Linguistic networks: Connecting constructions within and between languages
Short description
This project is part of the long-term efforts to build and develop a Swedish Constructicon, which is available online at Spr氓kbanken Text.
Project Description
This project uses Construction Grammar to develop a linguistic network that (a) accounts for Swedish grammatical constructions and (b) connects them to constructions in other languages.
Linguistic analysis is typically stratified into levels (syntax, lexicon, etc.) and tends to disregard the interplay between the levels. Accordingly, linguistic patterns that combine properties from different levels are notoriously difficult for second-language learning, language technology and translation alike. For example, a Swedish pseudo-coordination such as 鈥淗on g氓r och grubblar鈥, which integrates properties from several linguistic levels, is literally but incorrectly translated 鈥淪he goes and ponders鈥 in Google Translate, instead of 鈥淪he is worrying鈥.
Construction Grammar, in contrast, treats language as a network. Structures are analyzed as constructions, i.e., conventionalized combinations of form and function. A construction may combine properties from several linguistic levels, which benefits accurate descriptions of, e.g., pseudo-coordinations. With this approach, it is also possible to capture connections between structurally distinct constructions in different languages and contribute to better machine translations.
We have previously developed a Swedish construction database that will now be converted to a linguistic network. With tools from language typology, we will also connect it to networks for other languages. These two objectives are closely integrated and mutually dependent.
Project Members
- Benjamin Lyngfelt (PI)
G枚teborgs universitet - Maia Andreasson
G枚teborgs universitet
kristian.blensenius@gu.se- Linnea B盲ckstr枚m
linnea.backstrom@hh.se
H枚gskolan i Halmstad - Steffen H枚der
Kiel University
peter.ljunglof@gu.se
jonatan.uppstrom@svenska.gu.se