Employing a state-of-the-art cognitive approach, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of English morphology and syntax, looking at how children acquire language, as well as how we can account for language variation and change. It is essential reading for undergraduate linguistics students.
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.
Arvustused
' has already made a successful step in the study of constructional grammar.' Jianjing Luo, International Journal of Applied Linguistics ' one of the eminent works the book provides a comprehensive introduction to readers with analyses of all levels of linguistic signs it is an outstanding demonstration of 'constructionism', which means that all levels of linguistic phenomenon are form-meaning pairings and can be analysed from the perspective of construction grammar and a great demonstration of the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.' Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 'This is one of the eminent works the book provides a comprehensive introduction to readers with analyses of all levels of linguistic signs The book is an outstanding demonstration of 'constructionism', which means that all levels of linguistic phenomenon are form-meaning pairings and can be analysed from the perspective of construction grammar this book is a great demonstration of the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.' Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
Muu info
A comprehensive cognitive account of English morphology and syntax that covers topics such as language acquisition and variation and change.
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.
Thomas Hoffmann is Professor and Chair of English Language and Linguistics at the Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt as well as Furong Scholar Distinguished Chair Professor of Hunan Normal University. Notable publications include Preposition Placement in English (CUP, 2011), English Comparative Correlatives Interface (CUP, 2019) and The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar (co-edited with Trousdale, OUP).
