Abstract Talmy (2000) describes force dynamics as a conceptual category that captures how entities interact with respect to applying force, resisting or overcoming force, blocking force, or removing blockage. In language, force dynamics manifests itself both in lexical elements and in grammatical structures. Widely discussed examples of the latter include causative constructions and modal auxiliaries. This paper argues that force-dynamic meanings are present in a number of syntactic constructions in English that have up to this point received little or no attention with regard to this conceptual category. On the basis of corpus data from the coca (Davies 2008) and collostructional analysis (Stefanowitsch and Gries 2003), it is shown that force dynamics characterize the constructional meaning of English object-to-subject raising (Mair 1987, Langacker 1995), subject complement clauses with ing-forms (Hilpert 2010), and the split infinitive construction (Huddleston and Pullum 2002, Perales-Escudero 2010). Collostructional analyses indicate that the three construction types are systematically associated with networks of force-dynamic scenarios that are organized in a semantic map. In addition, the three constructions exhibit coercion effects in which they impose their meanings on lexical elements that are themselves not inherently force-dynamic. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for current usage-based network models of language (Diessel 2019, 2023, Schmid 2020).

Abstract In this paper, I make two sets of suggestions of how collostructional analysis can be updated. One set of suggestions involves simplifying the analysis for descriptive/exploratory purposes while at the same time enriching it with bootstrapped confidence intervals. The other set of suggestions involves the idea that we should move away from a single kind of association measure for theoretical/exploratory purposes and instead quantify collostructional attraction as a tuple of, minimally, three ideally orthogonal dimensions, namely frequency, association, and dispersion, because only this kind of analysis will be able to address all the dimensions that are relevant to cognitive/usage-based approaches to constructions. In addition, I end with a (renewed) plea to take the notion of construction more seriously: Rather than looking at associations of constructions to forms, which many studies have basically amounted to, I would like us to ‘go back to’ looking at associations of constructions to constructions, i.e. to take the meaning/functional pole of constructions more seriously again and include sense/function in all kinds of collostructional analyses more.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to account for the functions of reduplication Nigerian Pidgin in a more comprehensive way than in previous work, by shifting the focus away from de-contextualized assignments of unitary meaning, and toward a full range of context-sensitive readings. The data for the study come from Wazobia fm radio programmes, as well as interviews and focus group discussions with native speakers of the language. Reduplication is attested in word classes such as ideophones, adverbs, numerals, adjectives, nouns, verbs and pronouns in Nigerian Pidgin. Using a version of the prototype theory elaborated by Lakoff and other Cognitive linguists, I represent the various readings of reduplicative constructions for each word class as radial categories, and show that both central and peripheral meanings are attested, and are indeed motivated by varying degrees of family resemblance.

Abstract This paper adopts a construction-grammar approach to multimodal meaning. We provide a detailed analysis of the Before-After-construction used frequently in advertisements, cartoons and Internet memes. We demonstrate that parts of its generic ‘caused-change’ meaning is compositional, and rendered independently from what is overtly expressed by concrete instances of the pattern. The latter hence build on an abstract multimodal construction whose form elements are paired idiosyncratically with meaning, just like linguistic constructions proper. We show that non-standard instances of the Before-After-construction represent deviations based on a systematized standard Before-After-construction. Finally, we argue that the Before-After-construction belongs to a broader inheritance hierarchy of two-image multimodal construction types, while also providing one amongst several options to convey caused-change. Altogether, we demonstrate that multimodal expressions instantiate similar properties as unimodal expressions both across form and meaning.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine layperson perceptions of creativity associated with figurative language and language play. To do so, participants wrote attention-grabbing responses for two news stories and rated whether their responses were less, equally, or more creative when compared to preconstructed responses containing different combinations of metaphor and sarcasm. Participants’ answers were also analyzed for the presence of figurative language or language play. Results demonstrated participants were less likely to self-rate their answers as more creative when compared to preconstructed responses containing figurative language, but only for specific instances of metaphor and sarcasm. Moreover, participants who included figurative language or language play in their responses were significantly more likely to self-rate their answers as more creative. These results suggest layperson perceptions of creativity are influenced by figurative language and language play in a manner which supports scholarly understandings of the relationship between language and creativity.

Abstract The present paper is concerned with the Polish construction introduced with the subordinating complementizer żeby. The construction is interesting for its mood properties, which have been subject of a long-standing debate in Polish linguistics. The paper explores the semantic range of the construction and illuminates its mood properties. More specifically, it argues that żeby clauses represent a subjunctive mood and as such should be distinguished from indicative and conditional constructions. This distinction is described in terms of Langacker’s model of control and Givón’s theory of semantic binding. It is argued that the żeby construction constitutes an intermediate category between indicative mood, which grants the speaker a high degree of control over a proposition described in the complement clause, on the one hand, and conditional mood, which situates a proposition outside the conceptualizer’s dominion of control, on the other. The paper also highlights the iconic and metonymic motivation behind the distribution of żeby clauses in present-day Polish.

This paper explores the cognitive semantics of the typological category “possession” using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (nsm) approach. At the macro level, we argue that “possession” is not a unitary cognitive category for speakers, but instead represents an aggregation of diverse semantic schemas which center around three distinct conceptual anchor points: ownership, body-parts, and kinship relations. It is shown how each of these conceptual anchor points can be clearly identified using the nsm metalanguage of semantic primes and molecules. At the micro level, the paper undertakes a close examination of the cognitive semantics of English s-genitives in the frame [THIS SOMEONE’S] SOMETHING, e.g. Mary’s ring, Mary’s shoes, Mary’s drawing, Mary’s plate, Mary’s train. It is argued that the wide range of use of the s-genitive can be captured in a set of five semantic schemas, which constitute a network of grammatical polysemy.

A theory of cognitive systems individuation is presented and defended. The approach has some affinity with Leonard Talmy’s Overlapping Systems Model of Cognitive Organization, and the paper’s first section explores aspects of Talmy’s view that are shared by the view developed herein. According to the view on offer – the conditional probability of co-contribution account (cpc) – a cognitive system is a collection of mechanisms that contribute, in overlapping subsets, to a wide variety of forms of intelligent behavior. Central to this approach is the idea of an integrated system. A formal characterization of integration is laid out in the form of a conditional-probability based measure of the clustering of causal contributors to the production of intelligent behavior. I relate the view to the debate over extended and embodied cognition and respond to objections that have been raised in print by Andy Clark, Colin Klein, and Felipe de Brigard.