On June 4^th, the 2^nd International Academic Linguistics Seminar (Speaker-2: Elizabeth Closs Traugott) and the International Distinguished Lectures 2021, hosted by School of Foreign Languages, came to a successful ending. The keynote speaker, Elizabeth Closs Traugott is a professor of Stanford University. She has delivered five on-line lectures themed “Constructionalization and Grammaticalization”. More than 1,000 faculty members, postgraduates and graduate students from Henan University, and well-known scholars from National University of Singapore, University of Leuven (Belgium), University of Oregon (U.S.A.), City University of Hong Kong, Peking University, Beihang University and Wuhan University, participated in the on-line lecture.

At the first lecture, Prof. Traugott systemically introduced the development of construction grammar and its basic principles. During the second lecture, Prof. Traugott revised the characteristics of constructionalization and constructional changes. In the third lecture, Prof. Traugott elucidated the differences and convergencies between grammaticalization and constructionalization. In the fourth lecture, Prof. Traugott presented a case study of the development of dative and benefactive alternations in English. At the last lecture, Prof. Traugott discussed the role of subjectification and intersubjectification in the approach to language change known as constructionalization and grammaticalization from a constructionalist perspective.

Prof. Traugott's lectures deepened the understanding and cognition of the internal relationship among Constructionalization, Grammaticalization and (Inter)Sbjectification, which has received unanimous acclaim from all the audience. The significance of international academic exchanges is always strengthened by School of Foreign Languages, and dozens of international academic lectures are held each year in various disciplines of IALS, which will be updated by many other distinguished academic lectures in the near future.

(From: School of Foreign Languages)