Can Construction Grammar Be Proven Wrong?

Construction Grammar emphasizes the importance of considering language units of varying sizes and generality as potential constructions, but it also warns against complacency and dogmatism. It proposes a crucial test for Construction Grammar that would prove that speakers exhibit pure-form knowledge, contributing to ongoing discussions about its theoretical foundations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 82 pages
Publication date: 01 February 2024
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Construction Grammar has gained significant attention within linguistics due to its inclusive approach, which recognizes language units of varying sizes and generality as potential constructions. These constructions are mentally stored form-function units. This Element serves as a reminder against complacency and dogmatism, emphasizing the enduring significance of falsifiability as a criterion for scientific hypotheses and theories. It raises the question of whether every proposed construction can, in principle, be empirically demonstrated to not exist. As a case study, the author examines the schematic English transitive verb-particle construction, which defies experimental verification. Despite this, the author argues that we can still reject its non-existence through sound linguistic reasoning. However, beyond individual constructions, what could be a crucial test for Construction Grammar itself, one that would falsify it as a theory? In proposing a test designed to demonstrate that speakers also possess pure-form knowledge, this Element contributes to ongoing discussions about Construction Grammar's theoretical foundations.

Weight: 147g
ISBN-13: 9781009343206