Constructional analysis

Kiki Nikiforidou
Table of contents

Construction Grammar developed as a non-modular, non-derivational, unification-based grammatical theory aimed at covering the facts of language as a whole (Fillmore, Kay & O'Connor 1988). Alongside the original approach, developed further by Kay and Fillmore (1999), Michaelis and Lambrecht (1996), and Fried and Östman (2004a), other constructional approaches have since emerged, Cognitive Construction Grammar (Goldberg 1995, 2006) and Radical Construction Grammar (Croft 2001) being prominent versions of the constructionist paradigm. Although the different constructional approaches are not intended as pragmatic theories or methods as such, they all assign a special place to pragmatic research and have often yielded fine-grained, detailed analyses of the pragmatics associated with particular linguistic forms. In this respect, constructional analysis allows for the natural integration of pragmatics into grammatical theory. The present chapter explores some of the ways in which this integration has been realized in different studies, illuminating the potential of construction grammar for describing (and even formalizing) all kinds of conventional linguistic knowledge, including pragmatic and discoursal.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price.

References

Bernal, E. & J. Decesaris
(eds.) 2008 Proceedings of the XIII Euralex International Congress. Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J.
2003 Mechanisms of change in grammaticization: The role of frequency. In B.D. Joseph & >r.D. Janda (eds), The handbook of historical linguistics, 602–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2006 From usage to grammar: The mind's response to repetition. Language 82: 711–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J., R. Perkins & W. Pagliuca
1994 The evolution of grammar: Tense, aspect, and modality in the languages of the world. University of Chicago Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cole, P.
(ed.) 1978 Syntax and semantics 9: Pragmatics. Academic Press  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(ed.) 1981 Radical pragmatics. Academic Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Couper-Kuhlen, E. & S.A. Thompson
2000 Concessive patterns in conversation. In E. Couper-Kuhlen & B. Kortmann (eds.), Cause-condition-concession-contrast: Cognitive and discourse perspectives, 381–410 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Couper-Kuhlen, E. & B. Kortmann
(eds.) 2000 Cause-condition-concession-contrast: Cognitive and discourse perspectives. Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Croft, W.
2001 Radical construction grammar: Syntactic theory in typological perspective. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Croft, W. & A. Cruse
2004 Cognitive linguistics. Cambridge University Press.  MetBibGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cuyckens, H., R. Dirven & J.R. Taylor
(eds.) 2003 Cognitive perspectives on lexical semantics. Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dancygier, B. & E. Sweetser
2005 Mental spaces in grammar: Conditional constructions. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ducrot, O.
1980 Les échelles argumentatives. Minuit.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G.
1975 Pragmatic scales and logical structure. Linguistic Inquiry 6: 353–75.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fillmore, C.
1981 Pragmatics and the description of discourse. In P. Cole (ed.), Radical pragmatics 143–166.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1985 Frames and the semantics of understanding. Quaderni di Semantica 6: 222–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1996 The pragmatics of constructions. In D. Slobin et al. (eds.), Social interaction social context, and language: 53–69. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2008 FrameNet meets construction grammar. In E. Bernal & J. Decesaris (eds.) Proceedings of the XIII Euralex International Congress, 49–68. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. & S. Atkins
1992 Toward a frame-based lexicon: The semantics of RISK and its neighbors. In A. Lehrer & E. Feder Kittay (eds.), Frames, fields, and contrasts: New essays in semantic and lexical organization: 75–102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fillmore, C., P. Kay & M.C. O
1988 Regularity and idiomaticity in grammatical constructions: The case of let alone . Language 64: 501–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fox, B. & S.A. Thompson
1990 A discourse explanation of the grammar of relative clauses in English conversation. Language 66: 297–316. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fried, M. & J. -O. Östman
2004a A thumbnail sketch of construction grammar. In M. Fried & J. -O. Stman (eds.), Construction grammar in a cross-language perspective, 11–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(eds.) 2004b Construction grammar in a cross-language perspective. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2005 Construction grammar and spoken language: The case of pragmatic particles. Journal of Pragmatics 37: 1752–78.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Givon, T.
1979 On understanding grammar. Academic Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, A.
1995 Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. University of Chicago Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2006 Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. Oxford University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. & R. Jackendoff
2004 The English resultative as a family of constructions. Language 80: 532–68. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, S. Th & A. Stefanowitsch
2006 Corpora in cognitive linguistics. Mouton de Gruyter.  MetBibGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanks, P.
2008 The lexicographical legacy of John Sinclair. International Journal of Lexicography 21: 219–29. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hilpert, M.
2008 Germanic future constructions: A usage-based approach to language change. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hopper, P. & E. Traugott
1993 Grammaticalization. Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horn, L.
1989 A natural history of negation. University of Chicago Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horn, L. & G. Ward
2005 The handbook of pragmatics. Blackwell.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jackendoff, R.
1997 Twistin’ the night away. Language 73: 534–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2008 Construction after construction. Language 84: 8–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Joseph, B.D. & R.D. Janda
(eds.) 2003 The handbook of historical linguistics. Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kay, P.
2005 Pragmatic aspects of grammatical constructions. In L. Horn & G. Ward (eds.), The handbook of pragmatics: 675–700.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kay, P. & C. Fillmore
1999 Grammatical constructions and linguistic generalizations: The what–s X doing Y? . Language 75: 1–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G.
1987 Women fire, and dangerous things,: What categories reveal about the mind. University of Chicago Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lambrecht, K.
1994 Information structure and sentence form. Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2004 On the interaction of information structure and formal structure in constructions: The case of French right-detached comme-N. In M. Fried & J. -O. Östman (eds.) Construction grammar in a cross-language perspective, 157–99. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langacker, R.
1987 Foundations of cognitive grammar, Vol. I: Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1990 Subjectification. Cognitive Linguistics 1: 5–38.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2001 Discourse in cognitive grammar. Cognitive Linguistics 12: 143–88. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lehmann, W.
1992 Historical linguistics. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lehrer, A. & E. Feder Kittay
1992 Frames, fields, and contrasts: New essays in semantic and lexical organization. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lightfoot, D.
1979 Principles of diachronic syntax. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindquist, H. & C. Mair
2006 Corpus approaches to grammaticalization. John Benjamins.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Linell, P.
1998 Approaching dialogue talk, interaction and contexts in dialogical perspectives. John Benjamins.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meillet, A.
1912 L’évolution des formes grammaticales. Scientia 12. (Reprinted in A. Meillet 1948, Linguistique historique et linguistique générale 1, 130–48. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Michaelis, L.
2003 Word meaning sentence meaning, and syntactic meaning. In H. Cuyckens, R. Dirven & J.R. Taylor (eds.), Cognitive perspectives on lexical semantics: 163–210. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2004 Entity and event coercion in a symbolic theory of syntax. In J. -O. Östman & M. Fried (eds.) Construction grammars: Cognitive grounding and theoretical extensions, 45–88. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Michaelis, L. & K. Lambrecht
1996 Toward a construction-based theory of language function: The case of nominal extraposition. Language 72: 215–47. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moon, R.
1998 Fixed expressions and idioms in English: A corpus based approach. Clarendon Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morgan, J.
1978 Two types of convention in indirect speech-acts. In P. Cole (ed.), Syntax and Semantics 9: Pragmatics, 261–80.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nikiforidou, K.
1996 Modern Greek as: A case study in grammaticalization and grammatical polysemy. Studies in Language 20: 599–632.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Östman, J. -O.
2004 Construction discourse: A prolegomenon. In J.-O. Östman & M. Fried (eds.), Construction grammars: Cognitive grounding and theoretical extensions, 121–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Östman J.-O & M. Fried
2004 Construction grammars. Cognitive grounding and theoretical extensions. John Benjamins.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Panther, K.U. & L. Thornburg
2003 Metonymy and pragmatic inferencing. John Benjamins.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sinclair, J.
1991 Corpus concordance, collocation. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2014 Trust the text: Language corpus and discourseRoutledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Slobin, D., J. Gerhardt, A. Kyratzis & J. Guo
1996 Social interaction social context, and language. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stefanowitsch, A.
2003 A construction-based approach to indirect speech-acts. In K. -U. Panther & L. Thornburg (eds.), Metonymy and pragmatic inferencing: 105–126.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stefanowitsch, A. & S. Th. Gries
2003 Collostructions: Investigating the interaction between words and constructions. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 8: 209–43. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomasello, M.
2003 Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Harvard University Press.  MetBibGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Traugott, E.
1989 On the rise of epistemic meanings in English: An example of subjectification in semantic change. Language 65: 31–55. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2003 Constructions in grammaticalization. In B.D. Joseph & R.D. Janda (eds.) The handbook of historical linguistics, 624–47. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2007 The concepts of constructional mismatch and type-shifting from the perspective of grammaticalization. Cognitive Linguistics 18: 523–57.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhagen, A.
2005 Constructions of intersubjectivity. Oxford University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
 
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue