Constraints on subsumption in the caused-motion construction

This paper revisits the caused-motion construction from the point of view of the Lexical Constructional Model (LCM). Three main issues are addressed. First, one of Goldberg's semantic constraints on the use of the construction, i.e. the idea that no cognitive decision can mediate between the causing event and the entailed motion, is broadened to make it cover instantiations of the construction with predicates like persuade, convince, encourage, and instruct when motion is figurative. Some examples are provided that meet the requirements of the caused-motion construction even though their existence qualifies as marginal. Goldberg's hypothesis is confirmed but refined in some respects. Second, within the framework of the LCM we specify some external and internal constraining factors which either license or block the process of fusion of lexical templates into constructional templates. Finally, a cognitive continuum between the caused-motion and the resultative configurations is postulated and some of our examples are shown to fall midway between the canonical cases of the caused-motion construction and the prototypical instantiations of the resultative pattern. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.