Too female to be ruthless and too pregnant to argue: Semantic conflict and resolution in the [too ADJ to V]-construction

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Taking usage-based construction grammar as its theoretical framework, this paper addresses the interplay between construal operations and semantic conflict resolution in anomalous instances of the relatively unexplored English [too ADJ to V]-construction. Drawing on a questionnaire analysis in which native-speaker respondents offer their readings of anomalous instances of the construction, the paper discusses strategies of semantic construction-lexeme conflict resolution with a view to inferring construal operations involved therein.
Original languageEnglish
JournalSuvremena Lingvistika
Volume40
Issue number77
Pages (from-to)1-26
ISSN0586-0296
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2014

Keywords

  • Faculty of Humanities
  • adjectives
  • adjectival constructions
  • construction grammar
  • cognitive linguistics
  • construction-lexeme interaction
  • scalar semantics
  • construal
  • meaning construction
  • image schemata
  • qualitative analysis
  • constructional semantics
  • cognitive semantics
  • semantic conflict
  • semantic shift
  • semantic resolution
  • constructional anomalies
  • construal operations
  • semantic conflict resolution
  • scalar adjectival constructions
  • English language
  • American English

Cite this