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Abstract Abstract: Based on the theory of constructionalization and the analysis of historical data, this study investigates the diachronic development of English existential THERE-Constructions, and analyzes its mechanisms and motivations. Major findings are as follows: 1) THERE-Constructions came from the locative “there” construction in Old English. After a series of constructional changes, it emerged in Middle English and constructionalized in the middle and late periods of Modern English. 2) Analogy, reanalysis and frequency effect are the mechanisms of its constructionalization: High frequency of use was a precondition for the analogy to take place. Reanalysis was the inevitable result of analogy and analogy was the dominant factor that propelled its diachronic development. 3) Its constructionalization was driven by language-internal motivations (the evolution of English morphology and word order) and language-external ones (discourse strategy and the analogical thinking of human beings). Language-internal motivations are fundamental, language-external motivations are the condition, and the latter functions through the former. This study will shed light on the understanding of the evolution of English existential THERE-Constructions, and on the analysis of the motivation for the change of constructions.
Key words: English existential THERE-Constructions; diachronic construction grammar; constructionalization; constructional change; analogy; reanalysis
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