The notion of construction in Construction Grammar The notion of construction in Construction Grammar The notion of construction in Construction Grammar
Abstract
This paper gives an overview of the fundamental features that characterize Construction Grammar as a distinct approach to linguistic analysis. I discuss the theory's conceptual underpinnings, introduce the basics of its representational apparatus, and briefly demonstrate the ways in which a constructional analysis is generally carried out, using both English and Czech data.
The center of attention is on the notion 'construction' as a theoretical entity and the basic unit of analysis, which allows for both the Gestalt-like, holistic view of linguistic patterning and for keeping track of the internal properties of larger patterns. The constructional approach is shown to be well suited to accounting not just for fully schematic grammatical patterns also for partial productivity.