Calling a spade a shovel: A cognitive construction account of BE-relativisation

Abstract

ABSTRACTS Relativisation, a process by which relative clauses are formed, exhibits variability in its internal structure, meaning and interpretation. One form of relativisation is that sort of relative clause in which we directly relate one concept through another concept. The present study identifies and classifies such relativisation as BE-relativisations, and shows the extent to which this sort of relativisation significantly draws on the cognitive abilities of both the speakers and the listeners. Framed within broad theoretical tools in cognitive construction grammar, the study argues that noun phrases (NPs) in BE-relativisation cognitively function as NP1 & NP2. It is shown that these NPs, though lexically independent, are cognitively interdependent for processing purposes. The study further shows that listeners often unconsciously cooperate with speakers in processing different concepts in BE-relativisation. For instance, it is shown that conceptualising NP1 the guys is conceptually the same as NP2 my students in ‘The guys who were my students won the competition’. Drawing on corpus evidence from interference-driven Nigerian and syntactically developed Canadian Englishes, the study shows that BE-relativisations are essentially cognitive-driven, regardless of sociolinguistic background of the speakers/listerners. Among other observations, the study attests scarcity of BE-relativisation and a similar pattern of cognitive activation and cooperation in BE-relativisations found in both varieties of English.