Linguist Forum

Languages => Language-specific analysis => Topic started by: Tamara on December 08, 2014, 05:29:16 AM

Title: Construction Grammar and Lexicalist approaches
Post by: Tamara on December 08, 2014, 05:29:16 AM

Dear all,

I have been reading about Cxn Grammar and the syntax-lexicon continuum. An interesting article regarding this issue is Boas' "The syntax-lexicon continuum in Construction Gammar" and a key point that I am unsure about is regarding those constructions he calls "verb specific constructions", isn't Boas adopting here a lexicalist approach? And most importantly, are these two approaches compatible? If so, how?

All the best,
Looking forward to hearing your insights.

Title: Re: Construction Grammar and Lexicalist approaches
Post by: Daniel on December 08, 2014, 08:35:36 AM

From what I remember of that article a couple years ago he is adopting a continuum analysis with no sharp distinction between the two (lexicon and syntax). Verb specific constructions would be mostly lexical, a little syntactic, but not uniquely either-- nothing is uniquely either in CG.

Are which two compatible?

Title: Re: Construction Grammar and Lexicalist approaches
Post by: Tamara on December 08, 2014, 08:40:48 AM

"Are which two compatible?"

A lexicalist approach and a constructionalist approach?

Title: Re: Construction Grammar and Lexicalist approaches
Post by: Daniel on December 08, 2014, 04:46:21 PM

They're the same thing: a construction (in theoretical terms, not descriptive terms) is a lexically defined syntactic structure.