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13 - Prosodic Constructions

from Part IV - Multimodality and Construction Grammar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2025

By
Nigel G. Ward
Edited by
Mirjam Fried  and
Kiki Nikiforidou
Mirjam Fried
Affiliation:
Univerzita Karlova
Kiki Nikiforidou
Affiliation:
University of Athens, Greece
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Summary

Spoken language exhibits not only grammatical constructions but also prosodic constructions. While the latter are also form–function mappings, there are differences: Prosodic constructions involve temporal configurations of diverse prosodic features, their functions are primarily pragmatics-related and interactional, they can be present to greater or lesser degrees, and they are frequently superimposed and aligned in complex ways with other prosodic constructions and with grammatical constructions. This chapter illustrates these properties with examples from American English.

Keywords

temporal configurationsprosodic featuresform–function mappingspragmatic functionsinteractiongradient meaningssuperposition
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Construction Grammar , pp. 337 - 353
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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