Towards interlingual constructicography

Abstract

This article addresses the possibility of linking constructicon resources for different languages, in particular English and Swedish. The entries in Berkeley’s English constructicon have been compared to Swedish, with a focus on potential correspondences in a Swedish constructicon. In most cases, approximately corresponding Swedish constructions could be established, although typically with minor differences, often concerning grammatical markers. The closest equivalents are, typically, relatively general grammatical constructions, whereas constructions containing specific lexical elements tend to differ more. In order to link all corresponding constructions between the two resources, a combination of strategies seems to be required. Constructions with a referential meaning may be linked via FrameNet frames, while those with a more abstract grammatical function may be related in terms of their grammatical properties.