Convenor: Jesús Olguín-Martínez (University of Hong Kong)
Location: University of Hong Kong Linguistics Department
Date: 2-3-March-2027
Description. Different linguistic theories have established boundaries among grammatical domains (Diessel 2019, 2023). In contrast, Usage-Based Construction Grammar (Usage-Based CxG) advocates for an integrated perspective of human language (Golberg 1995). Although research within this linguistic framework has deepened our understanding of language as an emergent system, several areas warrant further investigation, such as:
1. The bidirectional nature of taxonomic links, e.g., the attraction that a verb lemma exerts on a construction and the attraction that a construction exerts on a verb lemma (Diessel 2019: 43-62; Olguín Martínez & Gries 2025a);
2. Constructionhood as a complex intersection of internal and external properties, e.g., the interaction of lexicon with other grammatical domains in language use, such as discourse-pragmatics and conversation (Hoffmann et al. 2019; Olguín Martínez & Gries 2024, 2026a);
3. Contact-induced constructional change, e.g., how structural elements at various levels can be transferred from one language to another through language contact (Boas & Höder 2018; Olguín Martínez & Gries 2025b, 2026b);
4. Constructions and atypical language development, e.g., the use of constructionist approaches to investigate how autistic children learn language (Goldberg & Abbot-Smith 2021);
5. Constructions and language documentation, e.g., ways in which constructionist approaches can refine our theoretical understanding of the grammar of undescribed languages (Shirtz & Peterson 2025);
6. Constructions and typology, e.g., Croft (2001:183) argues that “constructions are language-specific, and there is an extraordinary range of structural diversity in constructions encoding similar functions across languages.” To what extent, can grammatical constructions be used for cross-linguistic analysis (Boas 2010)? The workshop will bring together original research that contributes to our understanding of the aspects of Usage-Based CxG mentioned above. The event will feature four keynote
speakers:
• Holger Diessel (University of Jena)
• Adele Goldberg (Princeton University)
• Stefan Th. Gries (University of California, Santa Barbara & JLU Giessen)
• Martin Haspelmath (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
The conference will take place at the University of Hong King Linguistics Department and
it is planned as an in-person meeting with oral presentations. There will be no conference fee.Submissions should be anonymous and meet the following requirements:
– abstract length: max. 500 words (including examples and figures, excluding references)
– format: PDF, 12-point font
– language: English
Please send abstracts to: olguin@hku.hk
Abstract submission deadline: 25 October 2026
Notification of acceptance: 25 November 2026
If you have any questions, you can contact us via olguin@hku.hk
References
Boas, Hans C. (2010). Comparing constructions across languages. In Hans C. Boas (ed.) Contrastive studies in Construction Grammar, 1-20. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Boas, Hans. C. & Höder, Steffen. (Eds.) (2018). Constructions in contact: Constructional
perspectives on contact phenomena in Germanic languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Croft, William. (2001). Radical construction grammar. Syntactic theory in typological perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Diessel, Holger. (2019). The grammar network. How linguistic structure is shaped by language use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Diessel, Holger. (2023). The Constructicon. Taxonomies and networks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goldberg, Adele E. (1995). Constructions: A Construction Grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Goldberg, Adele E. & Kirsten Abbot-Smith. (2021). The constructionist approach offers a useful lens on language learning in autistic individuals: Response to Kissine. Language 97.
Hoffmann, Thomas, Jakob Horsch, & Thomas Brunner. (2019). The more data, the better: A usagebased account of the English comparative correlative construction. Cognitive Linguistics 30. 1–36.
Jensen, Kim Ebensgaard & Stefan Th. Gries. (2025). GO (a)round and V vs. GO (a)round Ving: A multivariate distinctive collo-profiling analysis based on association rules. Review of Cognitive Linguistics (published online).
Olguín Martínez, Jesús & Stefan Th. Gries. (2024). If not for-if it weren’t/wasn’t for counterfactual constructions: A multivariate extension of collostructional analysis. Cognitive Semantics, 10, 159-189.
Olguín Martínez, Jesus & Stefan Th. Gries. (2025a). The similative-pretence alternating pair and filler-slot relations. A revised version of distinctive collexeme analysis. Constructions and Frames, 17, 65-91.
Olguín Martínez, Jesus & Stefan Th. Gries. (2025b). Similative-pretence constructions in language contact situations: A Usage-Based Construction Grammar perspective. Cognitive Linguistic Studies, 12, 292-321.
Olguín Martínez, Jesus & Stefan Th. Gries. Gries. (2026a). The link between syntax, semantics,
discourse, and lexicon in counteridenticals: A multivariate extension of co-varying
collexeme analysis. Functions of Language (published online).