Nominalization (e.g., sleeping, that we slept, sleepiness) allows speakers to refer and ascribe properties to whatever sorts of entities clauses, verbs, or adjectives typically denote. Characterizing these relatively abstract entities has challenged semanticists and philosophers of language for over 50 years, thanks especially to Zeno Vendler's early work. Vendler took different kinds of English nominalization constructions to support positing facts, propositions, and events as distinct ontological objects. However, his conclusions remain controversial. The research on nominalization and natural language ontology has never been brought together or put into perspective; in this article, we clarify the complex variety of subsequent ontological positions that build on Vendler's work, identifying points of consensus and disagreement. We also reflect on the consequences and challenges of focusing on the English data and offer a glimpse of how the landscape might change with greater attention to nominalization in other languages.

中文翻译：

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名词化与自然语言本体

名词化（例如，sleeping、that we sleep、sleepy）允许说话者引用和赋予任何类型的实体从句、动词或形容词通常表示的属性。50 多年来，对这些相对抽象的实体进行表征一直对语义学家和语言哲学家提出挑战，这尤其要归功于 Zeno Vendler 的早期工作。Vendler 采用了不同种类的英语名词化结构来支持将事实、命题和事件设置为不同的本体论对象。然而，他的结论仍然存在争议。名词化和自然语言本体的研究从来没有被放在一起，也没有被透视过；在本文中，我们阐明了建立在 Vendler 工作基础上的复杂多样的后续本体论立场，确定了共识点和分歧点。