This project examines the creative and fluid use of constructions from the perspective of word class categorization and language change. The goal of the project is to increase our understanding of how language change takes place, who the most creative speakers within a linguistic community are, and how new, innovative construction types spread from one language variety to another. In order to study these questions, the project will provide detailed and systematic case studies of various linguistic phenomena and processes of language change in the framework of Construction Grammar, and it is expected to make a significant contribution to linguistic theory, the debate concerning the nature of linguistic categories, and the ongoing discussion on the role of creativity in language variation and change.

2020

2023