Knowledge, creativity and productivity under the perspective of Usage-based Functional Linguistics

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the notions of linguistic knowledge, creativity and productivity as they are conceived in Functional Linguistics and in Construction Grammar, also reviewing, more briefly, these concepts in Generative Grammar. In this sense, we revisit the posture that different linguists adopt in relation to these notions, confronting them and highlighting their divergences. We relate each of the concepts to the specific theoretical assumptions of each model of analysis, also pointing out the evolution that such notions have gone through over time, which results from the development of Linguistics as a science. We characterize the construction and its properties, and under the framework of constructionist models, we relate creativity and productivity to the property of schematicity. Finally, based on Usage-based Functional Linguistics, we examine the transitive and the VAdj_ADV e VAdj-mente constructions of Brazilian Portuguese to illustrate the role of creativity and productivity and communicative and cognitive factors that motivate new uses of these constructions.