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Word Grammar is a linguistic theory which best known as a variant of Dependency Grammar. However, it has a number of other properties, and its architectural assumptions are consistent with its theory of how human cognition works and its theory of how representations work. In this chapter we relate Word Grammar (WG) to a number of different trends in linguistic theorising and explain the various traditions that the theory belongs to. Word Grammar belongs in three main theoretical traditions: Dependency Grammars, Constraint-based Grammars and Cognitive Linguistics. We show how WG relates to these approaches and explore how the network model of linguistic representation adopted by WG relates to each tradition. The key claim of WG is that language is represented in a symbolic network, which is part of a more general human cognitive network and which is in a relationship with a discreet neural network.
Established in the early 1980s, Word Grammar is the first theory of grammar that was cast in the terms of cognitive linguistics. This book surveys the groundbreaking contribution of WG to a number of disciplines both within and outside of linguistics. It illustrates the benefits of thinking beyond traditional phrase-structural notions of syntax, and beyond encapsulated theories of cognition, by exploring how key problems in theoretical linguistics and historical linguistics can be approached from alternative perspectives. It provides examples of how theoretical linguistic notions and constructs of WG can be applied to bilingual language use, as well as a variety of typologically different languages including English, Chinese, German and Swedish. It also explores the relationship between language and social cognition and dependency distance as a universal measure of syntactic complexity. It is essential reading for linguists seeking creative ideas on how to advance explanations of language, language variation and change.
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