"This volume brings together ten contributions by leading experts who present their current usage-based research in Diachronic Construction Grammar. All papers contribute to the discussion of how to conceptualize constructional networks best and how to model changes in the constructicon, as for example node creation or loss, node-external reconfiguration of the network or in/decrease in productivity and schematicity. The authors discuss the theoretical status of allostructions, homostructions, constructional families and constructional paradigms. The terminological distinction between constructionalization and constructional change is revisited. It is shown how constructional competition but also general cognitive abilities like analogical thinking and schematization relate to the structure and reorganization of the constructional network. Most contributions focus on the nature of vertical and horizontal links. Finally, it is also being discussed how existing network models should be enriched or reconceptualized in order to integrate theoretical, psychological and neurological aspects missing so far"--.

• Nodes and Networks in Diachronic Construction Grammar
• Editorial page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• Introduction: The nature of the node and the network – Open questions in Diachronic Construction Grammar
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The nodes
    • 2.1 The nature of the node
    • 2.2 Node creation vs node-internal changes
  • 3. The links in the network
    • 3.1 Vertical links
    • 3.2 Horizontal links
    • 3.3 Diachronic change as node-external reconfiguration of the network
  • 4. Beyond current network models
  • 5. Range of phenomena
  • 6. Conclusion
  • References
• The nodes: Creation, change and loss
• Constructionalization and the Sorites Paradox: The emergence of the ‘into’-causative
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Constructionalization and constructional change
  • 3. The ‘into’-causative
    • 3.1 Synchronic properties
    • 3.2 Diachronic assumptions
  • 4. Constructional emergence
    • 4.1 Data
    • 4.2 Analysis
  • 5. Discussion
  • 6. Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Constructionalization, constructional competition and constructional death: Investigating the demise of Old English POSS DEM constructions
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The phenomenon
    • 2.1 Questioning the existence of co-occurrence patterns
    • 2.2 Co-occurrence as a Latin ‘calque’
    • 2.3 Additional characteristic features
  • 3. Empirical analysis
    • 3.1 Analyzing the four constructional subtypes
      • 3.1.1 [[DEMinfl]+[POSSinfl]+[ADJinfl]+[CNinfl]]NPdef construction
      • 3.1.2 The [[DEMinfl]+[POSSinfl]+[CNinfl]]NPdef construction
      • 3.1.3 The [[POSSinfl]+[DEMinfl]+[ADJinfl]+[CNinfl]]NPdef construction
      • 3.1.4 [[POSSinfl]+[DEMinfl]+[CNinfl]]NPdef construction
    • 3.2 Testing the variable ‘text type’ and ‘historical period’
  • 4. A constructional sketch
    • 4.1 A constructional family: Nodes in the network
    • 4.2 Constructional loss: Demise of the constructional family
  • 5. Conclusion
  • References
  • Manuscripts used
  • Statistics programs used
• The links: Vertical and horizontal relations
• (Re)shaping the constructional network: Modeling shifts and reorganizations in the network hierarchy
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Tracking constructional changes: Empirical analysis of the Dutch intensifying fake reflexive resultative construction
    • 2.1 Methodology
    • 2.2 Results: Diachronic frequency and productivity increase
  • 3. A dynamic constructional network: Shifts at different levels of abstraction
    • 3.1 Expansion and schematization
      • 3.1.1 Case 1: ‘Suf’
      • 3.1.2 Case 2: ‘Het vuur uit de sloffen’
      • 3.1.3 Discussion
    • 3.2 Conventionalization and loss
      • 3.2.1 Case 3: ‘Wild’
  • 4. Discussion: Challenges in constructional network theory
    • 4.1 Multiple representations
    • 4.2 Other types of links?
    • 4.3 Cognitive reality
  • 5. Conclusion
  • References
• Productivity and schematicity in constructional change
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Diachronic Construction Grammar and constructional networks
  • 3. Productivity and schematicity
    • 3.1 Schematicity
    • 3.2 Productivity
    • 3.3 The relation between productivity and schematicity
  • 4. Case study: Abstract uses of the ‘way’-construction
  • 5. Conclusion
  • References
• Constructional networks and the development of benefactive ditransitives in English
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Theoretical background
    • 2.1 A constructional taxonomic model
    • 2.2 Accounting for constructional alternations
  • 3. Ditransitives, benefactives, and the benefactive alternation
    • 3.1 Benefactives in Present Day English
    • 3.2 Benefactives in Old and Middle English
  • 4. Data and methodology for a corpus-based study of benefactives in Early Modern English
  • 5. Findings of the corpus study
    • 5.1 All verbs
    • 5.2 Selected benefactive verbs
  • 6. Constructional networks in the history of English
    • 6.1 Modelling the emergence of the English benefactive alternation
    • 6.2 The value of postulating horizontal links
  • 7. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
  • Appendix 1. Collexemes distinguishing between the DOC and the ‘for’-POC in 4 sub-periods of EEBO
  • Appendix 2. Collexemes distinguishing between the ‘for’-POC and the ‘to’-POC in 4 sub-periods of EEBO
• Allostructions, homostructions or a constructional family? Changes in the network of secondary predicate constructions in Middle English
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Secondary predicate constructions in Present-Day English and in the history of English
    • 2.1 Characterisation of secondary predicate constructions in Present-Day English
    • 2.2 Diachronic developments of prepositional secondary predicate constructions in the history of English
  • 3. Allostructions, polysemy and homostructions in the network of secondary predicate constructions
  • 4. Empirical analysis: Methodology
  • 5. Empirical analysis: Results
    • 5.1 Changes in frequency
    • 5.2 The rise of French-based verbs
    • 5.3 Development of semantic differences
  • 6. Changes in the network of prepositional secondary predicates constructions
  • 7. Conclusion
  • References
• Converging variations and the emergence of horizontal links: ‘To’-contraction in American English
  • 1. Introduction: Horizontal links and the emergence of schemata
  • 2. ‘To’-infinitives and contractions
  • 3. Corpus study 1: The history of non-conventional ‘to’-contraction
  • 4. Corpus study 2: Determinants of variation of contracted and full forms in the 20th century
    • 4.1 Determinants of variation
      • 4.1.1 Variables measuring the degree of entrenchment
      • 4.1.2 Variables measuring the degree of conventionalization
      • 4.1.3 Variables relating to both entrenchment and conventionalization
    • 4.2 Modeling the data
    • 4.3 Results
  • 5. Discussion
    • 5.1 Contractions in the constructional network and the emergence of horizontal links
  • 6. Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix. Logistic regression model
• Beyond existing models
• Paradigms lost – paradigms regained: Paradigms as hyper-constructions
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Terminological clarifications
    • 2.1 Grammaticalization versus grammatical change
    • 2.2 Grammaticalization versus constructionalization and constructional change
    • 2.3 Paradigmatization as a crucial feature of grammaticalization
  • 3. Gradience and categorical distinctions
  • 4. Paradigms lost: The status of paradigms in constructional models
  • 5. Paradigms regained: Integrating paradigmatic knowledge into the constructicon
    • 5.1 Paradigm ≠ paradigmatic relation
    • 5.2 The syntagmatic extension of paradigms
    • 5.3 The paradigm as a holistic entity / a hyper-construction
  • 6. Observations concerning the existence of paradigms in language
    • 6.1 Implicational relations
    • 6.2 Layering and suppletion
    • 6.3 Paradigm pressure
  • 7. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Putting connections centre stage in diachronic Construction Grammar
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Connections: Horizontal vs. vertical, syntagmatic vs. paradigmatic
  • 3. Connections in grammatical constructionalization: [BE ‘going to’ INF]
    • 3.1 Timing of the change in the literature
    • 3.2 Empirical study: Operationalization & methodology
    • 3.3 Semantic shifts in syntagmatic patterns
      • 3.3.1 Topicalization
      • 3.3.2 Passives
    • 3.4 Interpretation of results: The birth of a construction
  • 4. Connections in paradigm crystallization: DO and the modals
    • 4.1 Analogical attraction
    • 4.2 Operationalizing paradigm crystallization
      • 4.2.1 Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)
      • 4.2.2 Model design and training
    • 4.3 All-DO control group
    • 4.4 Shifting patterns of similarity
    • 4.5 Interpretation, limitations and future work
  • 5. Discussion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• Index