How constructions are born. The role of patterns in the constructionalization of be going to INF

This paper addresses the question if and why constructions, conventionalized form-meaning pairings, should have a privileged status among patterns in modelling our knowledge of a language. Constructionist approaches regard constructions as the basic unit of our language knowledge. They range from words to schematic patterns such as the ditransitive (he gave Mary a book). Construction grammar also recognizes the existence of connections based on similarity or repeated cooccurrence between forms alone or meanings alone. The emphasis on constructions, however, runs the risk of relegating them to second place. The strict division between constructions and connections between constructions also potentially obliterates the importance of an in-between category such as compositional combinations of constructions, which I refer to as assemblies. While these connectivity patterns have also been captured under the category of constructions broadly defined, I will argue for a separation of non-compositional form-meaning pairings from the dynamics of compositional connectivity patterns, particularly focusing on the role frequency shifts in assemblies play in a constructionalization process.

ISBN:978-3-11-059551-2

Jaar van publicatie:2019

Trefwoorden:H1 Book chapter

BOF-keylabel:ja

Toegankelijkheid:Open