Nominalization

Quick meaning: Nominalization is a noun meaning (linguistics, countable) A noun derived from an adjective, verb, etc., often (in English) by adding a suffix such as -ity, -tion or -ism.

Meaning

(linguistics, countable) A noun derived from an adjective, verb, etc., often (in English) by adding a suffix such as -ity, -tion or -ism.

More Meanings

1. (linguistics, uncountable) The act or process of nominalizing; the use of such a noun.

Example Sentences

Writers who overload their sentences with nominalizations tend to sound pompous and abstract.

Nominalization is a common feature of a more scientific style of writing and is used as an additional measure for syntactic complexity.

Nominalization and agentless passives have attracted sustained attention in critical linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), where, it is argued, they ‘mystify’, i.e., reduce reader comprehension of, the role of social actors in depictions of events, particularly in news media discourse.

The positive use of the feminine noun une rien has been gradually replaced by the nominalization of the pronoun and the adverb that commonly serve as negative auxiliaries, rien, un rien: “The word offers a short version of the evolution of the etymological meaning of chose inverted as néant (c. 1530)” (RT: DHLF)[…]

Word Forms

• nominalizations
• nominalisation

Synonyms for nominalization

Depending on context, synonyms include nounification, substantivation, substantivisation.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include gerundive, nominalness, nominality, nouniness, adnominality, notionality.

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