Flexibility and fluidity of grammar: Grammatical constructions in discourse and sociocultural context

Abstract

Grammar is often considered as an established convention used by all speakers of a language, while variability should be expected if using language is regarded as meaningful sociocultural as well as cognitive behavior. This paper considers the flexible and fluid nature of grammar and the language user’s knowledge of grammatical variability by examining natural discourse data of one Japanese speaker/writer in four different communicative contexts and examples of expository writing.The study finds that the pairing of meaning/function with a form has a crucial role in determining the use of a (non-) conventional construction in context, as maintained in Construction Grammar. The conventionality and variability (in time and space) of grammar can be elucidated by postulating a constellation of multiple layers of socioculturally mediated meanings/functions of a form, a “construction-based semiotic constellation (CBSC).” Some meanings/functions may acquire exclusive association with a context and become conventionalized or even normative through sociocultural beliefs and endorsement, while others remain malleable. An ideal model of grammar should reflect the flexibility and conventionality of language use and the user’s knowledge. In that spirit, this analysis offers a socioculturally informed illustration of conventionalization and flexibility in grammar.