Usage-based constructionist approaches and Large Language Models

Abstract

The constructionist framework is more relevant than ever, due to efforts by a broad range of researchers across the globe, a steady increase in the use of corpus and experimental methods among linguists, consistent findings from laboratory phonology and sociolinguistics, and striking advances in transformer-based large language models. These advances promise exciting developments and a great deal more clarity over the next decade. The constructionist approach rests on two interrelated but distinguishable tenets: a recognition that constructions pair form with function at varying levels of specificity and abstraction and the recognition that our knowledge and use of language are dynamic and usage-based.