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Constructing Families of Constructions: Analytical perspectives and theoretical challenges
Edited by Francisco José Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, Alba Luzondo Oyón and Paula Pérez Sobrino
[Human Cognitive Processing 58] 2017
► pp. 135–172

Chapter 5
Exploring inter-constructional relations in the constructicon

A view from Contrastive (Cognitive) Construction Grammar

| University of Almería

Drawing on a cursory contrastive analysis of (i) the reflexive subjective-transitive construction, (ii) the self-descriptive subjective transitive construction, and (iii) the What’s X doing Y? (WXDY) construction in English and Spanish, this chapter explores the feasibility of capturing intra- and inter-constructional generalizations. Specifically, all three constructions must encode a characterization in keeping with the inherent subjective meaning of the secondary predication frame. At a higher level of resolution, in the case of two prima facie distinct constructions such as those in (ii) and (iii), the state of affairs in question should involve a stage-level rather than individual-level construal. I suggest that a similarity in pragmatic function, viz. the subject/speaker’s judgment of a state of affairs as being unexpected or incongruous, may be the unifying factor binding them together in the constructicon.

Keywords: pragmatic function, reflexive subjective-transitive construction, secondary predication, self-descriptive subjective-transitive construction, WXYD construction
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The reflexive construction
  • 3.The reflexive subjective-transitive construction
  • 4.The self-descriptive subjective-transitive construction
  • 5.The WXDY construction
  • 6.Closing remarks and outlook
  • Acknowledgement
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 26 July 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.58.06gar
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