Cognitive Construction Grammar Research Articles

Constructional modeling in the formalism of cognitive-quantitative construction grammar

This paper discusses the findings of constructional modeling in the formalism of cognitive quantitative construction grammar, a newly developed research framework within a cognitive-quantitative grammar approach. Triangulating theoretical tenets, methodological principles and research tools of cognitivesemiotic frameworks with quantitative corpus studies, cognitive quantitative construction grammar provides a comprehensive qualitative-quantitative approach to examining cognitive foundations, general and idiosyncratic linguistic features, usage patterns and distribution of linguistic constructions. In this context, constructional modeling entails applying a computerized linguoquantitative procedure for a construction profile parametrization. This procedure yields operationalized and statistically verified data on the essential parameters that determine a construction’s linguistic behavior. The modeling uses the boxbracket notation, which integrates the box notation to represent holistic construction-level information and construction’s constituent-level information, and the bracket notation to detail specific linguistic properties and constructional constraints.The constructional modeling in the integrated box-bracket notational system applied to English ꞌdetached nonfinite/nonverbal with explicit subjectꞌ-constructions allows for a comprehensive representation of their external and internal linguistic properties and captures inheritance links betweenthe constructions at macro-, meso- and micro-levels of the constructional network. The research findings demonstrate the feasibility of applying the cognitive quantitative construction grammar formalism to model the linguistic properties and constraints of complex clause-level constructions and how these constructions are likely to be represented in the mental grammar of speakers.

Agentive Cognitive Construction Grammar: a predictive semiotic theory of mind and language

Abstract This paper introduces a novel perspective on Agentive Cognitive Construction Grammar (AgCCxG) by examining the intricate interplay between mind and language through the lens of both Active Inference and Peircean semiotics. AgCCxG emphasizes the impact of intention and purpose on linguistic choices as a cognitive imperative to balance the symbolic Self (Intelligent Agent) with the dynamics of the environment. Among other things, the paper posits that linguistic constructions, particularly Constructional Attachment Patterns (CAPs), like argument structure constructions, embody experienced interactions with the world through reenactment routines via the integration of multisensory channels. Unlike traditional usage-based approaches (e.g., construction grammars), AgCCxG embraces a robust theory of signs that reveals human representation as a continuous process of semiotic hybridization for the creative prediction of uncertain scenarios. Importantly, the paper challenges the notion of the mind as a unified, rational, uncertainty-reducing machine by asserting that physical processes governing open biological systems profoundly influence the linguistic sign system. Intelligent agents’ adaptability in expressing incongruous realities thus highlights the role of semiotic hybridization in preserving an agent’s autonomy and semiotic boundary.

The semiotics of motion encoding in Early English: a cognitive semiotic analysis of phrasal verbs in Old and Middle English

AbstractThis paper offers a renewed construction grammar analysis of linguistic constructions in a diachronic perspective. The present theory, termedAgentive Cognitive Construction Grammar(AgCCxG), is informed byactive inference(AIF), a process theory for the comprehension of intelligent agency. AgCCxG defends the idea that language bear traces of non-linguistic, bodily-acquired information that reflects sémiotico-biological processes of energy exchange and conservation. One of the major claims of the paper is that embodied cognition has evolved to facilitate ontogenic mental alignment among humans. This is demonstrated by the results of a corpus study in which the patterns of association between verbs, the particle UP and argument structure in Old and Middle English have been studied. The conclusion is that, similar to biological systems, the linguistic sign system displays patterns of equilibrium and non-equilibrium. In other words, while in Old English usage near equilibrium was reached through the use of a conservative set of constructional semiotic templates (attachment patterns), associated with motor modalities, Middle English displays high rates of randomness resulting in a less stable, yet distinct, system of constructional attachment.

Variation and Grammaticalization of Verbal Constructions

AbstractConstruction grammar – most notably Cognitive Construction Grammar (Goldberg 2006), Radical Construction Grammar (Croft 2001) and Cognitive Grammar (Langacker 2008) – has been extremely inspiring in providing tools for modelling gradience in variation and change. Verbal constructions have been investigated within the paradigm of construction grammar from a number of angles including idiomaticization processes as well as argument structure constructions (Boas 2003;Engelberg 2009;Faulhaber 2011;Goldberg 1995;Rostila 2007). Usage-based approaches (Barlow & Kemmer 2000;Bybee & Hopper 2001;Diessel 2015,2019;Langacker 1988;Tomasello 2003) have pointed out that usage is the place to look for variation and change. Data-driven, corpus-based approaches have introduced quantitative methods for analyzing constructional functionality and variety synchronically (Stefanowitsch & Gries 2003;Gries 2006;Glynn 2014) and diachronically (Hilpert 2006). These techniques have given rise to detailed studies of verbal constructions, lexicalization and idiomaticization.This volume presents papers which in their majority have arisen in connection with the workshop “Variation and Grammaticalization of Verbal Constructions”, held at the 51st SLE Annual Meeting at Tallinn, 29th August – 1st September 2018. Its focus is on verbal constructions inGermaniclanguages, constructional variation and degrees of polyfunctionality between lexical, idiomatic and grammaticalized usages. The major object of this volume is to investigate the conditions and interdependencies of such variations and polyfunctionalities. The theoretical and conceptual foundations of the studies united here rest upon grammaticalization theory, usage-based constructional approaches, and frame semantics, allway in combination with empirical testing. The scope of interest comprises synchronic as well as diachronic phenomena in various registers and communicative types.

The role of semiotics in the unification of langue and parole: an Agentive Cognitive Construction Grammar approach to English modals

Abstract This article introduces Agentive Cognitive Construction Grammar, an emerging field that seeks to connect the linguistic system with speaker-meaning. The stated purpose is thus to tackle a pervasive disconnect in both cognitive linguistics and construction grammar, whereby the linguistic system (langue) and speaker selections (parole) are separated in the belief that language is essentially a mental process associated with the brain, and hence, separated from bodily experience. I contend this view by introducing a triadic model of construction (based on the Peircean sign) in which form and function are inextricably bound up with agency. This is possible because language is tethered to senses of movement and balance that connect experiences with the physical world with the mental. A major insight of the paper is that argument structure constructions partake of both linguistic and non-linguistic signs, which provides speakers with a means to verbalize their thoughts and distribute agency in specific events.

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

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.

Fossilized mistakes in Spanish relative clauses learned by Chinese students

AbstractThis article demonstrates how Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar can prevent Chinese students learning Spanish from fossilizing mistakes in restrictive relative clauses at the A2-B1 level of the European Framework of Reference for Languages. To address this issue, first, relative clauses in Spanish and Chinese were contrasted and, second, tailored solutions based on Cognitive Grammar were proposed. Among the cognitive based tailored solutions, certain geometry forms, colours and basic mathematics metaphors were compared with syntactic characteristics such as noun order, subordination hierarchy or resumption. To elucidate the impact of such teaching methods, an experiment with 74 Chinese students was performed. The results indicate that the efficacy of the proposed materials is statistically significant and as such, the Chinese students avoid fossilized mistakes while producing subject, object and locative relative clauses in Spanish.

Fossilized mistakes in Spanish relative clauses learned by Chinese students

AbstractThis article demonstrates how Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar can prevent Chinese students learning Spanish from fossilizing mistakes in restrictive relative clauses at the A2-B1 level of the European Framework of Reference for Languages. To address this issue, first, relative clauses in Spanish and Chinese were contrasted and, second, tailored solutions based on Cognitive Grammar were proposed. Among the cognitive based tailored solutions, certain geometry forms, colours and basic mathematics metaphors were compared with syntactic characteristics such as noun order, subordination hierarchy or resumption. To elucidate the impact of such teaching methods, an experiment with 74 Chinese students was performed. The results indicate that the efficacy of the proposed materials is statistically significant and as such, the Chinese students avoid fossilized mistakes while producing subject, object and locative relative clauses in Spanish.

Of absent mothers, strong sisters and peculiar daughters: The constructional network of English NPN constructions

Abstract This paper analyzes symmetric NPN constructions (e.g., day to day, face to face, step by step) qualitatively and quantitatively by examining data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (Davies, Mark. 2008–. The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA): 570 million words, 1990–present. http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/). The constructions’ frequency and productivity, as well as their semantics and extension potential (i.e., modification, complementation) is investigated (e.g., by conducting collostructional analysis). In terms of theoretical modeling, the paper takes a Usage-based, Cognitive Construction Grammar approach (UCCxG) and sketches the constructional network of this constructional family, postulating various constructional templates on different levels of specificity – among others – the existence of the following subtypes [CNsg,time i after CNsg,time i]Cx (e.g., day after day, night after night), [CNsg,measurement i by CNsg,measurement i]Cx (e.g., inch by inch, step by step) or [CNsg,bodypart i to CNsg,bodypart i]Cx (e.g., skin to skin, shoulder to shoulder). We show how these templates are vertically and horizontally connected to each other. Ultimately, we argue that in a usage-based model which strives for cognitive plausibility it is not always feasible to postulate the entrenchment of an abstract overarching schema (i.e., a ‘mothernode’) like [CNi P CNi]Cx or even [N P N]Cx high up in the network. It is unlikely that speakers abstract such a general schema in a bottom-up acquisition process for this family. Rather, the NPN group is a constructional family characterized by many sister ties and by the absence of mother nodes from which information can be inherited.

INTERPRETING DETACHED CONSTRUCTIONS WITH EXPLICIT SUBJECT THROUGH THE PRISM OF RELATED TERMS

This article provides a comprehensive account of the English detached nonfinite and nonverbal constructions with the explicit subject within the framework of construction grammar. The study overviews the terms utilized in Western grammatical studies to nominate the investigated syntactic structures. Depending on the ontological and gnoseological assumptions of a particular linguistic approach, the analyzed terms highlight specific aspects of the syntactic structures under study (morphosyntactic features, syntactic functions, the subject’s case, coreference with the matrix clause, intonation and punctuation marking), and, therefore, cannot fully reveal the nature of the given syntactic phenomenon. The paper discusses the advantages of the term “detached nonfinite and nonverbal constructions with the explicit subject” for cognitive and quantitative operationalization and theoretical substantiation of the examined structures. The component construction is used in the interpretation of the cognitive construction grammar and defined as a noncompositional language sign, a complex pairing of form and meaning, where some aspects of the forms or the meanings cannot be derived from the form and the meaning of its components or from other existing constructions. In present-day English detached [aug/øaug[SubjNP] [PredNF/VL]] constructions constitute a taxonomic constructional network represented through a multiple hierarchy of adjunct clauses combined with the plane of detachment. The network of the analyzed constructions is developed around the constructional schema, represented by the construction of the highest degree of schematicity and abstraction (macro-construction). The features of the macro-construction are inherited by the constructions of a lower level – meso-constructions and individual micro-constructions and are reflected in the specific realized constructions – constructs.

Maximizing the explanatory power of constructions in Cognitive Construction Grammar(s)

Abstract This paper suggests two possible ways in which cognitively-oriented constructionist approaches (Cognitive Construction Grammar, Radical Construction Grammar, and Embodied Construction Grammar) could enhance the explanatory power of constructions. First, the anatomy of a construction should spell out how the morphosyntactic realizations of arguments are specifically mapped onto their inherent semantico-pragmatic properties, while also including detailed information concerning illocutionary force, information structure, register, politeness, etc. Second, it is argued that coercion should be best understood as a continuum allowing for varying degrees of (in-)compatibility between the verb and the construction taken as a whole. Moreover, parameterization and linguistic cueing prove useful to handle the dynamic interaction of the morphosyntactic, semantico-pragmatic, and discourse-functional hallmarks of constructions, including those which invite metonymic inferencing.

Why we avoid the ‘Multiple Inheritance’ issue in Usage-based Cognitive Construction Grammar

Abstract This squib revisits the phenomenon of ‘Multiple Inheritance’ (MI) and discusses reasons why many usage-based, cognitive construction grammarians seem to be avoiding it when modeling the constructicon and linguistic knowledge. After a brief discussion of the concept and some examples from the literature, the paper examines potential reasons for the apparent disinterest. Finally, the author points to some open questions regarding MI by discussing a specific example, namely modified NPN constructions like day after hellish day or hour after hour of dominoes. It can be argued that these strings inherit their characteristic features from several different abstract templates.

On English modals, modal meaning and argument structure

In an interesting paper, Fong (2020) raises objections to my approach to English modals (and modality in general) which he views as too general and not fully compliant with the postulates of Construction Grammar. In this response paper, I intend to explain in some depth the benefits of my approach, as well as the reasons why Construction Grammar, in particular Cognitive Construction Grammar (Goldberg, 1995, 2006, 2019), needs to be interrogated and adapted as a conceptual framework to explain language learning and processing.

Y a -t- il une la place pour la variation dans la grammaire de construction cognitive? Le cas de la construction [por SN de X

Dans cet article, nous discutons de certains problèmes liés à la modélisation de la variation et du changement linguistique dans le cadre théorique de la Grammaire Cognitive des Constructions. Nous remettons notamment en cause le principe de non synonymie tel que proposé par Goldberg (1995, 2006), principalement en ce qui concerne l’indistinction entre les composantes sémantique et pragmatique dans la définition de construction. Pour cela, nous analysons les constructions causales por causa de et por conta de afin de montrer que dans certains contextes elles peuvent alterner. Bien que les deux constructions jouent des rôles argumentatifs différents, elles partagent un ensemble de propriétés formelles et sémantiques qui engendrent un espace de variation, surtout si on restreint l’ équivalence sémantique au niveau référentiel. Les résultats de l’analyse permettent d’apporter des arguments favorables à une définition plus stricte du principe de non synonymie.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------HA LUGAR PARA VARIAÇÃO NA GRAMATICA DE CONSTRUÇÕES COGNITIVA? O CASO DA CONSTRUÇÃO [por SN de X]Neste artigo, discutimos alguns problemas relativos à modelização da variação e da mudança linguística no quadro teórico da Gramática de Construções Cognitiva. Colocamos em causa, em especial, o princípio da não sinonímia tal como formulado por Goldberg (1995, 2006), principalmente no que se refere à indistinção entre os componentes semântico e pragmático na definição de construção. Para tanto, analisamos as construções causais intraoracionais por causa de e por conta de, com o objetivo de mostrar que elas podem alternar em alguns dos seus contextos. Embora as duas construções desempenhem funções argumentativas distintas, elas partilham um conjunto de propriedades formais e semânticas que criam um espaço de variação, principalmente se restringimos equivalência semântica ao nível referencial. Os resultados obtidos na análise fornecem evidências para argumentar a favor de uma delimitação mais estrita do princípio de não sinonímia.---Original em francês.

‘Don’t you ma’am me!’: A Construction-based Analysis of the Schema ‘don’t you V me’ Expressing Disapproval in English

The cognitive construction grammar (CCxG) approach can be used to examine the correlation between a constructional schema (CS) and an illocutionary force, in spoken discourse. This study aims to explore the construction [D(Y)[X]viM]j as in “Don’t you ma’am me” in the expression of disapproval or reprimand through the CxG-based examination of data obtained from three corpora: The Movie Corpus (TMC), The TV Corpus (TTVC) and the Corpus of American Soap Operas (CASO). Five constructional schemas (CS-0 to CS-4) have been identified, and they pertain to a network of constructions in which low-level CSs are more unambiguous and productive than high-level ones. Although constant elements of such constructions contribute to a more solid correlation of form and meaning, the variable (verb) undergoes a process of functional shift to guarantee the formulaic constituency of these constructions and the expression of disapproval in a given communicative situation. A distinctive feature of the converted verb is its connection (or anchoring) to the preceding move, which can be either semantic or morphological (or echoic), the latter being, on some occasions, detached from the original meaning of the verb.

The syntactic coercion between “N1Adv shi N2” and “S bi N1 hai N2” constructions

Though many researchers have studied “N1Adv shi N2” and “S bi N1 hai N2” constructions, none of them have done some research on the correlation between them. In view of it, this thesis analyzes the syntactic coercion of the construction “N1Adv shi N2” on the construction “S bi N1 hai N2” from the perspective of the Cognitive Construction Grammar. The findings are: the latter inherits from the former the characteristics of nouns as adjectives, generic reference of nouns, and no negation, etc., but blocks the characteristic of personal names with specific reference; the latter partially inherits from the former some characteristics of nouns, such as the nouns referring to people, but blocks the information of geographical and personal names. In addition, the metonymic thinking model link proposed in this thesis has complemented the four types of links between constructions by Goldberg.

Un corpus col·loquial i dialectal del valencià: PARLARS

Summary: The corpus PARLARS aims to document the colloquial not interfered Catalan (Beltran / Segura, 2017) before it disappears, owing to both the pressure of standard and especially linguistic contact with Spanish (Segura, 2003). It also wants to offer researchers adequate materials to develop studies of description and analysis of the linguistic variation of Catalan, especially the one related to functional (colloquial) and dialectal varieties. Finally, using data provided by the corpus, we try to test the hypothesis that languages function as conventionalized structures, as explained by Cognitive Construction Grammar (Goldberg, 2003; Taylor, 2012; Hilpert, 2014). This article presents the first phase of the construction of this corpus which consists precisely of defining its main characteristics, the working methodology and the transcription system, as well as the results obtained so far. Keywords: corpus, colloquial variety, variation, Catalan, Valencian, synchrony, Cognitive Construction G

The argument realization of Mandarin inverted resultative constructions and its motivation

This paper illustrates the argument realization of Mandarin inverted resultative constructions (henceforth MIRCs) and its motivation within the framework of cognitive construction grammar and draws implications both for principles of cognitive construction grammar, and for the relationship between the agent and the causer. Close examinations of data show that the argument realization of MIRCs results from the interplay of language-internal factors (the interaction of verbal semantics and constructional meaning) and language-external factors (language users’ construal). Specifically, the results show that (1) the thematic roles specified by verbs interact and fuse with the argument roles of the construction, which results in different ways of realizing the causer and the causee owing to the motivation of cognition (metonymy, reference point relationships and encyclopaedic knowledge); (2) the argument realization of MIRCs is also constrained by the language users’ construal as different construals of an event can result in different argument realizations, (3) language users’ construal of situations plays the first and foremost role in the argument realization of constructions, and (4) the agent argument can also be omitted when it is construed to be de-emphasized.

¿Dar la mano o darle cuello? Construcciones metafóricas con sustantivos corporales.

El verbo dar suele combinarse con sustantivos anatómicos para formar expresiones de interpretación metafórica. En este trabajo intentaremos explicar cómo es que dicho verbo puede construirse con estos sustantivos y qué implicaciones semántico-sintácticas acarrea sus resultados construccionales. El propósito es ir más allá del presupuesto de que se trata de metáforas. Intentaremos explicar este fenómeno policonstruccional desde la confluencia de tres modos de aproximación: la lingüística cognoscitiva, la gramática de construcciones y la semántica de marcos. Sostenemos que las expresiones con sustantivos anatómicos provienen de la construcción esquemática del verbo dar, la transferencia, que pasa por un proceso de cambio semántico, pero que conserva algunas de las propiedades de la construcción original.

The Saussurean sign and its Place in Contemporary Linguistic Theory

The article overviews the vicissitudes of the Saussurean notion of the two-sided linguistic sign in 20th-century linguistics. After having held centre stage for several decades in the Praguian and Copenhagian traditions of structuralism, this notion was sidelined if not rejected in the modular architecture of mainstream Generative Grammar, but has since been vindicated in the most influential linguistic schools to emerge in the wake of, and in reaction to, the Chomskyan revolution, viz. Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar. While the Saussurean theory of the linguistic sign may be claimed to be of foundational importance for the properly linguistic study of language, it was left for de Saussure’s successors to explore the implications and antinomies of the two-sided sign model. The article discusses a number of problems for the theory of the sign, such as the division between linguistically encoded and contextual meaning, the challenge of polysemy, the fluidity of the conventionalized linguistic sign in the continuous flow of diachronic processes, the Hjelmslevian dichotomy of semantic form and semantic substance, the place of syntax in a theory of the sign, etc.