Nominalization in Kavalan

This paper explores the morphology, syntax and semantics of nominalization in Kavalan. It is shown that in Kavalan, nominalization and headless relativization, which are both subsumed under the realm of nominalization in the literature, are morphologically, syntactically, and semantically/pragmatically distinct: the former is marked by the nominalizing suffix -an and the latter by the complementizer clitic =ay; the former cannot take accusative noun phrases while the latter can; the former turns its hosts into arguments and the latter into modifiers. Furthermore, it is noted that state predicates and action predicates take different nominalizers: the former is affixed qena-...(-an) and the latter by -an. It is argued that the extra affixal complex qena- can be segmented as a prefix qa- plus an infix -en- and that qa- is likely to be equivalent to the state prefix ka- attested in Formosan languages such as Paiwan, Rukai, Saisiyat, etc., and -en- might correspond to the aspectual/nominalizing infix -in- found in Formosan languages such Atayal, Seediq, Saisiyat, etc. However, it is pointed out that while ka- functions as an inchoativizer, qa- simply serves as a grammatical marker. Besides, it is also noted that there is no formal distinction between lexical nominalization and syntactic nominalization in Kavalan. Both of them are marked by the suffix -an.