Construction Grammar
Construction Grammar
What do speakers of a language have to know, and what can they 'figure out' on the basis of that knowledge, in order for them to use their language successfully? This is the question at the heart of Construction Grammar, an approach to the study of language that views all dimensions of language as equal contributors to shaping linguistic expressions. The trademark characteristic of Construction Grammar is the insight that language is a repertoire of more or less complex patterns – constructions – that integrate form and meaning. This textbook shows how a Construction Grammar approach can be used to analyse the English language, offering explanations for language acquisition, variation and change. It covers all levels of syntactic description, from word-formation and inflectional morphology to phrasal and clausal phenomena and information-structure constructions. Each chapter includes exercises and further readings, making it an accessible introduction for undergraduate students of linguistics and English language.
- Presents a cognitive approach that illustrates how the theory can explain syntax as well as word-formation
- Highlights the relevance of syntactic analysis by including sections on language acquisition, variation and change
- Offers a step-by-step introduction to formal representation that avoids complex analyses, but is still compatible with computational approaches
Reviews & endorsements
‘… has already made a successful step in the study of constructional grammar.’ Jianjing Luo, International Journal of Applied Linguistics
‘… one of the eminent works … the book provides a comprehensive introduction to readers with analyses of all levels of linguistic signs … it is an outstanding demonstration of 'constructionism', which means that all levels of linguistic phenomenon are form-meaning pairings and can be analysed from the perspective of construction grammar … and a great demonstration of the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.’ Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
‘This is one of the eminent works … the book provides a comprehensive introduction to readers with analyses of all levels of linguistic signs … The book is an outstanding demonstration of 'constructionism', which means that all levels of linguistic phenomenon are form-meaning pairings and can be analysed from the perspective of construction grammar … this book is a great demonstration of the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.’ Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
Product details
July 2022Hardback
9781107013490
350 pages
250 × 175 × 22 mm
0.75kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Figures
- Tables
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Usage based construction grammar
- 3. Morphological constructions
- 4. Word, phrasal and idiom constructions
- 5. Complex phrasal and clausal constructions
- 6. Constructional variation and change
- 7. Constructional approaches and formalisms
- 8. Outlook: Emerging research topics in construction grammar
- Exercises
- Solutions to exercises
- Glossary and list of abbreviations
- References
- Index of constructions
- General Index.
