Nominalizationsturning

Nominalizationsturning is a coined term in linguistics describing a process by which predicate structures—often described as verbs or clauses—are transformed into nominal forms that function as entities within discourse. The concept emphasizes the shift from event-focused representations to referential noun phrases, and the resulting reanalysis of syntax and semantics.

The mechanism involves several layers: morphological nominalization, where affixes such as -tion, -ing, or -ment produce nouns; syntactic nominalization, where clauses become noun phrases; and semantic reanalysis, in which events are treated as concrete objects or properties. Nominalizationsturning can interact with evidentiality, aspect, and agency marking across languages, though patterns vary widely.

For example, the verb run in "the running of the race" or "the decision to run" demonstrates how a process is cast as a thing. In discourse, nominalizations created by nominalizationsturning can support abstraction, topic continuity, or legalistic style, but may obscure agent and foregrounded responsibilities.

In computational linguistics, the concept helps in parsing and translation, as systems must decide when to preserve narrative focus or convert to nominal expressions without losing meaning or introducing ambiguity. In editing and legal drafting, excessive nominalization through Nominalizationsturning can reduce readability and transparency.

Nominalizationsturning remains a selectively used term with limited formal adoption; it overlaps with established studies of nominalization and event semantics while providing a label for the specific shift from predication to nominal reference. Further cross-linguistic research and corpus studies are needed to establish its scope and limitations.