minennominalisointi

Minennominalisointi is a term used in linguistics, particularly in the study of Finnish, to describe a grammatical process where a verb is nominalized, meaning it is turned into a noun or a noun-like element, while retaining some of its verbal characteristics. This process is distinct from simple noun formation where a verb root is completely transformed into a noun. Instead, minnominalization often involves specific suffixes that attach to the verb stem.

The resulting minnominalized form can function as the subject or object of a sentence, or it can be part of a larger noun phrase. A key feature of minnominalization is that the nominalized verb can still take objects or adverbs, mirroring the valency of the original verb. This allows for complex sentence structures where a nominalized action is described with its own complements.

In Finnish, minnominalization is a productive and common phenomenon. Examples include forms derived from verbs like "tulla" (to come) or "nähdä" (to see) which can be minnominalized to express concepts like "coming" or "seeing" in a noun-like way, yet still allow for specification of what or whom is coming or being seen. This grammatical flexibility contributes to the rich expressive potential of the Finnish language. Understanding minnominalization is crucial for comprehending Finnish syntax and semantics, especially in advanced grammatical analysis.