Grammaticalize

Quick meaning: Grammaticalize is a verb meaning (transitive) To make grammatical.

Meaning

(transitive) To make grammatical.

More Meanings

1. (linguistics, transitive) To cause (a word, a suffix, etc) to undergo grammaticalization.
2. (linguistics, transitive) To integrate into a system of grammar; to make (something such as a constraint) an element or rule of grammar, to cause (something) to be required by grammar.

Example Sentences

... Udmurt, Turkish, and Yucatec Mayan to test (and critique) the hypothesis that possessives grammaticalize into definite articles.

Enhanced output arises when learners grammaticalize their output either through the use of more advanced interlanguage forms or of target language forms.

For example, some languages grammaticalize the universal preference for definite over indefinite subjects, whereas it remains a soft constraint in others […]

It is only later that learners begin to grammaticalize their speech. According to N. Ellis (1996), they do this by extracting rules from the items they have learned—bootstrapping their way to grammar.

Word Forms

• grammaticalizes
• grammaticalizing
• grammaticalized
• grammaticalise

Synonyms for grammaticalize

Depending on context, synonyms include grammaticize, grammatize.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include grammaticize, grammatize, grammaticalise, grammaticise, syntacticize, grammarize.

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