Editing Conversion (word formation)

{{Short description|Grammatical process of a lexeme changing part of speech}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2013}}

In [[linguistics]], '''conversion''', also called '''zero derivation''' or '''null derivation''', is a kind of [[word formation]] involving the creation of a word (of a new [[part of speech]]) from an existing word (of a different part of speech) without any change in form,<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Bauer, Hernández | year = 2005 | title = Approaches to Conversion / Zero-Derivation | publisher = Waxmann Münster | page = 131 | isbn= 3830914563}}</ref> which is to say, [[morphological derivation|derivation]] using only [[zero (linguistics)|zero]]. For example, the [[noun]] ''green'' in golf (referring to a putting-green) is derived ultimately from the [[adjective]] ''green''.

Conversions from adjectives to nouns and vice versa are both very common and unnotable in English; much more remarked upon is the creation of a [[verb]] by converting a noun or other word (for example, the adjective ''clean'' becomes the verb ''to clean'').

==Verbification {{anchor|Verbing}} ==
'''Verbification''', or '''verbing''', is the creation of a verb from a noun, adjective or other word.

===In English===
{{Main|Denominal verb}}
In English, verbification typically involves simple conversion of a non-verb to a verb. The verbs ''to verbify'' and ''to verb'', the first by [[derivation (linguistics)|derivation]] with an [[affix]] and the second by [[zero (linguistics)|zero]] derivation, are themselves products of verbification (see [[autological word]]), and, as might be guessed, the term ''to verb'' is often used more specifically, to refer only to verbification that does not involve a change in [[morphology (linguistics)|form]]. (Verbing in that specific sense is therefore a kind of [[anthimeria]].)

Many adjectives have become verbs, including adjectives based on Latin passive participles, such as "separate". Usually, at least now, there is a pronunciation difference between the adjective and the verb. (Later this was extended to forming verbs from Latin passive participles even if they were not used as adjectives.)<ref>Online Etymology Dictionary, entry [https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ate#etymonline_v_26661 -ate].</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |page=742 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordenglishdic01oxfo/page/742/mode/2up?view=theater|date=1989 |edition=2|isbn=978-0-19-861213-1 }}</ref>

Examples of verbification in the English language number in the thousands, including some of the most common words such as ''mail'' and ''e-mail'', ''strike'', ''salt'', ''pepper'', ''switch'', ''bed'', ''sleep'', ''ship'', ''train'', ''stop'', ''drink'', ''cup'', ''lure'', ''mutter'', ''dress'', ''dizzy'', ''divorce'', ''fool'', ''merge'', to be found throughout the [[dictionary]]. Thus, verbification is by no means confined to [[slang]] and has furnished English with countless new expressions: "access", as in "access the file", which was previously only a noun, as in "gain access to the file". Similar mainstream examples include "host", as in "host a party", and "chair", as in "chair the meeting". Other formations, such as "gift", are less widespread but still mainstream.

Verbification may have a bad reputation with some English users because it is such a potent source of [[neologisms]]. Although some neologism that are products of verbification may meet considerable opposition from [[prescription and description|prescriptivist]] authorities (the verb sense of ''[[wikt:impact#Verb|impact]]'' is a well-known example), most such derivations have become so central to the language after several centuries of use that they no longer draw notice.

In many cases, the verbs were distinct from their noun counterparts in [[Old English]], and regular sound change has made them the same form: these can be [[reanalyse]]d as conversion

===In other languages===
In [[Toki Pona]], any content word may function as a noun, verb or adjective depending on syntax; for example, ''moku''  may mean ''food'' or ''to eat''.

==Noun conversion in English==
{{Main|Deverbal noun}}
Many English nouns are formed from unmodified verbs: a fisherman's ''catch'', to go for a ''walk'', ''etc.''<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', 3rd edition, September 2009, ''s.v.''</ref> A modern case of noun conversion through zero derivation in slang from [[popular culture]] might be seen in {{Wikt-lang|en|cringe}}, in the noun sense of "awkwardness, inducement of [[second-hand embarrassment]]".

==Humor==
Verbification is sometimes used to create [[nonce words]] or joking words. Often, simple conversion is involved, as with formations like ''beer'', as in ''beer me'' ("give me a beer") and ''eye'', as in ''eye it'' ("look at it").{{clarification needed|reason = "Eye it" is neither a joke nor a nonce usage|date=June 2022}} Sometimes, a verbified form can occur with a prepositional particle, e.g., ''sex'' as in ''sex it up'' ("make it sexier").

A ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' strip dealing with this phenomenon concluded with the statement that "Verbing weirds language",<ref>Watterson, Bill (1993). [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/01/25 Calvin and Hobbes January 25, 1993]. "Calvin and Hobbes".</ref> demonstrating the verbing of both ''verb'' and ''weird''. (The former appears in its use as a [[gerund]].)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|verbification|verbing}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140430100146/http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/1994_01_24_thenewrepublic.html "Grammar Puss"] by Steven Pinker
* [http://www.figarospeech.com Figures of Speech]
* [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/verbing.html "Verbing Nouns"]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Word coinage]]
[[Category:Linguistic morphology]]

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