Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure

✍ Scribed by Adele E. Goldberg

• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 278
• Edition: 1st edition
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Drawing on work in linguistics, language acquisition, and computer science, Adele E. Goldberg proposes that grammatical constructions play a central role in the relation between the form and meaning of simple sentences. She demonstrates that the syntactic patterns associated with simple sentences are imbued with meaning—that the constructions themselves carry meaning independently of the words in a sentence.Goldberg provides a comprehensive account of the relation between verbs and constructions, offering ways to relate verb and constructional meaning, and to capture relations among constructions and generalizations over constructions. Prototypes, frame semantics, and metaphor are shown to play crucial roles. In addition, Goldberg presents specific analyses of several constructions, including the ditransitive and the resultative constructions, revealing systematic semantic generalizations.Through a comparison with other current approaches to argument structure phenomena, this book narrows the gap between generative and cognitive theories of language.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 10
1.1 The Concept of Constructions......Page 14
1.2 A Brief Introduction to Construction Grammar......Page 19
1.3 An Alternative Account: Lexicosemantic Rules......Page 20
1.4 Advantages of the Construction Account......Page 22
1.5 Traditional Motivations for Lexical Rules......Page 34
2 The Interaction between Verbs and Constructions......Page 37
2.1 Frame semantics......Page 38
2.2 The Nature of Verb Meaning......Page 40
2.3 The Nature of Constructional Meaning......Page 44
2.4 The Integration of Verb and Construction......Page 56
2.5 Possible Relations between Verbs and Constructions......Page 72
2.6 Conclusion......Page 79
3.1 Relevant Psychological Principles of Language Organization......Page 80
3.2 Motivation......Page 82
3.3 Representing Motivation by Inheritance......Page 85
3.4 Relating Particular Constructions......Page 94
3.5 Multiple Inheritance......Page 110
3.6 Inheritance within Constructions......Page 111
3.7 Conclusion......Page 112
4.1 Transformational Approaches of Argument Structure......Page 114
4.2 Generalizations across Constructions......Page 121
4.3 Conclusion......Page 132
5.1 Introduction......Page 133
5.2 Indirect Negative Evidence......Page 135
5.3 Circumscribing Verb Classes......Page 138
5.4 Exceptions......Page 142
5.5 Accounting for the Exceptions: A Usage-based Account......Page 146
5.6 Conclusion......Page 152
6.2 The Existence of the Construction......Page 154
6.3 The Semantics......Page 155
6.4 Conclusion......Page 164
7.1 Introduction......Page 165
7.2 The Existence of the Construction......Page 166
7.3 The Various Interpretations......Page 174
7.4 Semantic Constraints......Page 177
7.5 The Load/Spray Alternation......Page 188
7.6 Conclusion......Page 192
8.1 Introduction......Page 193
8.2 The Status of the Postverbal N P......Page 195
8.3 Middle Formation......Page 196
8.4 Other Accounts......Page 198
8.5 The Existence of a Resultative Construction......Page 201
8.6 Constraints on the Resultative Construction......Page 206
8.7 Conclusion......Page 211
9.2 The Existence of the Construction......Page 212
9.3 The Semantics of the Way Construction......Page 215
9.4 Semantic Constraints......Page 225
9.5 The Lexical Complex Predicate Approach......Page 227
9.6 Relation to Resultatives......Page 228
9.7 Conclusion......Page 230
10.1 Other Constructional Approaches......Page 232
10.2 Summary......Page 237
Notes......Page 242
Bibliography......Page 256
Index......Page 274