Constraints on subsumption and amalgamation processes in the Lexical Constructional Modelthe case of phone and email

  1. Alicia Galera Masegosa 1
  1. 1 Universidad de La Rioja, España
Journal:
Atlantis: Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos

ISSN: 0210-6124

Year of publication: 2012

Volume: 34

Issue: 2

Pages: 167-184

Type: Article

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Abstract

This article deals with the study of the processes of lexical-constructional integration, or subsumption, of the verbs phone and email (as representatives of the subclass of verbs of instrument of communication) into the English dative and ditransitive argument-structure constructions. The exploration of the irregularities in such processes has led us to postulate the existence and explore the activity of two phrasal constructions, namely the X About Y and the X With Y constructions. These phrasal constructions may combine, on the basis of level-internal constructional amalgamation with the transitive construction as required by the semantic nature of the direct object, thus giving rise to a combined construction into which both verbs may subsume. The Lexical Constructional Model (lcm) provides the necessary analytical tools for the development of this study, especially the set of internal and external constraints that regulate subsumption and amalgamation.

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