Nominalization

Definition:

Nominalization is the grammatical process of deriving a noun from another word class — typically a verb or adjective. The result (also called a nominalization) functions as a noun in the sentence: it can be a subject, object, or complement of a preposition. English examples: “destroy” → “destruction,” “free” → “freedom,” “compete” → “competition.”

In-Depth Explanation

Nominalization takes several forms across languages:

Derivational nominalization (morphological):

Adding a suffix to create a new noun word:

• English: -tion (create → creation), -ment (achieve → achievement), -ness (sad → sadness), -er (teach → teacher)
• Japanese: 〜さ (高い → 高さ, height), 〜み (甘い → 甘み, sweetness), 〜方 (読む → 読み方, way of reading)

Clausal nominalization (syntactic):

Turning an entire clause into a noun phrase:

• English: gerund (-ing): “Swimming is fun.” / “I enjoy swimming.”
• English: infinitive: “To err is human.”
• Japanese: こと: “日本語を話すことができる” (Can speak Japanese — lit. “the thing of speaking Japanese is possible”)
• Japanese: の: “走るのが好き” (I like running — lit. “the [thing of] running is liked”)

Japanese nominalization is critical for learners because many constructions that English handles with infinitives or gerunds, Japanese handles with こと or の:

The こと vs. の distinction is a common learning challenge:

• こと tends toward abstract, conceptual, or habitual situations
• の tends toward concrete, immediate, or directly perceived situations
• Some constructions require one specifically (ことができる, ことにする)

Related Terms

• Gerund
• Participle
• Morphology
• Word Formation

See Also

• Japanese Grammar
• Sakubo

Research

• Comrie, B., & Thompson, S. A. (2007). Lexical nominalization. In T. Shopen (Ed.), Language Typology and Syntactic Description (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 334–381). Cambridge University Press. — Cross-linguistic survey of nominalization strategies.
• Kuno, S. (1973). The Structure of the Japanese Language. MIT Press. — Classic analysis including Japanese nominalization with こと and の.