Languages universally rely on two core lexical categories: nouns and verbs. In Turkish, an agglutinative language, derivation between these categories is productive and historically continuous. However, certain Mamluk-era Kipchak Turkish texts -particularly Kitâbü’l Ef’âl and Et-Tuḥfetu’z Zekiyye fi’l Luġati’t Turkiyye- exhibit an atypical pattern: nominal forms function as finite verbs without the use of derivational suffixes or auxiliary elements. This syntactic and morphological shift suggests a unique form of zero derivation not previously attested in Turkic studies. This paper introduces the term verbalization to describe this phenomenon, aligning it with related concepts in Western linguistic theory such as conversion and functional shift. Identified examples are analyzed in comparison with alternative readings in existing scholarship. The study aims to shed light on a rare derivational strategy within Turkic morphosyntax and expand our understanding of historical language variation and innovation.
Nouns, verbs, verbalization / verbing, derivational verbs, Kipchak Turkish manuscripts.