Full Description
This book presents a construction-based approach to understanding English syntactic constructions that challenge traditional form-function relationships, exploring complex linguistic phenomena that have posed empirical and analytical puzzles in grammatical research.
The volume establishes theoretical foundations before examining how unusual mapping relations between form and function manifest in complex English constructions. Drawing exclusively on attested data, the book investigates constructions with unpredictable form-meaning relationships, developing an innovative framework that enables broader predictions about specific phenomena and related grammatical structures. The approach advances understanding of English grammar while maintaining methodological rigor through emphasis on empirical evidence. The book offers a mathematically robust grammar from a construction-based perspective while minimizing formal representations to ensure accessibility across theoretical frameworks. It provides fresh insights into form-meaning mismatches across diverse complex grammatical phenomena. The author strikes an optimal balance between data and theory, grounding analyses in authentic language use to ensure theoretical contributions are empirically sound and practically applicable. Examples illuminate broader insights into complex form-function mappings in English, paving the way for future research in construction grammar and syntactic theory.
This book will interest students and scholars in linguistics, syntax, construction grammar, and theoretical linguistics.
Contents
Dedication
Preface
List of abbreviations
1 Theoretical Foundations
1.1 Linguistic signs and constructions
1.2 Inheritance network of constructions
1.3 Why constructions?
1.3.1 Constructional meaning
1.3.2 No core and peripheral distinction
1.3.3 Extraordinary creativity and productivity
1.4 Sign-Based Construction Grammar
1.4.1 Basic architecture: Linguistic objects, modelling, and descrip-
tions
1.4.2 Lexical signs
1.4.3 Phrasal constructions and combinatorial rules
1.4.4 Compositional semantics
1.4.5 Semantic composition and constructional meaning
1.5 Conclusion
2 Mapping between Form and Function
2.1 Mismatches among grammatical components
2.1.1 Extended notion of sign and isomorphic relations
2.1.2 Non-isomorphic mappings: complexity and content mismatch
2.2 Grammatical categories and functions
2.3 Grammatical categories and meaning
2.4 Form and meaning in raising
2.5 Form and meaning in binominal NPs
2.6 More on mismatch phenomena in grammar 63
2.7 Conclusion
3 Simple and Complex NP Constructions
3.1 NP structures
3.1.1 NP vs. DP hypothesis
3.1.2 Clausal properties of nominals
3.2 Agreement phenomena
3.2.1 Agreement features
3.2.2 Configurational and constraint-based views
3.2.3 Against purely syntactic or semantic agreement
3.3 A construction-based approach
3.3.1 Hybrid agreement
3.3.2 Determiner-head agreement
3.3.3 Subject-verb agreement
3.3.4 Agreement in coordination
3.4 Partitive constructions
3.4.1 Partitive vs. pseudopartitive
3.4.2 Two subtypes
3.4.3 Welcome consequences
3.5 Pseudo-partitive constructions
3.5.1 Issues in simple syntactic structures
3.5.2 Pseudo-partitives with a measure noun
3.5.3 Pseudo-partitives with a quantity noun
3.5.4 Pseudo-partitives with a collective noun
3.6 Conclusion
4 Verb-Particle Constructions
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Basic grammatical properties
4.2.1 Syntactic patterns
4.2.2 Semantic patterns: compositional vs. idiomatic
4.3 Previous analyses
4.3.1 Transformational analyses
4.3.2 Ternary structure analyses
4.3.3 Small clause analyses
4.3.4 Compound analyses
4.4 A construction-based analysis
4.4.1 Verb-particle sequence as a verb-complex construction
4.4.2 Predicative vs. non-predicative constructions
4.4.3 Extensions of the argument structure constructions
4.4.4 Interacting with information structure
4.5 Conclusion
5 VP Ellipsis and Fronting
5.1 Introduction
5.2 General properties
5.3 Invisible syntactic structures?
5.4 A construction-based analysis
5.5 Antecedent identification and mismatches
5.6 VPE in other environments
5.6.1 VPE with negation
5.6.2 VPE in infinitival clauses
5.7 VP fronting
5.8 Conclusion
6 Free Relative Clause Constructions
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Free relatives and interrogatives
6.3 Externally nominal and internally clausal properties
6.4 Matching effects
6.5 Mismatching effects
6.6 Previous analyses
6.7 A construction-based analysis
6.7.1 Key points of the analysis
6.7.2 Capturing mismatching effects
6.8 Transparent free relative clause
6.8.1 Some key properties
6.8.2 Previous analyses
6.8.3 A construction-based analysis
6.8.4 Welcome consequences
6.9 Conclusion
7 Extraposition Constructions
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Basic properties
7.2.1 Subject extraposition
7.2.2 Object extraposition
7.3 Movement analyses
7.3.1 For subject extraposition
7.3.2 For object extraposition
7.4 A construction-based analysis
7.4.1 Generalizations over lexical classes
7.4.2 Constructional regularities and subject extraposition
7.4.3 Variations in object extraposition
7.4.4 Some further consequences and predictions
7.5 Adjunct extraposition
7.6 Conclusion
8 Cleft Constructions
8.1 Prototypical and non-prototypical clefts
8.2 Key syntactic properties
8.2.1 It-clefts
8.2.2 Pseudo-clefts
8.2.3 Inverted pseudo-clefts
8.3 Semantics/pragmatics and information structure
8.4 Movement-based perspective
8.4.1 Extraposition analysis
8.4.2 Expletive analyses
8.5 Non-derivational perspective
8.5.1 Expletive analysis
8.5.2 Extraposition analysis 2
8.6 A construction-based analysis
8.6.1 Clefts as a family of copular constructions
8.6.2 It-clefts
8.6.3 Pseudo-clefts
8.6.4 Inverted pseudo-clefts
8.7 Non-prototypical clefts
8.7.1 Inferential clefts
8.7.2 There-clefts
8.7.3 All/Th-clefts
8.8 Conclusion
9 Locative Inversion
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Properties of the preverbal PP
9.2.1 Subject properties
9.2.2 Topic properties
9.3 Properties of the postverbal NP
9.3.1 Subject properties
9.3.2 Object properties
9.3.3 Focus properties
9.3.4 Root phenomena properties
9.4 Derivation-based previous analyses
9.4.1 Topicalization approaches
9.4.2 Unaccusative approaches
9.4.3 Expletive approaches
9.5 Previous non-derivational approaches
9.6 A construction-based approach
9.6.1 Constraints on the mapping relation
9.6.2 Constructional constraints and consequences
9.7 Conclusion
10 Comparative Correlative Construction
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Grammatical properties of the construction
10.2.1 Morphosyntactic properties
10.2.2 Subordination properties
10.2.3 Coordination properties
10.3 Previous approaches
10.3.1 Derivational approaches
10.3.2 Non-derivational analyses
10.4 Lexical and constructional properties
10.4.1 Forming the-comparative phrases
10.4.2 Forming (comparative) correlative constructions
10.4.3 Welcome consequences and further issues
10.5 Conclusion
11 Conclusions and Prospects
11.1 Objectives and key points of the book
11.2 More on nominals: Apposition constructions
11.2.1 Loose apposition
11.2.2 Close apposition
11.3 More on inversion constructions
11.3.1 Predicate inversion
11.3.2 Negative inversion
11.4 More on elliptical constructions
11.4.1 Sluicing
11.4.2 Fragment answers
11.4.3 (Why)-Stripping
11.5 Concluding remarks
Appendix
Bibliography
