Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Graeme Trousdale develop an approach to language change based on construction grammar. Construction grammar is a theory of signs construed at the level of the phrase, clause, and complex sentence. Until now it has been mainly synchronic. The authors use it to reconceptualize grammaticalization (the process by which verbs like to have lose semantic content and gain grammatical functions, or word order moves from discourse-prominent to syntax-prominent), and lexicalization (in which idioms become fixed and complex words simplified). Basing their argument on the notions that language is made up of language-specific form-meaning pairings and that there is a gradient between lexical and grammatical constructions, Professor Traugott and Dr Trousdale suggest that language change proceeds by micro-steps that involve closely related changes in syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse functions. They illustrate their exposition with numerous English examples drawn from Anglo-Saxon times to the present, many of which they discuss in depth.
The book is organized in six chapters. The first outlines the approach and the questions to be addressed. The second reviews usage-based models of language change. The third considers the relation between grammatical constructionalization and grammaticalization. Chapters 4 and 5 focus respectively on lexical constructionalization and the role of context. The final chapter draws the authors' arguments together and outlines prospects for further research. Constructionalization and Constructional Changes propounds and demonstrates a new and productive approach to historical linguistics.
"[T]he qualitative framework presented in this monograph is without any doubt a most admirable synthesis of current historical analysis within the framework of construction grammar, and will inspire nearly any linguist interested in language change." - Peter Petré, Diachronica
"Constructionalization and Constructional Changes represents a highly inspiring contribution to studies on language change in general and to the budding filed of diachronic construction grammar in particular, in which it will definitely become a standard reference work." - Judith Huber, Functions of Language

《现代汉语羡余否定构式研究》选取现代汉语里最典型的20种羡余否定构式，从历时与共时两个层面，逐一考察其产生、发展过程和句法、语义、语用特点。主要研究结论是：羡余否定构式集“羡余性与经济性”、“规范性与超规范性”于一身，表现出独特的矛盾性和复杂性。

本书主要以概念整合理论和构式语法理论为指导，将当代现实生活语言与汉语语法研究相结合，特别注重语法与修辞互动关系的考察，在大规模网络论坛和新闻标题语料的基础上进行定量统计分析，对现代汉语六个新型构式提出了新的认识，对现代汉语新型构式的共性特征和形成机制也提出了新的理解。

本书以现代汉语的双及物语义关系式为研究对象，以共时和历时两大角度，并结合语言类型学和认知语言学等相关理论进行系统考察。作者理论基础深厚，全书例句充实（包括古代汉语、现代汉语及方言等），参考资料也极为丰富（涉及了中外多派研究者的广地域、长时间的研究成果），是对现代汉语的双及物结构式的全面、深入研究。

This book is based on the results of research in language typology, and motivated by the need for a theory to explain them. Croft proposes intimate links between syntactic and semantic structures, and argues that the basic elements of any language are not syntactic but rather syntactic-semantic "Gestalts." He puts forward a new approach to syntactic representation and a new model of how language and languages work.