Cover not available

In:Corpus-based Approaches to Construction Grammar
Edited by Jiyoung Yoon and Stefan Th. Gries
[Constructional Approaches to Language 19] 2016
► pp. 241–262

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

A geometric exemplar-based model of semantic structure

The Dutch causative construction with laten

Published online: 8 September 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.19.09lev
This paper addresses an under-investigated issue of the structure of constructional meaning, presenting an innovative corpus-based bottom-up approach, which represents the semantic similarities between exemplars of a construction with the help of Multidimensional Scaling. The study explores the main semantic dimensions and senses of the Dutch causative construction with the auxiliary laten ‘let’. The quantitative analyses of 731 corpus examples, which were coded for 35 various contextual variables, show that the constructional semantics is organized as a doughnut, with an empty centre and extensive periphery. The main senses, which are represented by clusters of similar exemplars, are not discrete, but represent a continuum. These findings are contrasted with previous accounts, which assumed a discrete prototype-based structure of the meaning.
References (32)
References
Borg, I., & Groenen, P. (1997). Modern multidimensional scaling: Theory and applications. New York: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brugman, C.M. (1983). The story of over. Bloomington: Indiana University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J.L. (2010). Language, usage and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J.L., & Eddington, D. (2006). A usage-based approach to Spanish verbs of ‘becoming’. Language, 82(2), 323–355. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davidse, K., & Heyvaert, L. (2003). On the so-called ‘middle’ construction in English and Dutch. In S. Granger, J. Lerot, & S. Petch-Tyson (Eds.), Corpus-based approaches to contrastive linguistics and translation studies (pp. 57–73). Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeraerts, D. (1998). The semantic structure of the indirect object in Dutch. In W. van Langendonck & W. Van Belle (Eds.), The Dative. Vol. 2. Theoretical and constrastive studies (pp. 185–210). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2010). Theories of lexical semantics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, A.E. (1995). Constructions. A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2006). Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gower, J.C. (1971). A general coefficient of similarity and some of its properties, Biometrics, 27, 857–874. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, S. Th. (2006). Corpus-based methods and cognitive semantics: The many senses of to run . In S. Th. Gries & A. Stefanowitsch (Eds.), Corpora in cognitive linguistics. corpus-based approaches to syntax and lexis (pp. 57–99). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van der Horst, J.M. (1998). Doen in Old and Early Middle Dutch: A comparative approach. In I. Tieken-Boon van Ostade, M. van der Wal, & A. van Leuvensteijn (Eds.), ‘Do’ in English, Dutch and German. History and present-day variation (pp. 53–64). Munster: Nodus Publicationen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kemmer, S., & Verhagen, A. (1994). The grammar of causatives and the conceptual structure of events. Cognitive Linguistics, 5, 115–156. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Leeuw, J., & Mair, P. (2009). Multidimensional scaling using majorization: SMACOF in R. Journal of Statistical Software 31(3): 1–30. [URL]. (Last access 17.11.2011) Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levshina, N. (2011). Doe wat je niet laten kan: A usage-based analysis of the Dutch causative constructions. Ph.D. dissertation, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindstromberg, S. (2010). English prepositions explained. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Medin, D.L., & Schaffer, M.M. (1978). Context theory of classification learning. Psychological Review, 85, 207–238. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murphy, G.L. (2002). The big book of concepts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oostdijk, N.H.J. (2002). The design of the Spoken Dutch Corpus. In P. Peters, P. Collins, & A. Smith (Eds.), New frontiers of corpus research (pp. 105–112). Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ordelman, R., de Jong, F., van Hessen, A., & Hondorp, H. (2007). TwNC: A multifaceted Dutch News Corpus. ELRA Newsletter 12 (3–4), [URL] (last access 17.11.2011)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Development Core Team. (2011). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. [URL] (last access 17.11.2011)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive representation of semantic categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 104(3), 192–233. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1978). Principles of categorization. In E. Rosch & B.B. Lloyd (Eds.), Cognition and categorization (pp. 27–48). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rosch, E., & Mervis, C.B. (1975). Family resemblances: Studies in the internal structure of categories. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 573–605. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a cognitive semantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tyler, A., & Evans, V. (2001). Reconsidering prepositional polysemy networks: The Case of Over . Language, 77(4), 724–765. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stukker, N. (2005). Causality marking across levels of language structure. University of Utrecht dissertation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Venables, W.N., & Ripley, B.D. (2002). Modern applied statistics with S. New York: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhagen, A., & Kemmer, S. (1997). Interaction and causation: Causative constructions in modern standard Dutch. Journal of Pragmatics, 27, 61–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zeschel, A. (2010). Exemplars and analogy: Semantic extension in constructional networks. In D. Glynn & K. Fischer (Eds.), Quantitative methods in cognitive semantics: Corpus-driven approaches (pp. 201–219). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

徐, 文倩
2022. Review and Prospect of Semantic Research Methods of Synonyms at Home and Abroad. Modern Linguistics 10:03 ► pp. 366 ff. DOI logo
Ariel, Mira
2019. Orconstructions. Constructions and Frames 11:2 ► pp. 193 ff. DOI logo
Wiliński, Jarosław
2017. On the Brink of-Noun vs. On the Verge of-Noun: a Distinctive-Collexeme Analysis. Research in Language 15:4 ► pp. 425 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue