A Construction Grammar of the English Language
CASA - a Constructionist Approach to Syntactic Analysis
Published on 24. October 2024
Book
Hardback
315 pages
978-90-272-1498-0 (ISBN)
Description
The present book provides an introduction to the linguistic model of Construction Grammar, offering a full analysis of the grammar of the English language. It covers all levels of morpho-syntactic form-meaning units: including sentence types, tense and aspect, argument structure, phrases, idioms, word and morphological constructions.
In line with its usage-based approach, all constructions are discussed using authentic corpus examples. In order to illustrate how constructions can be learnt, the book draws on authentic data from child language. Furthermore, corpus analysis is used to show which lexical items typically occur in the slots of constructions and make up their 'collo-profile'.
A key feature of the book is that it develops a systematic method for showing how constructions combine to form actual utterances. For this purpose, so-called 'construction grids' are developed which contain all the constructions that make up even the most complex sentences and show points of overlap between them.
In line with its usage-based approach, all constructions are discussed using authentic corpus examples. In order to illustrate how constructions can be learnt, the book draws on authentic data from child language. Furthermore, corpus analysis is used to show which lexical items typically occur in the slots of constructions and make up their 'collo-profile'.
A key feature of the book is that it develops a systematic method for showing how constructions combine to form actual utterances. For this purpose, so-called 'construction grids' are developed which contain all the constructions that make up even the most complex sentences and show points of overlap between them.
Reviews / Votes
The book ultimately has much to offer to both target audiences: for students, it provides a good entry point both to syntactic analysis and to constructionist approaches to language; for Construction Grammarians, especially those interested in constructicography, it offers interesting theoretical, methodological and terminological considerations. Despite the small criticisms mentioned above, we remain positive that the CASA book provides a worthwhile and welcome addition to the constructionist literature, especially in conjunction with the CASA website and the broader constructicographic enterprise pursued by the authors, all while situating itself in a didactic niche that has been previously unoccupied. -- Bastian Bunzeck, University of Bielefeld and Stefan Hartmann, Heinrich Heine University, in English Language and Linguistics (2025).More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 245 mm
Width: 174 mm
Weight
770 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-272-1498-0 (9789027214980)
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Schweitzer Classification