The Construction-Building Principle:Evidence from the “A + N” Phrases of Chinese and English

Construction grammar is one of the branches of cognitive linguistics, providing linguists with new theoretical frameworks and methodologies.However, there are many issues within this new theory which remain unresolved, one of which is what relationship exists across different constructions.Focusing on the modifier-head construction of Chinese and English, this paper aims to demonstrate that two related constructions within a grammatical category display the functional work-division of markedness and unmarkedness.Furthermore, the present analysis reveals the principle that governs the creation of construction as well as the operating mechanism of grammar as a whole.