Constructional semantics on the move

On semantic specialization in the English double object construction

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12197546
AutoresTimothy Colleman (0000-0002-3723-3807, Ghent University, autor de correspondencia), Bernard De Clerck (0000-0001-7071-8040, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts)
Año2011
Volumen22
Número1
Páginas183-209
Fecha de publicación2011-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCognitive Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0936-5907 • E-ISSN: 1613-3641
EditorialDe Gruyter Mouton (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/cogl.2011.008
OpenAlexW2318076394
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas16

In this article we tackle the issue of diachronic variation in constructional semantics through an exploration of the (recent) semantic history of the well-established English ditransitive or double object argument structure construction. Starting from the assumption that schematic syntactic patterns are not fundamentally different from lexical items, we will show that — similar to the diachronic semantic development of lexemes — the semantics of argument structure constructions in general and that of double object constructions in particular, is vulnerable to semasiological shifts as well. More specifically, the analysis, which compares data from 18 th -century Late Modern English with present-day English, shows that the double object construction's semantic evolution presents a case of specialization , in which the construction has come to be associated with a significantly narrower range of meanings. It will further be argued that such patterns of semantic change are best captured in a model of argument structure semantics which discriminates between central and lesscentral or prototypical and non-prototypical uses

Argument (complex analysis · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Object (grammar · Programming language · Schematic · Semantics (computer science · Variation (astronomy · Computer Science · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence