A Modern Synthesis

The Fillmorean Construction and its Hidden Lineage

Abstract

Understanding where an idea comes from is essential to understanding what it is – and what it might become. Almost 40 years ago, Charles J. Fillmore and his collaborators proposed what was, at the time, a grammarian’s gambit: that the primitive units of grammars are not abstract principles, as in mainstream theories of the day, but more like the traditional notion of a construction – a pairing of form and function. This “Fillmorean” reinterpretation of the construction has since inspired a vibrant and diverse research programme. Yet despite its success, the deeper intellectual lineage that shaped Construction Grammar has largely remained implicit; and recovering that lineage offers a clearer view of the field’s history, its current assumptions, and its future possibilities. This paper contributes to that goal by tracing how the Fillmorean construction is rooted not only in traditional grammars, but also in American descriptivism and even in the formal architecture of generative syntax. Seen in this light, Fillmore’s proposal appears as a modern synthesis of earlier traditions – integrating long-scattered insights into a unified, usage-based account of grammar.