
On this page you can download videos that I produce about my research and linguistics. All of these videos, as well as their transcripts and subtitles, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. That means you can use them however you want as long as you give me appropriate credit for the source materials. I would also highly appreciate it if you could let me know what you’re using these videos for!
Construction Grammar
1. Constructions, or Fillmore’s Dangerous Idea
Construction grammar offers a way to study language in revolutionary ways. In this introductory video, I present the father of construction grammar, Charles J. Fillmore, and his dangerous idea: constructions.
The references used in the presentation that are not mentioned in the slides are:
- Chomsky, Noam (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding: The Pisa Lectures. Dordrecht: Foris.
- Goldberg, Adele E. (2006). Constructions at Work. The Nature of Generalization in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
CREDITS:
- Photo of a butterfly by Tim Johnson: https://unsplash.com/@mangofantasy
- Photo of a flower by Jez Timms: https://unsplash.com/@jeztimms
2. Beyond the Saussurean Sign
This video explains how the definition of a construction may shift depending on what kind of linguistics you’re engaging in; and how constructions go beyond the Saussurean Sign.
CREDITS:
- Picture of Graeme Trousdale by Dr Stefan Müller
- Photo of Lego kit by Alphacolor
- Photo of child playing with Lego by Kelly Sikkema
- Photo of a starling by John Yunker
- Photo of a chessboard by Anne Nygård
- Photo of party balloons by Adi Goldstein
3- The Fillmore Criteria
The construction grammar community is quite diverse, which makes it hard for newcomers to enter the field. This video introduces four basic criteria that we will use in future videos to determine how closely an analysis follows the original tenets of Construction Grammar, or how much constructional thinking has evolved.
CREDITS:
- Arithmetics: Chris Liverani
- Child with lego: Kelly Sikkema
- Coffee flavours: Nathan Dumlao
- Dog: Jamie Street
- Letter blocks: Susan Holt Simpson
- Running tracks: Marvin Ronsdorf
- Sharp/bokeh photo: Photo-nic
- Tiered cake: Annie Spratt
4. Innovating One’s Way Out of Lexicalism
This video introduces the most influential work in construction grammar: argument structure constructions. It briefly discusses how constructional approaches differ from mainstream lexicalist approaches. Next video, we will discuss these issues in more detailed ways.
CREDITS:
- The World is Ours, by Simon Maage
- Sea and Boards, by Annie Sowards
- Notebook, by Mike Tinnion
- Woman laughing, by Michael Dam
- Panforte Cake, by Lindsay Cotter
- Woman cooking, by Jason Briscoe
- Cake by Alina Karpenko
- Whisking eggs, by Monika Grabkowska
- Kitchen by Becca Tapert
- Baking bread, by Fran Hogan
- Baking pancake, by Travis Grossen
- Network by Alina Grubnyak
- Coffee and napkins, by Kelly Sikkema
- Women laughing, by Priscilla Du Preez
- Man in sunglasses, by Dragos Gontariu
- Cat that is stuck, by Tomas Tuma
- Cat standing, by Uriel Soberanes