The leitmotif, but not exclusive theme, of the present volume is Ronald Langacker's (1987) thesis that "lexicon, morphology, and syntax form a continuum of symbolic units serving to structure conceptual content for expressive purposes". The concept of the lexicogrammar continuum contrasts especially with mainstream generative grammar, but also, although less radically, with other cognitive linguistic paradigms, such as Construction Grammar. The contributors to this volume explore the lexicogrammar continuum and other issues of the architecture of language mostly from a cognitive linguistic perspective. A wide range of theoretical and methodological themes is covered such as the integration of discourse and interactional phenomena into Cognitive Grammar, the status of introspective data, figurative language and thought (i.e. metaphor and metonymy), morphosyntactic constructions, and phonological structure. Besides English (including Old English), languages analyzed in some detail include Polish, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Georgian, German, Danish, and Portuguese.
The volume will be of interest to scholars and graduate students in cognitive linguistics, especially Cognitive Grammar, Construction Grammar, metaphor and metonymy, and corpus linguistics.