A design pattern for argument structure constructions

This paper presents a design pattern for handling argument structure and offers a concrete operationalization of this pattern in Fluid Construction Grammar. Argument structure concerns the mapping between ‘participant structure’ (who did what to whom) and instances of ‘argument realization’ (the linguistic expression of participant structures). This mapping is multilayered and indirect, which poses great challenges for grammar design. In the proposed design pattern, lexico-phrasal constructions introduce their semantic and syntactic potential of linkage. Argument structure constructions, then, select from this potential the values that they require and implement the actual linking.