nominálu

Nominálu is a term used in linguistic description, particularly in Czech-language grammar, to refer to nominal forms and the broader nominal category in a sentence. It is derived from the Latin word nomĭnālis, meaning “pertaining to a name,” and is used to distinguish word forms that function like nouns from other parts of speech.

In usage, nominály include nouns and pronouns, and they can encompass other words that occur in noun-like syntactic positions, such as numerals and certain adjectives when they head or modify noun phrases. Nominály typically bear grammatical properties such as gender, number, and case, and they participate in subject, object, or predicative positions within clauses. They tend to form noun phrases (NPs) and agree with degree or determiners in the surrounding structure.

Across languages with rich inflection, nominály often show extensive case systems and agreement patterns. In Czech and many Slavic languages, nominal inflection marks cases like nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and others, and nouns and adjectives agree in gender and number with the head noun. The precise boundaries of what counts as a nominál can vary by grammarian, but the core idea is to group word forms that function as names or referents in discourse.

In linguistics and language teaching, the nominal category is contrasted with verbal forms and with words that function outside noun phrases. Computational linguistics and natural language processing frequently require distinguishing nominals from verbs for tagging and parsing tasks.