Extending the Scope of Construction Grammar

Extending the Scope of Construction Grammar

Author: Ronny Boogaart

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2014-09-12

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 3110366274

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The field of constructionist linguistics is rapidly expanding, as research on a broad variety of language phenomena is increasingly informed by constructionist ideas about grammar. This volume is comprised of 11 original research articles representing several emerging new research directions in construction grammar, which, together, offer a rich picture of the various directions in which the field seems to be moving.


Book Synopsis Extending the Scope of Construction Grammar by : Ronny Boogaart

Download or read book Extending the Scope of Construction Grammar written by Ronny Boogaart and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2014-09-12 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of constructionist linguistics is rapidly expanding, as research on a broad variety of language phenomena is increasingly informed by constructionist ideas about grammar. This volume is comprised of 11 original research articles representing several emerging new research directions in construction grammar, which, together, offer a rich picture of the various directions in which the field seems to be moving.


Competition in Language Change

Competition in Language Change

Author: Eva Zehentner

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2019-06-17

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 311063385X

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This book addresses one of the most pervasive questions in historical linguistics – why variation becomes stable rather than being eliminated – by revisiting the so far neglected history of the English dative alternation. The alternation between a nominal and a prepositional ditransitive pattern (John gave Mary a book vs. John gave a book to Mary) emerged in Middle English and is closely connected to broader changes at that time. Accordingly, the main quantitative investigation focuses on ditransitive patterns in the Penn-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Middle English; in addition, the book employs an Evolutionary Game Theory model. The results are approached from an ‘evolutionary construction grammar’ perspective, combining evolutionary thinking with diachronic constructionist notions, and the alternation’s emergence is interpreted as a story of constructional innovation, competition, cooperation and co-evolution. The book not only provides a thorough and detailed analysis of the history of one of the most-discussed syntactic phenomena in English, but by fusing two frameworks and employing two different methodologies also presents a highly innovative approach to a problem of relevance to historical linguistics in general.


Book Synopsis Competition in Language Change by : Eva Zehentner

Download or read book Competition in Language Change written by Eva Zehentner and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2019-06-17 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses one of the most pervasive questions in historical linguistics – why variation becomes stable rather than being eliminated – by revisiting the so far neglected history of the English dative alternation. The alternation between a nominal and a prepositional ditransitive pattern (John gave Mary a book vs. John gave a book to Mary) emerged in Middle English and is closely connected to broader changes at that time. Accordingly, the main quantitative investigation focuses on ditransitive patterns in the Penn-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Middle English; in addition, the book employs an Evolutionary Game Theory model. The results are approached from an ‘evolutionary construction grammar’ perspective, combining evolutionary thinking with diachronic constructionist notions, and the alternation’s emergence is interpreted as a story of constructional innovation, competition, cooperation and co-evolution. The book not only provides a thorough and detailed analysis of the history of one of the most-discussed syntactic phenomena in English, but by fusing two frameworks and employing two different methodologies also presents a highly innovative approach to a problem of relevance to historical linguistics in general.


Category Change from a Constructional Perspective

Category Change from a Constructional Perspective

Author: Kristel Van Goethem

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2018-03-15

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 902726435X

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Category change, broadly defined as the shift from one word class to another, is often studied as part of other changes, such as grammaticalization or lexicalization, but not in its own right. This volume offers a survey of different types of category change and their properties, e.g. abrupt versus gradual changes, morphological versus syntactic changes, or context-independent versus context-sensitive changes. The purpose of this collection of papers is to explore the concepts of linguistic category and category change from the perspective of Construction Grammar. Using data from a variety of languages, the authors address a number of themes that are central to current theorizing about category change, such as the question of whether or not categories should be considered discrete entities, how new categories arise, or whether category change can be considered as the emergence of a new construction, i.e. a new form-meaning pairing. The novel approach advanced in this volume will be of interest to historical linguists as well as to general linguists working on the nature of linguistic categories.


Book Synopsis Category Change from a Constructional Perspective by : Kristel Van Goethem

Download or read book Category Change from a Constructional Perspective written by Kristel Van Goethem and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2018-03-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Category change, broadly defined as the shift from one word class to another, is often studied as part of other changes, such as grammaticalization or lexicalization, but not in its own right. This volume offers a survey of different types of category change and their properties, e.g. abrupt versus gradual changes, morphological versus syntactic changes, or context-independent versus context-sensitive changes. The purpose of this collection of papers is to explore the concepts of linguistic category and category change from the perspective of Construction Grammar. Using data from a variety of languages, the authors address a number of themes that are central to current theorizing about category change, such as the question of whether or not categories should be considered discrete entities, how new categories arise, or whether category change can be considered as the emergence of a new construction, i.e. a new form-meaning pairing. The novel approach advanced in this volume will be of interest to historical linguists as well as to general linguists working on the nature of linguistic categories.


Applied Construction Grammar

Applied Construction Grammar

Author: Sabine De Knop

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2016-04-25

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 3110456184

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Current research within the framework of Construction Grammar (CxG) has mainly adopted a theoretical or descriptive approach, neglecting the more applied perspective and especially the question of how language acquisition and pedagogy can benefit from a CxG-based approach. The present volume explores various aspects of “Applied Construction Grammar” through a collection of studies that apply CxG and CxG-inspired approaches to relevant issues in L2 acquisition and teaching. Relying on empirical data and covering a wide range of constructions and languages, the chapters show how the cross-fertilization of CxG and L2 acquisition/teaching can improve the description of learners’ use of constructions, provide theoretical insights into the processes underlying their acquisition (e.g. with reference to inheritance links or transfer from the L1), or lead to novel teaching practices and resources aimed to help learners make the generalizations that native speakers make naturally from the input they receive.


Book Synopsis Applied Construction Grammar by : Sabine De Knop

Download or read book Applied Construction Grammar written by Sabine De Knop and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-04-25 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Current research within the framework of Construction Grammar (CxG) has mainly adopted a theoretical or descriptive approach, neglecting the more applied perspective and especially the question of how language acquisition and pedagogy can benefit from a CxG-based approach. The present volume explores various aspects of “Applied Construction Grammar” through a collection of studies that apply CxG and CxG-inspired approaches to relevant issues in L2 acquisition and teaching. Relying on empirical data and covering a wide range of constructions and languages, the chapters show how the cross-fertilization of CxG and L2 acquisition/teaching can improve the description of learners’ use of constructions, provide theoretical insights into the processes underlying their acquisition (e.g. with reference to inheritance links or transfer from the L1), or lead to novel teaching practices and resources aimed to help learners make the generalizations that native speakers make naturally from the input they receive.


Structural Priming in the Grammatical Network

Structural Priming in the Grammatical Network

Author: Tobias Ungerer

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2023-07-15

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9027249539

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This book brings together research in cognitive linguistics and experimental psychology to construct a psychologically plausible account of grammar as a mental network. To explore the organisation of this network, the author examines evidence from structural priming, which occurs when speakers’ processing of a grammatical construction is affected by prior exposure to the same or a similar construction. Previous experimental findings are innovatively reinterpreted to shed light on various aspects of the grammatical network, including the strength of the similarities between constructions, the level of abstraction at which they are represented and the ways in which similar constructions can either boost or inhibit each other. Moreover, new experiments are reported that extend structural priming to phenomena like the resultative, the depictive and the caused-motion construction. The book is directed at theoretical linguists, psycholinguists and cognitive psychologists alike, showcasing how recent work in these areas can be integrated and extended.


Book Synopsis Structural Priming in the Grammatical Network by : Tobias Ungerer

Download or read book Structural Priming in the Grammatical Network written by Tobias Ungerer and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2023-07-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together research in cognitive linguistics and experimental psychology to construct a psychologically plausible account of grammar as a mental network. To explore the organisation of this network, the author examines evidence from structural priming, which occurs when speakers’ processing of a grammatical construction is affected by prior exposure to the same or a similar construction. Previous experimental findings are innovatively reinterpreted to shed light on various aspects of the grammatical network, including the strength of the similarities between constructions, the level of abstraction at which they are represented and the ways in which similar constructions can either boost or inhibit each other. Moreover, new experiments are reported that extend structural priming to phenomena like the resultative, the depictive and the caused-motion construction. The book is directed at theoretical linguists, psycholinguists and cognitive psychologists alike, showcasing how recent work in these areas can be integrated and extended.


Constructional Approaches to Syntactic Structures in German

Constructional Approaches to Syntactic Structures in German

Author: Hans C. Boas

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2018-07-09

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 3110457156

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This book provides a state of the art collection of constructional research on syntactic structures in German. The volume is unique in that it offers an easily accessible, yet comprehensive and sophisticated variety of papers. Moreover, various of the papers make explicit connections between grammatical constructions and the concept of valency which has figured quite prominently in Germanic Linguistics over the past half century.


Book Synopsis Constructional Approaches to Syntactic Structures in German by : Hans C. Boas

Download or read book Constructional Approaches to Syntactic Structures in German written by Hans C. Boas and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2018-07-09 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a state of the art collection of constructional research on syntactic structures in German. The volume is unique in that it offers an easily accessible, yet comprehensive and sophisticated variety of papers. Moreover, various of the papers make explicit connections between grammatical constructions and the concept of valency which has figured quite prominently in Germanic Linguistics over the past half century.


Linguistic Knowledge and Language Use

Linguistic Knowledge and Language Use

Author: Benoît Leclercq

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2023-11-02

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1009273205

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This pioneering book is the first to bring together insights from two usage based approaches, Construction Grammar and Relevance Theory.


Book Synopsis Linguistic Knowledge and Language Use by : Benoît Leclercq

Download or read book Linguistic Knowledge and Language Use written by Benoît Leclercq and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-11-02 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pioneering book is the first to bring together insights from two usage based approaches, Construction Grammar and Relevance Theory.


Constructions in Spanish

Constructions in Spanish

Author: Inga Hennecke

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2023-07-15

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 9027250006

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Constructions in Spanish is the first book-length English-language volume in the field of usage-based and Cognitive Construction Grammar dedicated exclusively to Spanish. The contributions investigate a wide range of constructions from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective, cutting across morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The constructionist perspective is also linked to comparative and typological research, to language learning and teaching and to multi-modal discourse analysis. The volume aims both at increasing the visibility of constructionist approaches to Spanish, and at offering data and analyses of Spanish for scholars working on constructional analyses of other languages. The volume thus addresses both scholars in Spanish and Romance linguistics, as it builds connections between more traditional approaches and constructionist approaches, and construction grammarians generally, especially scholars interested in comparative work.


Book Synopsis Constructions in Spanish by : Inga Hennecke

Download or read book Constructions in Spanish written by Inga Hennecke and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2023-07-15 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Constructions in Spanish is the first book-length English-language volume in the field of usage-based and Cognitive Construction Grammar dedicated exclusively to Spanish. The contributions investigate a wide range of constructions from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective, cutting across morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The constructionist perspective is also linked to comparative and typological research, to language learning and teaching and to multi-modal discourse analysis. The volume aims both at increasing the visibility of constructionist approaches to Spanish, and at offering data and analyses of Spanish for scholars working on constructional analyses of other languages. The volume thus addresses both scholars in Spanish and Romance linguistics, as it builds connections between more traditional approaches and constructionist approaches, and construction grammarians generally, especially scholars interested in comparative work.


Free Variation in Grammar

Free Variation in Grammar

Author: Kristin Kopf

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2023-10-15

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 9027249334

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Recent years have seen a growing interest in grammatical variation, a core explanandum of grammatical theory. The present volume explores questions that are fundamental to this line of research: First, the question of whether variation can always and completely be explained by intra- or extra-linguistic predictors, or whether there is a certain amount of unpredictable – or ‘free’ – grammatical variation. Second, the question of what implications the (in-)existence of free variation would hold for our theoretical models and the empirical study of grammar. The volume provides the first dedicated book-length treatment of this long-standing topic. Following an introductory chapter by the editors, it contains ten case studies on potentially free variation in morphology and syntax drawn from Germanic, Romance, Uralic and Mayan.


Book Synopsis Free Variation in Grammar by : Kristin Kopf

Download or read book Free Variation in Grammar written by Kristin Kopf and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2023-10-15 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years have seen a growing interest in grammatical variation, a core explanandum of grammatical theory. The present volume explores questions that are fundamental to this line of research: First, the question of whether variation can always and completely be explained by intra- or extra-linguistic predictors, or whether there is a certain amount of unpredictable – or ‘free’ – grammatical variation. Second, the question of what implications the (in-)existence of free variation would hold for our theoretical models and the empirical study of grammar. The volume provides the first dedicated book-length treatment of this long-standing topic. Following an introductory chapter by the editors, it contains ten case studies on potentially free variation in morphology and syntax drawn from Germanic, Romance, Uralic and Mayan.


Article Emergence in Old English

Article Emergence in Old English

Author: Lotte Sommerer

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2018-05-22

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 311054105X

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This book investigates nominal determination in Old English and the emergence of the definite and the indefinite article. Analyzing Old English prose texts, it discusses the nature of linguistic categorization and argues that a usage-based, cognitive, constructionalist approach best explains when, how and why the article category developed. It is shown that the development of the OE demonstrative 'se' (that) and the OE numeral 'an' (one) should not be told as a story of two individual, grammaticalizing morphemes, but must be reconceptualized in constructional terms. The emergence of the morphological category ‘article’ follows from constructional changes in the linguistic networks of OE speakers and especially from ‘grammatical constructionalization’ (i.e. the emergence of a new, schematic, mostly procedural form-meaning pairing which previously did not exist in the constructicon). Next to other functional-cognitive reasons, the book especially highlights analogy and frequency effects as driving forces of linguistic change.


Book Synopsis Article Emergence in Old English by : Lotte Sommerer

Download or read book Article Emergence in Old English written by Lotte Sommerer and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2018-05-22 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates nominal determination in Old English and the emergence of the definite and the indefinite article. Analyzing Old English prose texts, it discusses the nature of linguistic categorization and argues that a usage-based, cognitive, constructionalist approach best explains when, how and why the article category developed. It is shown that the development of the OE demonstrative 'se' (that) and the OE numeral 'an' (one) should not be told as a story of two individual, grammaticalizing morphemes, but must be reconceptualized in constructional terms. The emergence of the morphological category ‘article’ follows from constructional changes in the linguistic networks of OE speakers and especially from ‘grammatical constructionalization’ (i.e. the emergence of a new, schematic, mostly procedural form-meaning pairing which previously did not exist in the constructicon). Next to other functional-cognitive reasons, the book especially highlights analogy and frequency effects as driving forces of linguistic change.