Defaultness vs. constructionism
Rachel Giora · Metaphor in language, cognition, and communication · 2022
Abstract Default responses play a major role in affecting processing, pleasantness, and cueing of nondefault alternatives. Default responses are activated automatically, initially and directly, faster than nondefault counterparts, irrespective of degree of negation, novelty, nonliteralness, or contextual support ( Giora et al., 2015c ). No wonder default automatic responses may be initially involved in processing nondefault counterparts. This involvement of defaultness in processing nondefaultness slows down the latter while rendering it Optimal Innovative and therefore pleasing, even if highly dependent on context or cueing for its derivation. Findings here are discussed in terms of the Defaultness Hypothesis ( Giora et al., 2015c , 2017 ), Construction Grammar (e.g., Goldberg, 1995 , 1996 , 2006 , 2013 ; Johnson & Goldberg, 2013 ), and pragmatic effects.