What is it about?
This edited volume tackles a fundamental question in linguistics: How do the various patterns of a language fit together? Instead of treating grammatical constructions (the basic pairings of form and meaning, like idioms or sentence patterns) as separate items in a list, this book argues we must study them as interconnected “families.” Just like people belong to family trees, constructions relate to each other in systematic ways, sharing features and historical origins. The book brings together analyses from languages including English, Spanish, German, and Hungarian to map these relationships. The first part compares different analytical tools for understanding these families. The second part aims to advance the field of Construction Grammar by reconciling different theoretical approaches, testing their strengths against specific analytical problems, and even challenging some of the field’s core assumptions to build a more complete and accurate model of how language is organized in our minds.
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Why is it important?
This book is important because it represents a significant shift within Construction Grammar from a focus on individual constructions to a holistic, network-based view of grammar. By emphasizing “constructional families,” it provides a more powerful framework for capturing the systematicity and creativity of language. The volume’s strength lies in its comparative and integrative approach; by applying multiple perspectives to a range of languages, it tests the limits and capabilities of the theory itself. It doesn’t just present new findings but actively works to unify competing ideas and challenge established dogma, which is essential for the healthy evolution of any scientific field. For linguists, this work is a crucial step toward a more realistic and comprehensive “map” of the human “constructicon”—the mental network of grammatical knowledge that every speaker possesses.
Perspectives
Editing this volume was an exercise in building bridges. Our goal was to move beyond the fragmented analysis of individual constructions and instead chart the complex, familial relationships that give a language its organic structure. It was particularly rewarding to bring together scholars applying these principles to such a diverse set of languages, as this cross-linguistic perspective tested the universality of our theoretical frameworks. The most stimulating aspect was fostering dialogue between different analytical traditions within Construction Grammar, encouraging contributors not just to present findings, but to reconcile differences and challenge foundational ideas. This project reinforced my conviction that language is a network, not a catalogue, and that understanding its true nature requires us to study the links between its parts as intently as we study the parts themselves.
Professor Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza
University of La Rioja
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Constructing families of constructions, July 2017, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/hcp.58.
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