transitivise
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To make transitive: The act of changing a verb or verb construction so that it takes a direct object. This often involves altering an intransitive verb or a phrasal verb to a form that can govern an object.
Usage
- The primary use of "transitivise" is in grammatical and linguistic contexts. It describes the process of converting a verb from an intransitive to a transitive form. This is a technical term used by linguists, grammarians, and language teachers.
Examples
- Verb:
- The linguist sought to transitivise the intransitive verb 'fall' by creating a causative form like 'fell' (as in 'to fell a tree').
- Adding the particle 'up' can transitivise some verbs; for instance, 'eat' becomes 'eat up' your dinner.
- The reference example states: "adding 'out' to many verbs transitivises them."
Advanced Usage
- Linguistic Analysis: The term is used in discussions about verb valency and syntactic alternations.
- Scholars often debate how to properly transitivise certain verbs without altering their core meaning.
Variants and Related Words
- Transitivize (verb): An alternative spelling, primarily used in American English.
- Transitive (adjective): Describing a verb that takes a direct object.
- Transitivity (noun): The grammatical property of being transitive.
- Detransitivise (verb): The opposite process; to make a verb intransitive.
Synonyms
- Make transitive: The most direct synonym, describing the same action.
- Causativise: In some contexts, making a verb transitive gives it a causative meaning (e.g., 'sit' vs. 'set'), though this is a more specific process.
Notes
- "Transitivise" is a derived verb from the adjective "transitive." It is a meta-linguistic term used to talk about language itself. It is not commonly used in everyday conversation but is standard in academic and descriptive linguistic texts.
Verb
- make transitive
- adding `out' to many verbs transitivizes them