Nominalisation In English And Arabic 16w2k

Nominalisation in English and Arabic: A Contrastive Study Rana K. El Kholy PhD Programme in Applied Linguistics Cairo University, Cairo

Introduction Theoretical Background • According to Biber, Conrad and Leech (2002), nominalisations are abstract nouns which are formed from verbs or adjectives through derivational morphology. • Nominalisation in English: According to Biber, Conrad and Leech (2002) English nominalisations are derived from verbs and adjectives through the addition of noun suffixes, which have different meanings. • Nominalisation in Arabic: Palmer (1874) explains how different types of Arabic nouns are derived from verbs: nouns of unity, nouns of species, agents, ive participles, nouns of actions formed with the Arabic letter ‫ م‬/mi:m/, nouns of time and place, nouns of instrument, nouns of quality, nouns of colour and defect, nouns of superiority (or comparative), and nouns of excess or incentive agent.

Rationale for the Study • The main aim of the present study is to investigate nominalisations in English and Arabic. • This study aspires to reveal whether there are any similarities or differences between nominalisations in both language in order to determine the pedagogical usefulness of such a comparison. • Research Question: what are the similarities and differences between nominalisation in English and in Arabic.

Method • Sample: Two articles, one from an English newspaper and another from an Arabic newspaper, were scanned for cases of nominalisation. The two articles depicted the same piece of news: the Russian plane crash in Sharm El Sheikh was caused by a bomb. Both newspapers were published on November 18th, 2015. • Data Analysis: The English data was analysed according to the types of nominalisation mentioned by Biber, Conrad and Leech (2002), whereas the Arabic data was examined according to the types explained by Palmer (1874).

Results Types of English Nominalisations Suffix

Main meaning(s)

Examples from sample

-age

various meanings

wreckage

-ance, -ence

action/state of V-ing

assistance, clearance

-ee

a person (various meanings)

employee

-er, -or

a person/thing that V-ing

bomb-maker, advisor

-hood

state of being A

likelihood

-ing

action/instance of V-ing

scattering, bringing down, targeting, restructuring

-ism

ideology/movement/tendency

terrorism

-ity

state/quality of being A

security, authority

-ment

action/instance of V-ing

involvement, statement

-tion

action/instance of V-ing

examination, explosion, investigation, consideration, information, penetration, description

‫‪Results‬‬ ‫‪Types of Arabic Nominalisations‬‬ ‫‪Derivation form‬‬

‫‪Examples from sample‬‬ ‫ضبرلبة‬ ‫ل‬

‫لفلعللة‬

‫ناطق‬

‫فاعل‬

‫ممفنععف ذ – ممطخعط ط – ممرجعبرم‬ ‫ممفتلوعرط‬

‫ممعفعلعل‬

‫مماللحةقة – مملعالقةبة – ممفنالقةشة – ملسالعةدة – مموالجةهة‬ ‫صليص – لتعفعرجليبر – لتفنععفلي ذ – لتقحعةقليق – لتلععززيز‬ ‫لتطخ ع‬ ‫‪،‬إعال‪،‬ن‬ ‫ععلةقاب ‪ -‬عدفاع‬ ‫لتلقحمطم‬

‫ممفتلعفعلعل‬ ‫ملعفالعلة‬

‫‪Patient‬‬ ‫‪Noun of action‬‬

‫عفللعال‬ ‫لتلعفملعل‬

‫انعفرجار‬

‫انعفلعال‬

‫اجفتماع – اعفتةداء – اقفتبراح‬

‫إففتلعال‬

‫لطاعبع‬

‫‪Agent‬‬

‫إفللعال‬

‫تلعامو‪،‬ن ‪ -‬تسامق ط‬

‫عمليلثاق‬

‫‪Noun of unity‬‬

‫لتعفعلعليل‬

‫تعفامعل‬

‫لموعقع‬

‫‪Type of Noun‬‬

‫لمعفعلعل‬ ‫عمعفللعال‬ ‫عفاععل‬

‫‪Noun of place‬‬ ‫‪Noun of instrument‬‬ ‫‪Noun of quality‬‬

Discussion and Conclusion • In light of the foregoing data presentation, the analysis provided clear credence to the view that nominalisation are different in English and Arabic. • The study reached the conclusion that nominalisation takes place in English by adding suffixes to verbs and adjectives. • On the other hand, nominalisation in Arabic involves going back to the root of the verb and then deriving the noun according to its meaning. • Hence, the process of nominalisation is vastly different in both languages.

Pedagogical Implications • It is hoped that this contrastive analysis of nominalisation in English and Arabic will contribute to the field of education and stimulate further research to be undertaken in this area. • It would be enlightening to expose learners of both English and Arabic to the rules of nominalisation, especially in Arabic because if they are introduced to the root of any verb and the different derivational rules, they can formulate their own nominalisations.

References • Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Leech, G. (2002). Longman student grammar of spoken and written English. Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited. • Palmer, E. H. (1874). A grammar of the Arabic language. London: H. Allen. Data Sources: • Abbas, A. (2015, November 18). Plane crash ‘terrorist attack’: Russia. Daily News Egypt, pp.1. ‫ موسكو تعلن تفجير طائرة شرم الشيخ بقنبلة وبوتين يتوعد‬.(18 ‫ نوفمبر‬،2015) .‫ ر‬،‫• جبر‬ .5.‫ ص‬،‫ الحياة‬."‫بملحقة المنفذين "أينما كانوا‬