Konstruktionsgraphematik: Überlegungen zum Verhältnis von Konstruktionsgrammatik und Schriftlinguistik

Abstract

Theoretical approaches to grammar today often rely on usage-based modeling and functional frameworks. What these approaches have in common is that they derive the form and function of linguistic units from their interaction with each other. Construction grammar, for example, is based on the assumption that our linguistic knowledge consists of constructions – form-meaning pairings that are consolidated and learned through language use. Writing systems, by contrast, have traditionally been described primarily in relation to the language system. In the case of alphabetic scripts, this has often meant using phonetics/phonology as a reference framework. More recent theoretical models, however, emphasize not the dependence of writing on spoken language in a representational sense, but rather the (relative) autonomy and correspondence between spoken language and writing systems. In spelling and writing, independent written-language usage patterns have also emerged through the creative and (un)planned use of language, such as in punctuation (e. g. <!!!>), capitalization (e. g. <HELLO>), and hyphenation (e. g. <BahnCard>). These phenomena suggest the development of an expanded functional repertoire of graphemes, one that is not exclusively dependent on other levels of the language system or on typographic conventions. This (programmatic) article explores the extent to which such phenomena can be described as graphemic constructions. Since graphematics and graphematic change have not yet been systematically examined from a constructivist perspective, we focus here on the relationship between (constructional) grammar and writing. Using the Latin alphabetic script as a case study and focusing on (the historical dimension of) written German, we investigate how writing can also be rethought through a usage-based, functional theory of graphematics.