SoSe 22: Ü-Structure of English: Construction Grammar
Kirsten Middeke
Comments
Construction Grammar is a family of cognitive linguistic theories that assume that constructions – form-meaning pairings of varying size and complexity, from individual morphemes to entire sentences – are the basic units in which language is represented in the minds of speakers, and that the description of grammar should therefore consist of nothing but its inventory of constructions. Construction grammar, that is, does not believe in rules, only in constructions.
In this seminar, after an overview on alternative approaches to language (historical comparative linguistics, structuralism, generativism), you will be introduced to the basic ideas typically associated with construction grammar – the usage based model of language, prototype and frame semantics, constructional meaning and coercion – and to the different schools of construction grammar. We will then study applications of these ideas to concrete linguistic phenomena in different areas of research , e.g. child language acquisition, second language acquisition, didactics, phraseology, morpho-syntax, comparative linguistics and diachronic linguistics.
To prepare for the first sessions, please review your knowledge of English syntax from the introductory module.Credit requirements are:
- regular attendance
- regular active participation in discussions, based on weekly reading assignments
12 Class schedule
Regular appointments