Multimodal Construction Grammar (Elements in Construction Grammar)

By: Elisabeth Zima

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Synopsis: This Element in Construction Grammar addresses one of its hottest topics and asks: is the unimodal conception of Construction Grammar as a model of linguistic knowledge at odds with the usage-based thesis and the multimodality of language use? Are constructions verbal, i.e. unimodal form-meaning pairings, or are they, or at least are some of them, multimodal in nature? And, more fundamentally, how do we know? These questions have been debated quite controversially over the past few years. This Element presents the current state of research within the field, paying special attention to the arguments that are put forward in favour and against the uni-/multimodal nature of constructions and the various case studies that have been conducted. Although significant progress has been made over the years, the debate points towards a need for a diversification of the questions asked, the data studied, and the methods used to analyse these data.