Chapter published in:
Nodes and Networks in Diachronic Construction GrammarEdited by Lotte Sommerer and Elena Smirnova
[Constructional Approaches to Language 27] 2020
► pp. 46–67
Constructionalization and the Sorites Paradox
The emergence of the into-causative
Susanne Flach | Université de Neuchâtel
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, -causative, Early Modern English, associative links, modal expressions
Published online: 13 May 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.27.01fla
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.27.01fla