Deverbal noun

Deverbal nouns are nouns that are derived from verbs or verb phrases, but that behave grammatically purely as nouns, not as verbs. They are distinct from verbal noun, gerunds and infinitives. Gerunds and infinitives behave like verbs.

The formation of deverbal nouns is one of the types of nominalization (noun formation). Examples of deverbal nouns in English include organization (derived from the verb organize), the noun construct /ˈkɒnstɹʌkt/ (from the verb construct /kənˈstɹʌkt/), and discovery (from the verb discover). The -ing form of any verb can serve as a deverbal noun, although the same word form can also be used verbally as a gerund or participle.

Distinction between verbal and deverbal nouns

When the term deverbal noun is used, it is generally contrasted with the term verbal noun: a verbal noun is an abstract uncountable noun and it has no verbal characteristics, while a deverbal noun can be either countable or uncountable. The only way to form a verbal noun is verb+ing with full noun force as in Brown's deft painting of his daughter is wonderful.

Deverbal nouns are morphologically related to verbs. They are fully nominalized as pure common nouns with no verbal force as meeting in the meeting was effective. Both verbal nouns and deverbal nouns derive from verbs, but verbal nouns are abstract uncountable and deverbal nouns are common.

The formation of a verbal noun is a verb with an ing. The formation of a deverbal noun is either by conversion (go) or suffixation (decision). They may include ing forms that have no verbal force as building in the building is high.

Verbal nouns (VNs) and deverbal nouns (DVNs), under this approach, are distinct syntactic word classes. DVNs differ functionally from VNs in that DVNs operate as autonomous common nouns,[1] while VNs retain verbal characteristics. Such VNs are generally non-finite verb forms, such as gerunds and infinitives. DVNs may take the same form as VNs, but are used in a different way. (A similar distinction can be made between verbal adjectives – such as participles used verbally – and deverbal adjectives.)

The distinction between verbal and deverbal nouns is illustrated in the following English sentences, in which words derived from verbs by adding -ing behave sometimes as gerunds, and sometimes as verbal nouns. (Further information can be found in the article on -ing.)

• Catching fish is fun.

Here catching is a gerund; it takes an object (fish), like the verb catch.

• Shouting loudly is enjoyable.

Here shouting is a gerund; it is modified by the adverb loudly, like the verb shout.

• Loud shouting makes me angry.

Here shouting is a verbal noun; it is modified by an adjective loud (like a noun such as music).

Sometimes (particularly when the -ing word is used alone without modifiers) the matter is ambiguous, although there may be a difference in meaning depending on whether it is intended as a verbal or gerund. Consider the sentence:

• Shouting is nice.

Here shouting could be either a gerund or a verbal noun. If it is intended as a gerund, it can be assumed to mean that shouting is nice for the person doing the shouting. (Compare sentences in which the subject is unambiguously verbal, such as To shout is nice and Shouting loudly is nice.) On the other hand, if intended as a verbal noun, it can be assumed to mean that shouting is nice for those experiencing the shouting. (Compare sentences in which the subject is unambiguously deverbal, such as Loud shouting is nice.)

Semantic types

Deverbal nouns may be categorized semantically according to what facet of the process (that the verb refers to) they denote, that is, what facet of the process is reified (construed as a thing).[2] Examples are:

• Nouns denoting an activity, such as running, relaxation
• Nouns denoting a specific action, such as murder, discovery (in many cases a noun may refer to either a single action or a general activity, depending on context)
• Agent nouns, such as invader, singer
• Patient nouns, denoting the party to whom or for whom something is done, such as draftee, employee
• Nouns denoting manner, such as walk in She has a funny walk
• Nouns denoting an ability, such as speech in She regained her speech
• Nouns denoting a result, such as dent, scratch
• Nouns denoting an object or system of objects, such as building, fencing, piping.

When words are derived by conversion, it may not be clear whether a noun is derived from a verb or vice versa. This is common in English; examples of words that are both verbs and nouns (with related meanings) are bruise, hope, rain, work, etc. See also initial-stress-derived noun.

By language

French

There are two connotations of the deverbal nouns: the one formed without any suffix (e.g.: abat from abattre), or any noun descending from a verb.[3]

Japanese

See also: Okurigana

In Japanese, verbal nouns are treated (grammatically and orthographically) as verb forms, while deverbal nouns are treated as nouns. This is reflected in okurigana (following characters), which are used for verb conjugation and, similarly, for verbal nouns, but not for deverbal nouns. For example, 話す、話し、話 (hana-su, hana-shi, hanashi) are the verb, nominalized verb (VN), and deverbal noun (DVN) of "converse", "conversation (the act)", "conversation (the episode)" – the first two are written with following hiragana characters (す、し), as verb forms, while the latter is written without following characters, as a noun. A more dramatic example is found in 氷る、氷り、氷 (koo-ru, koo-ri, koori), meaning "freeze", "freezing", "ice (literally: freezing)", where the verbal origins are more distant from the current use of the noun.

Mandarin Chinese

Chinese is a morphologically-poor language. Many of the nouns denoting an action can be used as a verb without morphological change. For example, yanjiu 研究 ‘research’ can be used as a noun and a verb depending on syntactic context.

See also

• Denominal verb

Reference

1. Jaggar, Philip J. (2001). Hausa. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. p. 285 (Chapter 8: Verbal Nouns, Deverbal Nouns, and Infinitives). ISBN 978-90-272-3807-8.
2. Taylor, John R. (2001-01-18). Possessives in English. Oxford University Press. p. p. 242 (Section 9.3: Semantic Structure of Deverbal Nouns). ISBN 978-0-19-829982-0.
3. "Larousse".

4. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman Publication. Page. 1288 (Chapter 17)