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Article published In:
Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 14:2 (2024) ► pp.304–334

Construct types in language change

ORCID logo | University of Graz
This article combines ideas and concepts deriving from grammaticalization studies, cognitive linguistics and construction grammar. Specifically, it takes three important ideas developed within grammaticalization research, namely untypical context, bridging or critical context and isolating or switch context (Evans & Wilkins 2000, 2006; Heine 2002), and remodels them with the concepts construct and construction. This enables the definition of three salient construct types present in historical corpora that are placed in the continuum between individual variation and language change: extensional constructs, ambiguous constructs and adaptive constructs. Each construct type characterizes a specific phase in language change. The data presented as illustration of the construct types stem from historical and contemporary corpora of written French, Italian and Spanish.
Keywords: construct, construction, French, grammaticalization, Italian, Spanish
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Basic assumptions
  • 3.Extensional constructs
  • 4.Ambiguous constructs
  • 5.Adaptive constructs
  • 6.Accessibility and ‘novelty’ of constructions
  • 7.Meroconstruct and holoconstruct
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Corpora and dictionaries
  • References
Published online: 25 April 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.22031.sch
References (102)
Corpora and dictionaries
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Frantext = Laboratoire Analyse et traitement informatique de la langue française (ATILF) (ed.). 1998–2023. Base textuelle Frantext. Nancy: Laboratoire Analyse et traitement informatique de la langue française (ATILF). Online: [URL]
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