How do Construction Grammar and Dependency Grammar fit together?

Abstract

This short paper reviews differences and points of convergence between Construction Grammar and Dependency Grammar, with the aim of fostering a dialogue between the two frameworks. Steps towards such a dialogue have already been taken with regard to Word Grammar, and dependency-based concepts such as the catena have been discussed against the background of constructional approaches. Furthermore, the compatibility of the two frameworks has been suggested in recent psycholinguistic work. To contextualize these issues, this paper discusses four points of divergence between Construction Grammar and Dependency Grammar, namely, the assumption of phrasal constructions vs. dependency structure, the place of meaning, the autonomy of the language system, and the treatment of idiosyncratic syntactic constraints.