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Constructions in Contact 2
Language change, multilingual practices, and additional language acquisition
The last few years have seen a steadily increasing interest in constructional approaches to language contact. This volume builds on previous constructionist work, in particular Diasystematic Construction Grammar (DCxG) and the volume Constructions in Contact (2018) and extends its methodology and insights in three major ways. First, it presents new constructional research on a wide range of language contact scenarios including Afrikaans, American Sign Language, English, French, Malayalam, Norwegian, Spanish, Welsh, as well as contact scenarios that involve typologically different languages. Second, it also addresses other types of scenarios that do not fall into the classic language contact category, such as multilingual practices and language acquisition as emerging multilingualism. Third, it aims to integrate constructionist views on language contact and multilingualism with other approaches that focus on structural, social, and cognitive aspects. The volume demonstrates that Construction Grammar is a framework particularly well suited for analyzing a wide variety of language contact phenomena from a usage-based perspective.
[Constructional Approaches to Language, 30] 2021. vii, 437 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 19 May 2021
Published online on 19 May 2021
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Widening the scope: Recent trends in constructional contact linguisticsHans C. Boas and Steffen Höder | pp. 1–13
- Section 1. Constructions in multilingual practices
- Idioconstructions in conflict: Ad hoc generalization in multilingual speech processingAileen Urban | pp. 17–53
- “Ok, qui d’autre na, nobody on the line right now?”: A Diasystematic Construction Grammar approach to discourse markers in bilingual Cajun speechSamuel Bourgeois | pp. 55–80
- Cognitive models of language contact: An integrated perspective of Diasystematic Construction Grammar and Cognitive Language Contact PhenotypesAlexander Onysko | pp. 81–105
- Section 2. Constructional change in language contact
- A Diasystematic Construction Grammar analysis of language change in the Afrikaans and English finite verb complement clause constructionBertus Van Rooy | pp. 109–137
- The Spanish verb-particle construction [V para atrás]: Disentangling constructional contact and changeEvelyn Wiesinger | pp. 139–187
- Section 3. Language contact between typologically different languages
- Non-Dravidian elements and (non)diasystematic change in MalayalamSavithry Namboodiripad | pp. 191–232
- Making one’s way in Welsh: Language contact and constructional changeKevin J. Rottet | pp. 233–265
- From letters to families: Initialized signs in American Sign LanguageRyan Lepic | pp. 267–305
- Section 4. Multilingual constructions in language acquisition
- Additional language acquisition as emerging multilingualism: A Construction Grammar approachSteffen Höder, Julia Prentice and Sofia Tingsell | pp. 309–337
- Something I was dealing with: Preposition placement in multilingual constructiconsDaniel Jach | pp. 339–374
- Intensifying constructions in second language acquisition: A diasystematic-constructionist approachKristel Van Goethem and Isa Hendrikx | pp. 375–428
- Author Index | pp. 429–430
- Construction Index | pp. 431–432
- Language Index | pp. 433–434
- Subject Index | pp. 435–437
“This volume is an inspiring example of the capacity of constructional approaches to deal with complex linguistic data and theoretical problems. The papers united here apply constructional models to tackle unsolved questions in language contact and other multilingual constellations like second language acquistion and additional language acquisition. Taking up what has been achieved in the field of language change, the scope of constructional models is expanded to the investigation of diasystemic constructions. A highly welcome and instructive read to everybody interested in the field!”
Gabriele Diewald, Leibniz Universität Hannover
“This terrific volume calls attention to the importance of language contact in shaping the constructicon. The expert contributions showcase research which displays a number of interactions with other domains of enquiry in Construction Grammar. The book addresses numerous topics in multilingualism, drawing on an impressively diverse range of language families. It will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in usage-based approaches to linguistic diversity.”
Graeme Trousdale, University of Edinburgh
“Generally, the volume presents a significant contribution to the area in several major ways. Firstly, it analyses language contact phenomena in a range of typologically different languages, as well as in a deaf sign language, not addressed before. Secondly, in addition to classic language contact, it also analyses multilingual practices and additional language acquisition as emerging multilingualism, also largely overlooked before. And thirdly, the obtained results testify to the validity and explanatory potential of DCxG both alone and in combination with other approaches.”
Vladan Pavlović and Biljana Mišić Ilić, University of Niš, in Review of Cognitive Linguistics 23:1 (2025).
Cited by (9)
Cited by nine other publications
Boas, Hans C.
Boas, Hans C. & Steffen Höder
2025. What makes Construction Grammar relevant for contact linguistics — and vice versa?. In Constructions in Contact 3 [Constructional Approaches to Language, 40], ► pp. 1 ff.
Boas, Hans C. & Steffen Höder
2025. Diasystematic Construction Grammar at work. In Constructions in Contact 3 [Constructional Approaches to Language, 40], ► pp. 22 ff.
Hennecke, Inga, Tatiana Perevozchikova & Evelyn Wiesinger
Mithun, Marianne
Warmuth, Matthias
2025. Construction Grammar and phonology?. In Constructions in Contact 3 [Constructional Approaches to Language, 40], ► pp. 247 ff.
Hendrikx, Isa & Kristel Van Goethem
2024. Dutch compound constructions in additional language acquisition. Constructions and Frames 16:1 ► pp. 64 ff.
PEREK, FLORENT
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