Timothy Colleman

Constructional semantics on the move: On semantic specialization in the English double object construction

Abstract In this article we tackle the issue of diachronic variation in constructional semantics through an exploration of the (recent) semantic history of the well-established English ditransitive or double object argument structure construction. Starting from the assumption that schematic syntactic patterns are not fundamentally different from lexical items, we will show that — similar to the diachronic semantic development of lexemes — the semantics of argument structure constructions in general and that of double object constructions in particular, is vulnerable to semasiological shifts as well. More specifically, the analysis, which compares data from 18th-century Late Modern English with present-day English, shows that the double object constructions semantic evolution presents a case of specialization, in which the construction has come to be associated with a significantly narrower range of meanings. It will further be argued that such patterns of semantic change are best captured in a model of argument structure semantics which discriminates between central and lesscentral or prototypical and non-prototypical uses.

‘Caused motion’? The semantics of the English to-dative and the Dutch aan-dative

Abstract Both English and Dutch feature a variety of verbs of possessional transfer which display the phenomenon of dative alternation. They can either be used in a double object construction with unmarked NP theme and recipient objects or in a so-called “prepositional dative” construction in which only the theme is encoded as a bare NP object and the recipient is marked by a preposition. Within this context of dative alternation, this study zooms in on the English prepositional dative construction with to and the Dutch prepositional dative construction with aan (cognate with English on, German an). Existing analyses of these constructions hold widely different views on the semantic import of the prepositions used: some authors take the preposition to bring an element of ‘caused motion’ to the semantics of the construction, while others treat it as a grammaticalized marker of recipient function. We shall argue for an intermediate position: while the constructions with to and aan are not limited to events which involve an actual spatial transfer but cover a wide variety of ‘caused possession’ events, they are nevertheless subject to a number of constraints which can be traced back to the spatial semantics of English to and Dutch aan. These semantic constraints will be illustrated by means of corpus-based observations on the behaviour of a number of English and Dutch verbs in the respective dative alternations.

Ditransitive verbs and the ditransitive construction: a diachronic perspective

This paper argues for the adoption of a construction-based perspective to the investigation of diachronic shifts in valency, which is a hitherto largely neglected topic in the framework of valency grammar. On the basis of a comparison of the set of verbs attested in the double object argument structure pattern in a corpus of 18th-century British English with the constructions present-day semantic range, I will distinguish between three kinds of valency shifts. It will be shown that the semantic ranges of schematic argument structure constructions are subject to diachronic change, and that the shifts in valency observed in individual verbs are often part of more general changes at the level of the associated argument structure constructions. The latter pan of the paper explores frequency shifts in valency and constructional semantics.

Extending the scope of construction grammar

The field of constructionist linguistics is rapidly expanding, as research on a broad variety of language phenomena is increasingly informed by constructionist ideas about grammar. This volume is comprised of 11 original research articles representing several emerging new research directions in construction grammar, which, together, offer a rich picture of the various directions in which the field seems to be moving.

Ditransitieve constructies in het Nederlands: semasiologische en onomasiologische kwesties

This paper presents a consruction-based exploration of a number of formal and semantic issues surrounding the Dutch double object and prepositional dative construction. The first part of the paper deals with the formal demarcation of these constructions vis-a-vis other three-place argument structure constructions. The second part discusses diachronic shifts and synchronic variation in the constructional semantics of the double object pattern, the third part briefly looks into the semantic relation between the double object construction and the prepositional dative. The overall aim of the paper is to give an impression of the way such issues are dealt with in construction grammar.

De aan -constructie in het 17de-eeuwse Nederlands

The Dutch aan-construction (e.g. Hij gaf een bos bloemen aan zijn vrouw „He gave a bouquet to his wife‟), the prepositional alternative for the double object construction (Hij gaf zijn vrouw een bos bloemen „He gave his wife a bouquet‟), is a post Middle Dutch innovation (i.e. after 1500 AD). The precise details of the rise of the aan-construction remain, however, understudied. It is for example unclear whether the construction really breaks through in the 17th century, as Weijnen & Gordijn (1970) argue on the basis of a small corpus of farces, and what its semantic range was in those early days. In this paper we try to shed more light on these issues. On the basis of a self-compiled corpus of literary Dutch, we firstly show that the construction was not only already frequently attested in the language use in the 17th century, but also covered a remarkably wide semantic range at that time. Next, via a detailed comparison with data for the 20th century, we show that there have been interesting changes concerning the semantic evolution of the aan-construction. The structural weight of a cluster of „do‟- and „send‟-verbs for example declines over time and at more general level there seems to be a trend towards more abstract uses of the aan-construction. A diachronic collostructional analysis (Hilpert 2006) and Configural Frequency Analysis (von Eye 2002) lends a statistical underpinning to our observations.

Introduction: a multifaceted approach to verb classes

Bernard De Clerck: Department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication, University of Ghent, Groot-Brittanniëlaan 45, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. E-mail: Bernard.DeClerck@ugent.be Timothy Colleman: Department of Linguistics, University of Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. E-mail: Timothy.Colleman@ugent.be Dominique Willems: Department of Linguistics, University of Ghent, Blandijnberg 2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. E-mail: Dominique.Willems@ugent.be

Over werkwoordalternanties in de Syntax of Dutch

This review article offers a critical discussion of the extensive treatment of verb frame alternations in the first volume on Verbs and Verb Phrases of the Syntax of Dutch (SoD). The article takes a usage-based perspective and focuses on a number of aspects of the grammatical description in the SoD that are too exclusively rooted in the theoretical framework of formal syntax.

Variatie en verandering in constructies

This introductory paper outlines the different trends and movements that have in recent years led to a marked increase in the number of linguistic studies that combine a construction-based theoretical outlook on grammar with a dedicated interest in issues of synchronic and/or diachronic language variation. In addition, it gives an overview of the papers included in this thematic issue and links them with broader tendencies in the fields of cognitive linguistics and construction grammar.