Chapter published in:
Nodes and Networks in Diachronic Construction Grammar
Edited by Lotte Sommerer and Elena Smirnova
[Constructional Approaches to Language 27] 2020
► pp. 45–68

Constructionalization and the Sorites Paradox

The emergence of the into-causative

This article discusses the relationship between “constructionalization” and “constructional change” (Traugott & Trousdale, 2013). Expanding on recent critical reviews, the paper argues that the problems with constructionalization arise from the ambiguity of the concept: it refers simultaneously to processes leading to the creation of a new node and to the point of node creation itself. The issues are illustrated by tracking the emergence of the into-causative: the data show that a series of interrelated changes in multiple parts of the network provided necessary and facilitating conditions, some of which predate the into-causative by several generations. The suggestion is that constructionalization should be reserved for its point reading, while aspects of its process reading are better captured by “constructional emergence”.

Keywords: constructionalization, constructional change, constructional emergence, into-causative, Early Modern English, associative links, modal expressions
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Constructionalization and constructional change
  • 3.The into-causative
    • 3.1Synchronic properties
    • 3.2Diachronic assumptions
  • 4.Constructional emergence
    • 4.1Data
    • 4.2Analysis
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 May 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.27.01fla
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