Construction grammar and its application to English

Product Description
What do speakers of English know in order to produce utterances that other speakers will understand? Construction Grammar explains how knowledge of language is organized in speakers' minds. The central and radical claim of Construction Grammar is that linguistic knowledge can be fully
described as knowledge of constructions, which are defined as symbolic units that connect a linguistic form with meaning. The implications of this claim are far-reaching: in Construction Grammar, not only lexical items, but also syntactic patterns are seen as symbolic, meaningful units. Instead of
being meaningless structural templates, syntactic patterns actively contribute to the overall meaning of an utterance. Knowledge of language is thought of as a vast repository of interrelated symbolic units, and nothing else in addition. This book expands on this idea and familiarizes readers with
the central concepts of Construction Grammar, as applied to English constructions. In the process, it explains how the theory of Construction Grammar relates to issues of language processing, language acquisition, and language variation and change.
Review
Hilpert’s book is the first and only introductory textbook on Construction Grammar. It manages to convey the insights and complexities of the framework with impressive breadth, all in a very readable and engaging way.,
Adele E. Goldberg, Princeton University
From the Back Cover
An introduction to Construction Grammar, as applied to English Headline: An introduction to Construction Grammar, as applied to English Martin Hilpert introduces the central concepts of Construction Grammar, as applied to English constructions. In the process, he lays out how the theory of Construction Grammar relates to the issues of language processing, language acquisition, and language variation and change. Since the first edition of this book came out, Construction Grammar has gained in popularity and it has undergone a number of significant theoretical and methodological developments. The new edition captures these developments and presents an updated, more comprehensive view of Construction Grammar. Key features of the new edition include: • A new chapter on constructions in spoken language (chapter 9) • A new chapter on constructions across grammar which explores issues of bilingualism, language contact and second language acquisition (Chapter 10) • Updates throughout the other chapters reflect recent developments and new ideas in constructional research • Exercises, discussion questions and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter encourage reflection and further study • A series of ten video lectures accompanying the book are available via YouTube Martin Hilpert works as Assistant Professor of English Linguistics at the Université de Neuchâtel. Besides Construction Grammar, his research interests include corpus linguistics, language variation and change, and cognitive linguistics. He is the author of Germanic Future Constructions (2008, John Benjamins) and Constructional Change in English (2013, Cambridge University Press).
About the Author

Martin Hilpert works as Assistant Professor of English Linguistics at the Université de Neuchâtel.