adding 「化」as a suffix can create サ変名詞, right？What is the technical term for this?

Question

"Personification" might be the term for adding 「人」or「者」as a suffix to a noun.

I am pretty sure that 「化」can also function as a suffix to a noun. My perception is that adding 「化」as a suffix "injects action", and enables the newly formed noun to feel like gerunds and infinitives (which insert action into sentences via nouns), as well as function as a サ変名詞：
「兵器」= "weapon"; 「兵器化する」= "to weaponize";
「可視」= "visibility"; 「可視化する」= "to visualize";
「コモディティー」= "commodity"; 「コモディティー化する」= "to commoditize";
I am sure that there are many examples. They would be used in newspapers to make articles as short as possible?

(1) But, does the construct of "injecting action" with a「化」suffix really exist？
(2) What are some websites that explain this?
(3) Is there a short phrase in English, or Japanese, that is used to identify this construct?

Answer 1

The verbal morpheme 化【か】 in Japanese acts as a derivational suffix. Since it's a verbal morpheme (as in Chinese), it forms verbal nouns from regular nouns. These verbal nouns can be used in periphrastic constructions with する (see Japanese "Verbal Noun and suru" Constructions by Bill Poser).

It corresponds fairly closely to -ization or -ification. It adds the meaning -ize, -(i)fy (intransitively: "to become", transitively: "to cause to become"), but the resulting compound is still a syntactically a noun. Placing it in a periphrastic construction with する allows it to be used as a verb:

 武器　　　　　　　　weapon
 武器化　　　　　　　weaponization
 武器化する　　　　　weaponize

In particular, this suffix can be attached to adjectival nouns (called 形容動詞の語幹 in traditional grammar):

 グローバル　　　　　global
 グローバル化　　　　globalization
 グローバル化する　　globalize

But as jovanni points out, the resulting words don't work quite the same way; the result of グローバル化する is not a グローバル, but a thing which is global.

Much like English -ize and -(i)fy affixation, Japanese 化 affixation is a productive process, so you can add it to nouns whenever you feel it makes sense to do so:

 階層　　　　　　　　stratum
 階層化　　　　　　　stratification
 階層化する　　　　　stratify
 アイコン　　　　　　icon
 アイコン化　　　　　iconization
 アイコン化する　　　iconize

Of course, the stranger it is semantically, the sillier the result is:

 ハンバーガー　　　　hamburger
 ハンバーガー化　　　hamburgerization
 ハンバーガー化する　hamburgerize

But I think that as long as a noun can be interpreted as something other than a verbal noun, 化 can attach to it. It seems to be very productive!