verbening

Verbening is the process by which a word that is not a verb is used as a verb. In linguistic terms it is often described as denominal verb formation or verbification. The process can occur through conversion, where a word changes category without overt morphology, or through affixation that attaches a verb-forming suffix or prefix to a noun or adjective.

English provides many examples: text as a verb (“to text someone”), butter as a verb (“to butter the toast”), Google as a verb (“to Google the answer”), or friend as a verb (“to friend someone on a social network”). These uses can involve little or no phonological change and often arise in informal or rapidly changing discourse, such as technology or social media.

Conversion is the most productive route, enabling rapid expansion of the lexicon by turning familiar nouns or adjectives into verbs. Affixal methods also occur, with suffixes or prefixes that derive verbs from other word classes, such as -ize or -en in some English formations (for example, modernize, brighten).

Verbening is commonly associated with flexibility in language and the ability to adapt vocabulary to new functions. It can contribute to immediacy and efficiency in communication, though it may also be perceived as informal or colloquial in certain registers. Across languages, denominal verbs reflect how speakers leverage morphology and word-class categori­zation to express new actions using existing words.