Result States and Nominalization in Slavic and Germanic Languages

Abstract

The paper discusses the type of regular nominalization in Slavic and Germanic languages, characterized by derivational productivity and semantic transparency. It offers a unified account of particular types of regular nominalizations found in these languages, and derives the variation in the availability thereof from two parameters pertaining to verbal aspect: the default aspectual value of a language, and the referential capacity of the perfective aspect. It is further argued that the type of deverbal nominals denoting changes of states, although not fully productive nor transparent, should be counted as regular, as well. Its special properties are explained employing a derivational step that is not available to ordinary regular nominalizations, namely, the incorporation of the phrase denoting a result state. In particular, the account covers Serbian Verbal and Resultative Nouns, West Slavic Verbal Nouns, German -ung-, and Dutch -ing-nouns, English Nominal Gerunds, and, possibly, English deverbal nouns ending in -tion and -ment.