構文文法 (Construction Grammar) における構文 (construction) とは，その他の学派や一般でいわれる構文とは異なる独特の概念・用語である．Goldberg (4) によれば，次のように定義される．

C is a CONSTRUCTION iff_def C is a form-meaning pair <F_i, S_i> such that some aspect of F_i or some aspect of S_i is not strictly predictable from C's component parts or from other previously established constructions.

　Goldberg (4) は次のように続ける．

Constructions are taken to be the basic units of language. Phrasal patterns are considered constructions if something about their form or meaning is not strictly predictable from the properties of their component parts or from other constructions. That is, a construction is posited in the grammar if it can be shown that its meaning and/or its form is not compositionally derived from other constructions existing in the language . . . .

　要するに，形式と機能において，その言語の既存の諸要素から合成的に派生されているとみなせなければ，すべて構文であるということになる．ということは，Goldberg (4) が続けるように，次のような結論に帰着する．

In addition, expanding the pretheoretical notion of construction somewhat, morphemes are clear instances of constructions in that they are pairings of meaning and form that are not predictable from anything else . . . . It is a consequence of this definition that the lexicon is not neatly differentiated from the rest of grammar.

　この定義によれば，形態素も，形態素の合成からなる語の多くも，確かに各構成要素からその形式や機能を予測できないのだから，構文ということになる．このように構文文法の特徴の1つは，生成文法などと異なり，語彙 (lexicon) と文法 (grammar) を明確に分けない点にある．

　・ Goldberg, Adele E. Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1995.

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