122223 SE Linguistics Seminar / BA Paper (2015S)

Construction Grammar is a fairly recent development in linguistics which provides a new perspective on grammar and differs in fundamental ways from generative approaches. It aims to explain how knowledge of language is organized in speaker’s minds. Its central claim is that grammar is an inventory of constructions which are organised in networks of families of constructions. Special emphasis is given to meaning, as constructions are understood be conventionalised parings of form and function. Construction Grammar also denies a strict division between syntax and lexis and instead takes them to be two poles on a continuum.

In this seminar we will explore the central claims and concepts of Construction Grammar and how they can be applied to English constructions. We will explore how this radical new approach offers exciting new insights into central areas of linguistics, such as language processing, language acquisition, and language variation and change. Particular attention will be given to the presumed close link between grammatical knowledge and language usage and the role of corpus linguistics in identifying constructional networks.