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The Cognitive Foundation of Post-colonial Englishes

Construction Grammar as the Cognitive Theory for the Dynamic Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2021

Thomas Hoffmann
Affiliation:
Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Hunan Normal University

Summary

Varieties of English are spoken all over the world from Africa to Asia, from Europe to America. In addition to its use as a foreign language, English in many of these countries is a first or second language variety that initially arose in a colonial setting. Currently, the most influential sociolinguistic model for the evolution of these 'Post-Colonial Englishes' is the Dynamic Model. In this Element, I outline how Construction Grammar, the most prominent cognitive syntactic theory, can provide a cognitive foundation for the assumptions made by the Dynamic Model. As I shall argue, Construction Grammar naturally complements the Dynamic Model and, in addition to that, a 'Constructionist Grammar Approach to the Dynamic Model' approach generates new research questions concerning the productivity of syntactic patterns across Dynamic Model phases.
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The Cognitive Foundation of Post-colonial Englishes
  • Thomas Hoffmann, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Hunan Normal University
  • Online ISBN: 9781108909730
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The Cognitive Foundation of Post-colonial Englishes
  • Thomas Hoffmann, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Hunan Normal University
  • Online ISBN: 9781108909730
Available formats
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The Cognitive Foundation of Post-colonial Englishes
  • Thomas Hoffmann, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Hunan Normal University
  • Online ISBN: 9781108909730
Available formats
×