substantivní

Substantivní is an adjective used in linguistics to describe noun-related forms or content. The term is employed in Czech grammar and in other Indo-European traditions to link the concept with the Latin-derived word substantivus and its English counterpart substantive, historically used to mean a noun. In modern usage, substantivní often indicates that a word or a construction functions as a noun or is derived from a noun.

In practice, substantivní can refer to words that serve as nouns (substantiva), including common and proper nouns, as well as nominalized forms created from verbs or adjectives. In languages with rich inflection, substantivní elements typically show markings for number, gender, and case; in languages with fewer or no case systems, nouns still occupy the core position of noun phrases. The term also appears in the description of noun phrases (substantivní fráze), where a noun serves as the head of the phrase.

Nominalization is closely related to substantivní: it is the process by which non-noun words or clauses take on noun-like function, producing substantive forms such as gerunds or nominalized adjectives. In English grammar, the word substantive is sometimes used synonymously with noun or noun phrase, though contemporary terminology prefers noun.

Understanding substantivní facilitates cross-linguistic comparison of how languages classify content words and how nouns interact with determiners, adjectives, and verbs in syntax. See also podstatná jména (Czech for nouns), noun, nominalization, and noun phrase.