Abstract:
The paper looks at some non-reductionist linguistic theories which share a common thread as they all take an emergentist-constructionist approach to grammar. The theories in question are corpus linguistics, pattern grammar, cognitive grammar and construction grammar. They all address the larger units of meaning first and try to define the smaller ones in terms of their interaction with the larger lexico-syntactic patterns. The polylexemic nature of the linguistic sign and its emergence in the process of communication is fundamental to such an approach. Some implications for language education are also dealt with. The analysis employs examples from Bulgarian and English.
