Construction Grammar and the Dynamic Model
Thomas Hoffmann · Edinburgh University Press eBooks · 2025
In 2003, Schneider published his seminal paper “The dynamics of New Englishes: From identity construction to dialect birth”, in which he outlined his Dynamic Model for the first time. Twenty years later, the model has become the most influential account of the evolution of Postcolonial Englishes (PCEs). Yet, the model is essentially a sociolinguistic one in which identity-construction is the main driving force of linguistic change. While sociolinguistic factors clearly play a crucial role in the development of PCEs, recently, in a series of publications (Hoffmann 2019, 2020, 2021), it has been argued that the model needs to be complemented by a cognitive theory. A cognitive theory such as Construction Grammar offers important insights into how sociolinguistic contact situations affect the cognitive evolution of varieties. Beyond merely adding a cognitive layer to the Dynamic Model, it has been claimed that such an approach generates new research questions that make clear predictions (following the Dynamic Model Productivity hypothesis; Hoffmann 2021: 21). This contribution surveys the existing evidence for and against the Dynamic Model Productivity hypothesis and presents a novel sample study.