Contexts for constructionalization: micro-steps and paradigmization

Abstract

Based on functionalist theoretical assumptions, in line with Traugott and Trousdale (2013) and Traugott (2021), combined with the constructional approach, as in Goldberg (2006; 2019) and Croft (2001), we deal with the contexts of use that motivate constructional changes and constructionalization grammatical. The focus is on the proposal to refine the micro-steps of contextual change and the paradigmatic integration of new constructions in the linguistic network, based on Diewald (2020). From research results obtained by Teixeira (2015), Rosa (2019) and Sambrana (2021), we assume grammatical constructionalization as a historical, complex process impacted by analogical pressures and others of a cognitive and pragmatic-discursive nature. In Usage-Based Linguistics, this assumption presents itself as a challenge, which requires theoretical refinement and the proposition of new analytical alternatives.