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Constructive grammar

New models of grammar have arisen in recent years as alternatives to the established approaches of generative grammar. Foremost among these is probably construction grammar which enjoys a considerable following internationally. This approach sees constructions – structural units or ‘chunks’ (groups of words which typically co-occur together) – as the basic building blocks of all languages. It is related to, indeed in large part derived from, cognitive linguistics which sees language structure as an emergent property of human cognitively-driven behaviour.

   


Hilpert, Martin 2019. Construction Grammar and its Application to English. Secod edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Hilpert, Martin 2025. Construction Grammar and English Historical Linguistics. In Merja Kytö and Erik Smitterberg (eds) The New Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 2: Documentation, Source of Data and Modelling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 796-819.