Constructions at Work: The nature of generalization in language

Author:   Adele Goldberg (, Princeton University) ,  Inderjeet Mani ,  James Pustejovsky ,  Robert Gaizauskas
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780199268511


Pages:   292
Publication Date:   22 December 2005
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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Constructions at Work: The nature of generalization in language


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Overview

This book investigates the nature of generalization in language and examines how language is known by adults and acquired by children. It looks at how and why constructions are learned, the relation between their forms and functions, and how cross-linguistic and language-internal generalizations about them can be explained. Constructions at Work is divided into three parts: in the first Professor Goldberg provides an overview of constructionist approaches, including the constructionist approach to argument structure, and argues for a usage-based model of grammar. In Part II she addresses issues concerning how generalizations are constrained and constructional generalizations are learned. In Part III the author shows that a combination of function and processing accounts for a wide range of language-internal and cross-linguistic generalizations. She then considers the degree to which the function of constructions explains their distribution and examines cross-linguistic tendencies in argument realization. She demonstrates that pragmatic and cognitive processes account for the data without appeal to stipulations that are language-specific. This book is an important contribution to the study of how language operates in the mind and in the world and how these operations relate. It is of central interest for scholars and graduate-level students in all branches of theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics. It will also appeal to cognitive scientists and philosophers concerned with language and its acquisition.

Full Product Details

Author:   Adele Goldberg (, Princeton University) ,  Inderjeet Mani ,  James Pustejovsky ,  Robert Gaizauskas
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 24.20cm
Weight:   0.001kg
ISBN:  

9780199268511


ISBN 10:   0199268517
Pages:   292
Publication Date:   22 December 2005
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Part One: Constructions 1: Overview 2: Surface Generalizations 3: Item Specific Knowledge and Generalizations Part Two: Learning Generalizations 4: How Generalizations are Learned 5: How Generalizations are Constrained 6: Why Generalizations are Learned Part Three: Explaining Generalizations 7: Island Constraints and Scope 8: Grammatical Categorization: Subject Auxiliary Inversion 9: Cross-linguistic Generalizations in Argument Realization 10: Variations on a Constructionist Theme 11: Conclusion References Index

Reviews

Its value lies in the engagement with many important theoretical issues in syntactic and acquisition research and in the empirical support marshaled, especially with respect to acquisition. Robert D. Van Valin, Journal of Linguistics I have found Ionstructions at WorkR a must-have book. The author's elegance and clarity of vision, her knowledge of research beyond linguistics proper, as well as her empathy with the reader and her honesty about the not-so-clear cases, are engaging. J. Carlos Acuna-Farina, University of Santiago de Compostela, Folia Linguistica Constructions at Work sets an important agenda for linguistic and psycho-linguistic study. ...valuable [and] very readable. Child Language, Volume 23/3


Author Information

Adele E. Goldberg is Professor of Linguistics at Princeton University. She is author of Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure (University of Chicago Press, 1995), which won the 1996 Gustave O. Arlt Book Award in the Humanities.

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