Construction Grammar

ISBN-13: 9781107013490 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication date: 07/28/2022 Series: Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics Pages: 350 Product dimensions: 6.89(w) x 9.84(h) x 0.87(d) 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 phr