Nominalizations

Based on extensive and diverse material from 70 languages, and covering a range of previously undiscussed problems, this book provides a thorough analysis of how nominalization types interact with other structural features. It focuses on action nominal constructions, and in particular, the comparison of their syntactic structure with that of finite clauses and of other noun phrases, a problem which has claimed much attention in current syntactic theories. Supported by rich empirical material, and clearly illustrated with examples from all the sample languages, the book provides a detailed and consistent basis for constructing a typology of derived constructions and for presenting cross-linguistic comparisons. The discussion of various terms and the results of the study presented in the book, may be used for unification of terminology, primarily in the realm of subordination and major categories.
The author’s research findings show that no language has syntactic means which are exclusively used in action nominal constructions, giving support to the view that constructions which appear later in language acquisition and development are modelled on already existing constructions as far as possible. The book contains a detailed discussion of related phenomena, such as subordination and finiteness across languages, and the framework is applicable to the description of subordination and complementation in various languages. Demonstrating the complexity of the relations between noun, verb and intermediate categories the results of the book also have important implications for the study of parts of speech.