Nominalizations: A Probe into the Architecture of Grammar Part I: The Nominalization Puzzle

Abstract

AbstractNominalizations have remained in the center of linguistic discussion at least since 1960, and one might be correct in stating that they are still much of a puzzle. In this paper, I offer a partial historical overview of the literature on nominalizations, beginning with a discussion of Chomsky’s Remarks on nominalization, surveying the lexicon vs. syntax debate that characterized the research in this area during the 80s and 90s, and concluding with the presentation of some work that focuses on event structure and aspectual properties of nominalizations.