A usage-based analysis of alternating syntactic constructions: the case of spray/load constructions and clear constructions

Authors

  • Naoki Otani Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.v25i52.40815

Keywords:

argument structure constructions, spray/load constructions, clear constructions, syntactic alternation, information structure, usage-based model, functional motivation

Abstract

The present paper deals with the polysemous nature of spray/load constructions and clear constructions. The verbs used in these constructions appear in an alternating syntactic pattern: the THM-object variant (e.g. He sprayed paint onto the wall) and the LOC-object variant (e.g. He sprayed the wall with paint). This paper aims to demonstrate that these syntactic alternations are functionally motivated or influenced by topics mentioned in the previous discourse context.

---

Original in English.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Naoki Otani, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Associate Professor of Cognitive Linguistics at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Human and Environmental Studies from Kyoto University. His books and papers include A Cognitive Analysis of the Grammaticalized Functions of English Prepositions: From Spatial Senses to Grammatical and Discourse Functions (Kaitakusha, 2013) and Behavioral Profiles: A Corpus-based Perspective on Synonymy and Antonymy (co-authored with Stefan Th. Gries, ICAME 34, 2010)

Downloads

Published

2020-09-21

How to Cite

Otani, N. (2020). A usage-based analysis of alternating syntactic constructions: the case of spray/load constructions and clear constructions. Gragoatá, 25(52), 856-878. https://doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.v25i52.40815

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 52 (2020): Grammar of constructions and interfaces

Section

Artigos

License

Authors who publish in Gragoatá agree to the following terms:

The authors retain the rights and give the journal the right to the first publication, simultaneously subject to a Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC 4.0, which allows sharing by third parties with due mention to the author and the first publication by Gragoatá.

Authors may enter into additional and separate contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (for example, posting it in an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), with recognition of its initial publication in Gragoatá.

 

Licença Creative Commons
Gragoatá is licensed under a Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.