Abstract：Different from noun-verb conversion， de-nominalized verbs are only found in provisional usage in modern Chinese. Such usage is possible to the extent that both the noun and the verb are involved in the event in question as a participant and the process respectively. This is realized through such grammatical means as positioning and aspect marking. Compared to those in other registers， de-nominalized verbs in modern Chinese poetry have three characteristics： (1) they are the results of the poet’s deliberate avoidance of existing verbs； (2) the poet’s use of de-nominalization is more open， and (3)more flexible. These are explainable by referring to the universal poetic features of de-familiarization and ambiguity. De-nominalized verbs in poetry showcase the continuous relation between poetic and non-poetic language and the plausibility and the explanatory capacity of the notion of “poetry as a Linguistic Special Zone”.
2018, Vol. 57 
