American Dictionary

Define dictionary terms easily in our powerful online English dictionary.

Searching for...

No matching words found

Try a different search term or browse the dictionary

Definition grammaticalization in American English

grammaticalization noun

[countable/uncountable] noun
/ɡrəˌmætɪk(ə)lɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/
1

the process of language change by which words lose some or all of their lexical meaning and start to fulfill grammatical functions

Example

In the process of grammaticalization, progressive constructions will gradually generalize in meaning and reduce in form.

Example

The Scandinavian passive is a grammaticalization of the reflexive.

Synonyms and related words
Definition grammaticalization in American English