ConstructiCon-based description: A nominal modification case study

Abstract

Constructional models of grammar are helpful tools for the analysis and description of un(der)-studied languages, leading to more accurate analyses. This is despite the fact that as a whole, working with and describing un(der)studied languages has been afforded little or no room in theoretical or empirical discussions in the Construction Grammar community. In particular, we suggest here that The Constructicon is a useful tool for the description and analysis of individual functional domains, and that thinking in Constructicon terms is likely to improve the accuracy of descriptions, reduce descriptive ambiguity, and point at areas of incipient and completed grammaticalization. To illustrate this, we focus on the domain of nominal modification in two typologically distinct languages: Alsea (Oregon Coast Penutian / Isolate; Oregon, USA) and U̠t‑Ma’in (Niger-Congo, Kainji; Nigeria). We analyze the domain of nominal modification in each language as composed of sets of constructional families with different typologies of vertical and horizontal connections between them. This exercise illustrates how this type of work may contribute
to typological comparisons of whole functional domains. Further, using Constructicons in descriptions allows scholars to explore general properties of constructional-networks based on a more linguistically diverse, and hence representative, picture.