TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kristel Van Goethem
PY  - 2021
CY  - Berlin, Germany
PB  - Peter Lang Verlag
JF  - Zeitschrift für Wortbildung / Journal of Word Formation
IS  - 2
VL  - 1
SN  - 2367-3877
TI  - Lexical categories and processes of category change. Perspectives for a constructionist approach
DO  - 10.3726/zwjw.2017.02.02
UR  - https://www.peterlang.com/document/1158508
N2  - This paper revisits the notions of lexical category and category change from a constructionist perspective. I distinguish between four processes of category change (affixal derivation, conversion, transposition and reanalysis) and demonstrate how these category-changing processes can be analyzed in the framework of Construction Grammar. More particularly, it will be claimed that lexical categories can be understood as abstract instances of constructions (i.e., form-function pairings) and category change will be assumed to be closely connected to the process of constructionalization, i.e., the creation of new form-meaning pairings. Furthermore, it will be shown that the constructionist approach offers the advantage of accounting for the variety of input categories (ranging from morphemes to multi-word units) as well as for some problematic characteristics related to certain types of category change, such as context-sensitivity, counterdirectionality and gradualness of the changes.
ER  -