英语双音节和多音节及物动词大多可以通过添加-(a)tion或同类后缀的形式构成相应的动词名物词。宏观上讲,这类词有具体和抽象两种意义,抽象义往往和原动词的意义十分接近,表示动作或行为本身,而具体义则可从相应动词的论元结构和论元角色来找到语义依据。具体来说,具体义往往可以通过原动词论元结构中的某一论元或其上位词来表达。英语这类名物词的具体义与相应动词论元的这种内在关系的形成,与动词词义本身以及人类的认知规律均有重要联系。
Most English bisyllabic and multiple-syllabic transitive verbs can be turned into their corresponding deverbal nominals by adding the suffix -(a)tion or the like to them. From a macro perspective, such nominals are loaded with both abstract sense and concrete sense. The former is quite similar to the sense of the verb from which the nominal is derived. The latter can be figured out on the basis of the verb's argument structure and argument roles. Specifically, the concrete sense can often be represented by a certain argument in the argument structure of the verb. The establishment of such an internal connection between concrete senses of English deverbal nominals and their corresponding verb arguments can be explained from the sense of the verb itself as well as the cognitive law of human beings.