Article 10: Cognitive Construction Grammar

Since the publication of Goldberg’s (1995) seminal book Constructions, Construction Grammar (CxG) has become increasingly popular and inspired analyses of a wide range of grammatical constructions in different languages (e.g. Michaelis and Ruppenhofer 2001, Barðdal 2008, Iwata 2008, Boas 2010a). In addition, many of Goldberg’s insights have influenced research in first language acquisition (e.g. Tomasello 2003, Diessel, this volume), second language acquisition (e.g. Gries & Wulff 2005, Haberzettl 2007, Ellis, this volume), and language change (e.g. Diewald 2007, Closs Traugott 2008, Leino and Östman 2008, Fried, this volume). This chapter outlines the main ideas and organizing principles of Goldberg’s (1995) constructional approach, which has come to be known as Cognitive Construction Grammar (CCxG) since the publication of her (2006) book Constructions at Work. The chapter is structured as follows. Section 2 discusses the major organizing principles and the architecture of CCxG. Section 3 addresses the organization of constructional knowledge in CCxG. Section 4 compares CCxG with other strands of Construction Grammar to show what ideas they share, and where they differ.