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Abstract This paper argues for and explores the possibility of integrating (post-Gricean) pragmatics and cognitive linguistics-based construction grammar in linguistic research because the two theories may completement each other. On the one hand post-Gricean pragmatics pays special attention to pragmatic inference employed in uncovering the speaker’s communicative intention, yet it overlooks, to a certain extent, the importance of grammatical and pragmatic convention. On the other hand, construction grammar adheres to the conventional form-meaning/ function pairing, but it undervalues pragmatics in general and pragmatic inference in particular. To compensate their respective limitations, we argue for integrating the two linguistic theories in language studies. This theoretical integration may lead to what we “call inferential-constructional pragmatics”, a linguistic theoretical approach that focuses on the convergence or interaction of grammatical meaning, conventional pragmatic meaning, and pragmatic inference in constructional merger representation.
Key words: post-Gricean pragmatics; construction grammar; pragmatic convention; pragmatic inference; inferential-constructional pragmatics
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