PDF #12 – Croft, William Constructions and Generalizations
Goldberg’s Constructions at work makes an important contribution to the understanding of syntax by developing analyses for specific grammatical constructions from a usage-based constructional perspective and critically comparing generative analyses to them. It is argued here that some of the analyses that Goldberg offers may still be problematic (although they are superior to the generative alternatives), and in other cases, Goldberg can strengthen her defense of constructional analyses by offering a sharper critique of the generative alternatives.
Constructions at work (CW ) offers an alternative approach to grammar, one familiar to readers of this journal. Part I of CW provides a fine introduction to the constructional, usage based approach to grammar, along with a critique of several generative analyses. Goldberg is doing important and valuable work in confronting analyses in the generative framework, in Part I and elsewhere in CW. The central theme of Constructions at work (CW ), as outlined in the
introduction, is the phenomenon of linguistic generalizations.
Generative grammar posits a Universal Grammar containing a set of general grammatical properties that are hypothesized to be innate. In other words, the generalizations are already given. The fundamental problem with the UG approach to grammatical structures is that in fact grammatical generalizations are highly variable across languages. If grammatical generalizations are not innate or even universal, then they must be learned.
After reading “Constructions and Generalizations” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.