Construction grammar

Construction grammar (often abbreviated CxG) is a family of theories within the field of cognitive linguistics which posit that constructions, or learned pairings of linguistic patterns with meanings, are the fundamental building blocks of human language. Constructions include words (aardvark, avocado), morphemes (anti-, -ing), fixed expressions and idioms (by and large, jog X's memory), and abstract grammatical rules such as the passive voice (The cat was hit by a car) or the ditransitive (Mary gave Alex the ball). Any linguistic pattern is considered to be a construction as long as some aspect of its form or its meaning cannot be predicted from its component parts, or from other constructions that are recognized to exist. In construction grammar, every utterance is understood to be a combination of multiple different constructions, which together specify its precise meaning and form.^[1]

Advocates of construction grammar argue that language and culture are not designed by people, but are 'emergent' or automatically constructed in a process which is comparable to natural selection in species^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] or the formation of natural constructions such as nests made by social insects.^[6] Constructions correspond to replicators or memes in memetics and other cultural replicator theories.^[7]^[8]^[5]^[9] It is argued that construction grammar is not an original model of cultural evolution, but for essential part the same as memetics.^[10] Construction grammar is associated with concepts from cognitive linguistics that aim to show in various ways how human rational and creative behaviour is automatic and not planned.^[11]^[6]

^ Goldberg, Adele (2006). Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalization in Language. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 5–10. ISBN 0-19-9-268525.
^ Croft, William (2006). "The relevance of an evolutionary model to historical linguistics". In Nedergaard Thomsen, Ole (ed.). Competing Models of Linguistic Change: Evolution and Beyond. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. Vol. 279. John Benjamins. pp. 91–132. doi:10.1075/cilt.279.08cro. ISBN 978-90-272-4794-0.
^ Beckner, Clay; Blythe, Richard; Bybee, Joan; Christiansen, Morten H.; Croft, William; Ellis, Nick C.; Holland, John; Ke, Jinyun; Larsen-Freeman, Diane; Schoenemann, Tom (2009). "Language is a Complex Adaptive System: Position Paper" (PDF). Language Learning. 59 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00533.x. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
^ Cornish, Hannah; Tamariz, Monica; Kirby, Simon (2009). "Complex Adaptive Systems and the Origins of Adaptive Structure: What Experiments Can Tell Us" (PDF). Language Learning. 59 (1): 187–205. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00540.x. S2CID 56199987. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
^ ^a ^b MacWhinney, Brian (2015). "Introduction – language emergence". In MacWhinney, Brian; O'Grady, William (eds.). Handbook of Language Emergence. Wiley. pp. 1–31. ISBN 9781118346136.
^ ^a ^b Dahl, Östen (2004). The Growth and Maintenance of Linguistic Complexity. John Benjamins. ISBN 9781588115546.
^ Kirby, Simon (2013). "Transitions: the evolution of linguistic replicators". In Binder; Smith (eds.). The Language Phenomenon (PDF). The Frontiers Collection. Springer. pp. 121–138. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36086-2_6. ISBN 978-3-642-36085-5. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
^ Zehentner, Eva (2019). Competition in Language Change: the Rise of the English Dative Alternation. De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-063385-6.
^ Peschek, Ilka (2010). "Die Konstruktion als kulturelle Einheit". Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik. 38 (3): 451–457. doi:10.1515/ZGL.2010.031. S2CID 143951283.
^ Cite error: The named reference Blackmore_2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Lakoff, George; Johnson, Mark (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh : the Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought. Basic Books. ISBN 0465056733.

[goldberg2006-1] Goldberg, Adele (2006). Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalization in Language. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 5–10. ISBN 0-19-9-268525.

[Croft_2006-2] Croft, William (2006). "The relevance of an evolutionary model to historical linguistics". In Nedergaard Thomsen, Ole (ed.). Competing Models of Linguistic Change: Evolution and Beyond. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. Vol. 279. John Benjamins. pp. 91–132. doi:10.1075/cilt.279.08cro. ISBN 978-90-272-4794-0.

[Beckner_2009-3] Beckner, Clay; Blythe, Richard; Bybee, Joan; Christiansen, Morten H.; Croft, William; Ellis, Nick C.; Holland, John; Ke, Jinyun; Larsen-Freeman, Diane; Schoenemann, Tom (2009). "Language is a Complex Adaptive System: Position Paper" (PDF). Language Learning. 59 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00533.x. Retrieved 2020-03-04.

[Cornish_etal_2009-4] Cornish, Hannah; Tamariz, Monica; Kirby, Simon (2009). "Complex Adaptive Systems and the Origins of Adaptive Structure: What Experiments Can Tell Us" (PDF). Language Learning. 59 (1): 187–205. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00540.x. S2CID 56199987. Retrieved 2020-06-30.

[MacWhinney_2015-5] MacWhinney, Brian (2015). "Introduction – language emergence". In MacWhinney, Brian; O'Grady, William (eds.). Handbook of Language Emergence. Wiley. pp. 1–31. ISBN 9781118346136.

[Dahl_2004-6] Dahl, Östen (2004). The Growth and Maintenance of Linguistic Complexity. John Benjamins. ISBN 9781588115546.

[Kirby_2013-7] Kirby, Simon (2013). "Transitions: the evolution of linguistic replicators". In Binder; Smith (eds.). The Language Phenomenon (PDF). The Frontiers Collection. Springer. pp. 121–138. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36086-2_6. ISBN 978-3-642-36085-5. Retrieved 2020-03-04.

[Zehentner_2019-8] Zehentner, Eva (2019). Competition in Language Change: the Rise of the English Dative Alternation. De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-063385-6.

[Peschek_2010-9] Peschek, Ilka (2010). "Die Konstruktion als kulturelle Einheit". Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik. 38 (3): 451–457. doi:10.1515/ZGL.2010.031. S2CID 143951283.

[Blackmore_2008-10] Cite error: The named reference Blackmore_2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Lakoff&Johnson_1999-11] Lakoff, George; Johnson, Mark (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh : the Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought. Basic Books. ISBN 0465056733.

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