substantivoivas

Substantivoivas is a linguistic term that designates a class of words whose primary lexical category is noun but which also participate in verbal-like constructions. The term was coined to study how nouns can acquire or retain verbal properties in certain languages or experimental grammars, highlighting the fluid boundary between nominal and verbal categories.

Origins and scope: The label combines substantivo, the Portuguese word for noun, with a suffix that signals verbal properties. Substantivoivas are not widely recognized as a standard grammatical category and are discussed mainly in theoretical or experimental contexts. They are distinct from verbal nouns, nominalized verbs, and denominal verbs, though they share features with those concepts.

Morphology and syntax: In languages or models with Substantivoivas, a word of this class can appear in nominal syntactic slots (such as subject or object) while also taking verbal morphology in predicate positions, such as tense, aspect, mood, or voice, in ways not typical for ordinary nouns. The same item may participate in predicate constructions as the head of a verbal phrase or as a light-verb complement. The category is used to examine how inflectional systems tolerate category shifts and how semantics constrain usage.

Semantics: Substantivoivas often convey eventive or action-oriented meanings when used in verbal contexts, even though their core meaning remains noun-like in other contexts.

Use and evaluation: They are primarily of interest in theoretical linguistics, typology, and language design, offering a framework to test theories of category boundaries and noun–verb interfaces.