"grammaticalization" meaning in English

See grammaticalization in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ɡɹəˌmæ.tɪ.kə.lɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav Forms: grammaticalizations [plural], grammaticalisation [alternative]
enPR: grə-mă'-tĭ-kə-lĭ-zā'-shən Etymology: From French grammaticalisation, coined in 1912 by the French linguist Antoine Meillet, corresponding to grammatical + -ization. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|fr|grammaticalisation}} French grammaticalisation, {{suffix|en|grammatical|ization}} grammatical + -ization Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} grammaticalization (countable and uncountable, plural grammaticalizations)
  1. (linguistics) The process of making grammatical. Tags: countable, uncountable Translations (the process of making grammatical): 語法化 /语法化 (yǔfǎhuà) (Chinese Mandarin), gramatikalizace [feminine] (Czech), grammaticalisation [feminine] (French), Grammatikalisierung [feminine] (German), γραμματικοποίηση (grammatikopoíisi) [feminine] (Greek), grammatikalizáció (Hungarian), gramatykalizacja [feminine] (Polish), gramaticalização [feminine] (Portuguese), грамматикализация (grammatikalizacija) [feminine] (Russian), грамматиза́ция (grammatizácija) [feminine] (Russian), gramatikalizácia [feminine] (Slovak), gramaticalización [feminine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-grammaticalization-en-noun-0nMRBG9q Categories (other): Linguistics Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences Disambiguation of 'the process of making grammatical': 91 9
  2. (linguistics) The process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme, for example the reduction of a content word representing an object or action (a noun or verb) to a clitic. Tags: countable, uncountable Synonyms: grammaticization, grammatization Translations (the process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme): التَّحَوُّلُ النَّحْوِيّ (at-taḥawwulu an-naḥwiyy) (Arabic)
    Sense id: en-grammaticalization-en-noun-nM~vat~1 Categories (other): Linguistics, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ization, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Slovak translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 14 86 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ization: 18 82 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 7 93 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 7 93 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 6 94 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 12 88 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 12 88 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 12 88 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 13 87 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 13 87 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 8 92 Disambiguation of Terms with Slovak translations: 12 88 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 7 93 Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences Disambiguation of 'the process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme': 15 85
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Hyponyms: semantic bleaching Derived forms: degrammaticalization Related terms: grammarization, grammarize, grammaticalize, grammaticize

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "degrammaticalization"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "grammaticalisation"
      },
      "expansion": "French grammaticalisation",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grammatical",
        "3": "ization"
      },
      "expansion": "grammatical + -ization",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From French grammaticalisation, coined in 1912 by the French linguist Antoine Meillet, corresponding to grammatical + -ization.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grammaticalizations",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grammaticalisation",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "grammaticalization (countable and uncountable, plural grammaticalizations)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyponyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "semantic bleaching"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "grammarization"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "grammarize"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "grammaticalize"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "grammaticize"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Linguistics",
          "orig": "en:Linguistics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The process of making grammatical."
      ],
      "id": "en-grammaticalization-en-noun-0nMRBG9q",
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "grammatical",
          "grammatical"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) The process of making grammatical."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "yǔfǎhuà",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "word": "語法化 /语法化"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "lang_code": "cs",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "gramatikalizace"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "grammaticalisation"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Grammatikalisierung"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "lang_code": "el",
          "roman": "grammatikopoíisi",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "γραμματικοποίηση"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "word": "grammatikalizáció"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "gramatykalizacja"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "gramaticalização"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "grammatikalizacija",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "грамматикализация"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "grammatizácija",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "грамматиза́ция"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "lang_code": "sk",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "gramatikalizácia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "gramaticalización"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Linguistics",
          "orig": "en:Linguistics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ization",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 93",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 93",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 94",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Arabic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 87",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 87",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 92",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Slovak translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 93",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme, for example the reduction of a content word representing an object or action (a noun or verb) to a clitic."
      ],
      "id": "en-grammaticalization-en-noun-nM~vat~1",
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "grammeme",
          "grammeme"
        ],
        [
          "lexeme",
          "lexeme"
        ],
        [
          "clitic",
          "clitic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) The process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme, for example the reduction of a content word representing an object or action (a noun or verb) to a clitic."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "grammaticization"
        },
        {
          "word": "grammatization"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "15 85",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "lang_code": "ar",
          "roman": "at-taḥawwulu an-naḥwiyy",
          "sense": "the process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme",
          "word": "التَّحَوُّلُ النَّحْوِيّ"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "grə-mă'-tĭ-kə-lĭ-zā'-shən"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ɡɹəˌmæ.tɪ.kə.lɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/47/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/47/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Antoine Meillet"
  ],
  "word": "grammaticalization"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from French",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "English terms suffixed with -ization",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Slovak translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "degrammaticalization"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "grammaticalisation"
      },
      "expansion": "French grammaticalisation",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grammatical",
        "3": "ization"
      },
      "expansion": "grammatical + -ization",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From French grammaticalisation, coined in 1912 by the French linguist Antoine Meillet, corresponding to grammatical + -ization.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grammaticalizations",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grammaticalisation",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "grammaticalization (countable and uncountable, plural grammaticalizations)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyponyms": [
    {
      "word": "semantic bleaching"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "grammarization"
    },
    {
      "word": "grammarize"
    },
    {
      "word": "grammaticalize"
    },
    {
      "word": "grammaticize"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Linguistics"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The process of making grammatical."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "grammatical",
          "grammatical"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) The process of making grammatical."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Linguistics"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme, for example the reduction of a content word representing an object or action (a noun or verb) to a clitic."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "grammeme",
          "grammeme"
        ],
        [
          "lexeme",
          "lexeme"
        ],
        [
          "clitic",
          "clitic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) The process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme, for example the reduction of a content word representing an object or action (a noun or verb) to a clitic."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "grammaticization"
        },
        {
          "word": "grammatization"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "grə-mă'-tĭ-kə-lĭ-zā'-shən"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ɡɹəˌmæ.tɪ.kə.lɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/47/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/47/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sapaa-grammaticalization.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "yǔfǎhuà",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "word": "語法化 /语法化"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gramatikalizace"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "grammaticalisation"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Grammatikalisierung"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "lang_code": "el",
      "roman": "grammatikopoíisi",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "γραμματικοποίηση"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "word": "grammatikalizáció"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gramatykalizacja"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gramaticalização"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "grammatikalizacija",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "грамматикализация"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "grammatizácija",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "грамматиза́ция"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "lang_code": "sk",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gramatikalizácia"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "the process of making grammatical",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "gramaticalización"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "lang_code": "ar",
      "roman": "at-taḥawwulu an-naḥwiyy",
      "sense": "the process of language change by which a word or morpheme is reduced to more of a grammeme than a lexeme",
      "word": "التَّحَوُّلُ النَّحْوِيّ"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Antoine Meillet"
  ],
  "word": "grammaticalization"
}

Download raw JSONL data for grammaticalization meaning in English (5.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (96027d6 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.