Why we avoid the ‘Multiple Inheritance’ issue in Usage-based Cognitive Construction Grammar
This squib revisits the phenomenon of ‘Multiple Inheritance’ (MI) and discusses reasons why many usage-based,
cognitive construction grammarians seem to be avoiding it when modeling the constructicon and linguistic knowledge. After a brief
discussion of the concept and some examples from the literature, the paper examines potential reasons for the apparent
disinterest. Finally, the author points to some open questions regarding MI by discussing a specific example, namely modified NPN
constructions like day after hellish day or hour after hour of dominoes. It can be argued that
these strings inherit their characteristic features from several different abstract templates.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Multiple inheritance – Definition and examples
- 3.Avoidance of MI in usage-based cognitive constructional research
- 4.A concrete example – Modified NPN constructions
- 5.Conclusion
- Notes
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References