Full Description
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.
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.
