POLYVALENCE AND POLYMORPHY. MULTIFUNCTIONALITY IN GRAMMAR FROM A LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
POLYVALENCE AND POLYMORPHY. MULTIFUNCTIONALITY IN GRAMMAR FROM A LANGUAGE-SPECIFIC FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: Polyvalence and Polymorphy. Multifunctionality in Grammar from a Language-Specific Functional Perspective. Eugenio Coseriu is widely recognized for his contributions to the theory of language, particularly in areas such as linguistic creativity, language change, the stratificational “architecture” and the layered “structure” of language, lexical structures, universals, and text linguistics. Less attention, however, has been given to his outlines of a theory of “functional syntax” (or “functional grammar”), which highlights complementary perspectives and distinguishes between different types of meaning (Coseriu 1973, 1989, 1996). Building on these distinctions, this article examines multifunctionality – specifically, polyvalence and polymorphy (or “grammatical synonymy”) – from a language-specific functional approach to grammar. While the polyvalence of grammatical elements parallels lexical polyvalence, polymorphy is far less common. To assess its significance, the article explores the functional status of syntactic patterns conceived as full-fledged constructions and illustrates the concept of polymorphy through a case study of the ditransitive (or “dative”) alternation in present-day German.

• Details
• Contents