fear; adj.
fearful), etc.
Japanese
Japanese grammar makes frequent use of nominalization (instead of relative pronouns) via several particles such as の no, も の
mono and こと koto.
Hawaiian
In Hawaiian, the particle ʻana is used to nominalize. For example, "hele ʻana" is Hawaiian for "coming." Hence, "his coming" is
"kona hele ʻana."
See also
Nominal (word)
Pronominal
Initial-stress-derived noun
Deverbal noun
Verbal noun
List of plain English words and phrases
Notes
1. Kolln, M. 1998, Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects
, p.63
References
Shibatani, Masayoshi, and Khaled Awadh Bin Makhashen. 2009. Nominalization in Soqotri, a South Arabian
language of Yemen. In W. Leo Wetzels (ed.) Endangered languages: Contributions to Morphology and Morpho-
syntax. Leiden: Brill. 9-31.
Kolln, M. (1990), Understanding English Grammar
, 3rd edn, Macmillan, p. 179.
Nominalization by Particle Koto in Japanese, Benri Nihongo
Colomb, Joseph M. Williams; with two chapters coauthored by Gregory G. (1995).
Style: toward clarity and grace
(Paperback ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.ISBN 0226899152.
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