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Hubert Cuyckens

Hubert Cuyckens
Blijde-Inkomststraat 21 - box 3308
3000 Leuven
Belgium
room: 02.32

tel: +32 16 32 48 17 or +32 16 3 25 030
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Hubert Cuyckens (°1956) is professor of English language and linguistics at the University of Leuven. He studied Germanic languages (Dutch and English), with a specialization in linguistics, and he received his PhD – a cognitive semantic study of prepositions in Dutch – from the University of Antwerp in 1991.

From 1982 to 1997, he worked at the University of Antwerp, first as a research fellow of the National Fund of Scientific Research (now, FWO) and from 1985 as a teacher/lecturer of English and Business English. He spent the academic year 1997-1998 at the University of Hamburg as a Humboldt Research Fellow, investigating synchronic variation and diachronic change in prepositions. In 1998, he obtained a tenured position at the University of Leuven, where he has mainly taught courses in the domain of English historical linguistics (in addition to English Phonetics, English Proficiency and English Business Communication).

He has held visiting appointments at the Universities of Freiburg (2005, 2011), Santiago de Compostela (2012), and Göteborg (2015). In October 2016, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Göteborg. 

CV and full list of publications

RESEARCH

While retaining an interest in cognitive semantics (and the semantic study of prepositions in particular), Hubert Cuyckens’ main research focus lies in the domain of historical syntax of English. Specific attention goes to grammaticalization phenomena, its interface with construction grammar, and diachronic developments in the system of verbal clause complementation. Recently, he has turned his attention to historical variation and competition of non-finite vs. finite complementation, thus marrying the variationist with the diachronic syntactic research agenda. His theoretical orientation has always been that of cognitive-functional and usage-based linguistics.

In addition to the Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, which he co-edited with Dirk Geeraerts, he has (co-)edited several collective volumes and special journal issues on (English) historical linguistics, grammaticalization, lexical semantics and adpositions. From 2012 to 2018, he was also Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Folia Linguistica.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

  • Cuyckens, Hubert. 2018. Exploring English historical syntax. In Hubert Cuyckens, Hendrik De Smet, Liesbet Heyvaert & Charlotte Maekelberghe (eds.), Explorations in English historical syntax, 1-22. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. doi.org/10.1075/slcs.198.01cuy
  • D’hoedt, Frauke & Hubert Cuyckens. 2017. The development of the as-Secondary Predicate Construction: Constructionalization and internalization Language Sciences 59: 16-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2016.06.003
  • Cuyckens, Hubert, Frauke D’hoedt & Benedikt Szmrecsanyi. 2014. Variability in verb complementation in Late Modern English: Finite vs. non-finite patterns. In Marianne Hundt (ed.), Late Modern English Syntax, 182-203. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139507226.014
  • Cuyckens, Hubert, Kristin Davidse & Lieven Vandelanotte. "Introduction". In Davidse, Kristin, Lieven Vandelanotte & Hubert Cuyckens (eds). 2010. Subjectification, Intersubjectification and Grammaticalization. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 1−26. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110226102.0.1
  • Geeraerts, Dirk & Hubert Cuyckens. 2007. The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. xxx + 1368.

 

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  • thesis-dissertation
    Bouzada Jabois, Carla; 2020. Nonfinite supplements in the recent history of English.
    LIRIAS3230021
    description
    Nonfinite supplements in the recent history of English This dissertation reports the results of a comprehensive corpus-based analysis of subjectless ing- and ed-supplements, such as (1)-(4), in LModE and PDE. Supplements are constructions in the clausal periphery that can be characterised as follows. First, they do not fulfil a core syntactic function within the matrix clause. Second, their presence (or absence) does not typically affect the structure or the interpretation of the main clause. Third, supplements are usually detached from the main clause by an intonational break or a pause which is marked by punctuation in writing. Fourth, they may occupy different positions in clause structure: before or after the main clause, or interrupting the main clause at different points. Despite their peripheral status, supplements are prototypically linked to the main clause. First, by definition, they do not have explicit subjects but the referents of their (understood) subject are prototypically those of the main-clause subjects. Second, supplements may be explicitly linked to the main clause by means of augmentors. Third, an adverbial relation usually exists between the supplement and the main clause. The notion of supplement as understood in this dissertation is modelled mainly on Declerck's (1991) definition. (1) but I was now too old for the navy, being sixteen years of age. (PPCMBE, FAYRER-1900,7.150) (2) Written in English over the period from 1929 to 1938, Beckett's early work seems restless, nomadic. (ICE-GB:W2A-004 #009:1) (3) They are good feed for coach or omnibus Horses, if given in small quantities and with caution, and due attention to the constitution of the Horse. (PPCMBE, SKEAVINGTON-184X,17.C1.52) (4) In returning at Night from Snow's-fields, at the Corner of Joyner-Street, the Coach, wherein five of us were, was overturn'd (…) (PPCMBE, WESLEY-174X,17.128) The goal of this corpus-based dissertation is to characterise the prototypical category of supplement in the recent history of English (LModE to PDE), and in particular to describe the diachronic variation from the eighteenth century to the present in terms of a number of variables. The data reveal that the category of supplements becomes increasingly more homogeneous. In addition, it is hypothesized, on the basis of previous research on supplements and absolute constructions combined (Bouzada-Jabois and Pérez-Guerra 2016), that it is the non-finite periphery in English that becomes more homogeneous. This dissertation is organised into six chapters. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction of the object of study, i.e. the category of supplements. Chapter 2 provides a revision of the relevant literature and surveys the main features of the construction. This chapter also provides a terminological overview of the concept 'supplement' and of other overlapping labels with the purpose of establishing a clear-cut definition of the notion supplement, as it is used in this dissertation, and of distinguishing supplements from other similar and/or competing constructions. Chapter 3 revolves around methodological issues. Very briefly, it justifies the adoption of corpus linguistics as a valid methodology in this investigation, describes the corpora used for the analysis of supplements as well as the retrieval process, and finally outlines the database and its variables. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 constitute the central point of the dissertation with an in depth analysis of ing- and ed-supplements in LModE and in PDE, respectively. Finally, Chapter 6 provides a detailed summary of each of the chapters. Two corpora were employed in this analysis of supplements. LModE data was retrieved from the Penn Parsed Corpus of Modern British English (PPCMBE), particularly from two subperiods: P1 (1700 to 1769) and P3 (1840 to 1914). PDE data was retrieved from the British Component of the International Corpus of English (ICE-GB). A random selection of the ICE-GB was utilized (25 per cent). Both corpora are syntactically parsed: the query in the PPCMBE was based on the tag IP-PPL ('participial clauses without subjects') and in the ICE-GB three syntactic trees were created for the retrieval of supplements. An analysis of precision and recall for each of the retrieval processes proved their reliability. The database of supplements includes textual information tracking the source of the examples and structural and semantic features of each token. The characterisation of prototypical supplements was carried out considering mainly the formal features (head elements, augmentors and position of the supplement in the matrix clause) and the semantic characteristics (supplement control and adverbial interpretation). Overall, the results showed that the prototypical category of supplement in LModE and PDE may be characterised as follows. To begin with, the prototypical supplement, in formal terms, is headed by a simple ing-form. Although augmentation was not the preferred option in LModE, the number of augmented supplements, particularly of those with semantically more specific connectors, increased in frequency from P1 to P3 in LModE, and in PDE almost half of the examples were augmented. With respect to position in the matrix clause, final supplements were pervasive in both LModE and PDE, and the proportion of final supplements increases from LModE to PDE. The preference for final placement of the supplement did not correspond with informational weight, as short supplements were also common in final position. Semantically, in LModE and PDE the prototypical supplement was most often related and controlled by the main-clause subject. Over time, an increase of related non-subject-controlled and unrelated supplements could be observed but this did not affect the prototypical status of the related subject-controlled type. As regards adverbial meaning, more informative supplements constituted the most frequent type in LModE and in PDE, although their frequency decreased in PDE in favour of less informative meanings, especially in the absence of augmentation. In fact, augmentation was claimed to be a signal of informativeness as it was most often accompanied by more informative interpretations. Concerning their distribution across text types, supplements were more productive in texts with a depictive status ('fiction' in the PPCMBE and 'novels/stories' in ICE-GB). If fiction is not considered, supplements were productive in formal, written and narrative textual sources.

    Published
  • journal-article
    Van Driessche, Laetitia; Cuyckens, Hubert; 2019. Clausal verb complementation in varieties of English. JournaLIPP; 2019; Vol. 7; iss. epub ahead of print; pp. 72 - 91
    LIRIAS2947580
    description
    This article looks at the finite/non-finite complementation alternation with expect and suggest (in its suasive meaning) from a diachronic and a synchronic perspective. It investigates whether the diachronic shift from finite to non-finite complementation in British English is reflected by distributional differences in finite vs. non-finite complementation patterns in World Englishes positioned at different stages in Schneider’s Dynamic Model (2007). It also examines the factors that determine the complementation alternation in these varieties. Data have been extracted from the CLMET, BNC and GloWbE corpora. Methodologically, frequency analyses, random forest analyses, logistic regression analyses and conditional inference trees are employed. The analyses show that expect largely corroborates the hypotheses, whereas suggest shows unexpected tendencies

    Published online
  • journal-article
    Cuyckens, Hubert; Petré, Peter; 2019. Be: geen has-been en ook geen wannabe. Karakter: Tijdschrift van Wetenschap; 2019
    LIRIAS2947583
    description

    Publisher: Academische Stichting Leuven
    Published online
  • editedbook
    2019. Categorial Shift: From Description to Theory and Back Again. Publisher: Elsevier
    LIRIAS1664273
    description


    Published online
  • journal-article
    Heyvaert, Liesbet; Hartmann, Stefan; Cuyckens, Hubert; 2019. Categorial shift: From description to theory and back again. Language Sciences; 2019; Vol. 73; pp. 1 - 9
    LIRIAS1664264
    description

    Publisher: Elsevier
    Published online
  • journal-article
    D'hoedt, Frauke; De Smet, Hendrik; Cuyckens, Hubert; 2019. Constructions waxing and waning: A diachronic overview of the zero-Secondary Predicate Construction. Journal of English Linguistics; 2019; Vol. 47; iss. 1; pp. 3 - 28
    LIRIAS1820844
    description
    In the English Secondary Predicate Construction (SPC), a predicative relation between a noun phrase (NP) and a “secondary predicate” (XP) is established by a main verb (He findsVerb herNP attractiveXP). While the syntactic nature of this construction has received ample attention from a synchronic perspective, this study aims to shed light on the diachronic developments of the SPC. First, using data from the YorkToronto-Helsinki Corpus of Old English Prose (YCOE) and the Penn corpora, a classification is proposed of the verbs occurring in the SPC. Based on this semantic classification, the development of the SPC is then traced from Old English to Late Modern English in terms of frequency and productivity. It is argued that, while the various classes of SPC-taking verbs often show opposite developments, these lowerlevel incongruities are resolved at a higher schematic level, as the SPC as a whole underwent a process of internalization. These findings underscore the importance of lower-level developments in the diachronic behavior of schematic constructions and consequently contribute to the literature on constructional change.
    Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc.
    Published
  • presentation
    Cuyckens, Hubert; Van Driessche, Laetitia; 2018. Clausal verb complementation in varieties of English.
    LIRIAS2947579
    description


    Published
  • chapter
    Cuyckens, Hubert; 2018. Exploring English historical syntax INTRODUCTION. EXPLORATIONS IN ENGLISH HISTORICAL SYNTAX; 2018; Vol. 198; pp. 1 - 22 Publisher: Amsterdam; Philadelphia; John Benjamins Publishing Company; [2014]
    LIRIAS3363782
    description


    Published
  • chapter
    Cuyckens, Hubert; 2018. Introduction: Exploring English historical syntax. Explorations in English historical syntax; 2018; Vol. 198; pp. 1 - 22 Publisher: John Benjamins; Amsterdam
    LIRIAS1821676
    description


    Accepted
  • editedbook
    2018. Special issue of Folia Linguistica 52-1. Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton; Berlin
    LIRIAS1821655
    description


    Published
  • conference
    Petre, Peter; Cuyckens, Hubert; 2018. Introduction Philology as linguistically informed cultural history. SOCIOCULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF LEXIS AND TEXT IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH; 2018; Vol. 343; pp. 1 - 12 Publisher: Amsterdam; Philadelphia; J. Benjamins Pub. Co; 1999
    LIRIAS3285898
    description


    Published
  • journal-article
    Cuyckens, Hubert; 2018. Reconciling older and newer approaches to grammaticalization.. Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association; 2018; Vol. 6; pp. 183 - 196
    LIRIAS2291464
    description

    Publisher: De Gruyter
    Published
  • chapter
    Cuyckens, Hubert; D'hoedt, Frauke; 2018. Resourceful ways of recruiting members: The origin and development of Mental zero-Secondary Predicate Constructions.. Subordination in English: Synchronic and diachronic perspectives; 2018; pp. 155 - 184 Publisher: Mouton de Gruyter; Berlin
    LIRIAS1820906
    description


    Published
  • chapter
    Petré, Peter; Cuyckens, Hubert; 2018. Introduction: Philology as linguistically informed cultural history. Sociocultural dimensions of lexis and text in the history of English; 2018; pp. 2 - 12 Publisher: John Benjamins; Amsterdam
    LIRIAS1820953
    description


    Published
  • editedbook
    2018. Sociocultural dimensions of lexis and text in the history of English. Publisher: John Benjamins; Amsterdam
    LIRIAS1820952
    description


    Published
  • editedbook
    Cuyckens, Hubert; De Smet, Hendrik; Heyvaert, Liesbet; Maekelberghe, Charlotte; 2018. Explorations in English Historical Syntax. Publisher: John Benjamins; Amsterdam/Philadelphia
    LIRIAS1664272
    description
    The book is a collection of articles focusing on issues in the Historical Syntax of English; the papers emanate from the 18th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, which was held at KU Leuven (University of Leuven), 14-18 July 2014.

    Published
  • journal-article
    Cuyckens, H; 2017. Folia Linguistica, fifty years old and going strong. Folia Linguistica; 2017; Vol. 51; iss. s1000; pp. 1 - 6
    LIRIAS1580307
    description


    Published
  • presentation
    Cuyckens, Hubert; Petré, Peter; Goyens, Michèle; Lamblin, Marie; 2017. The absolute construction in English and French: A case of syntactic influence?.
    LIRIAS1820997
    description


    Published
  • presentation
    Cuyckens, Hubert; D'hoedt, Frauke; 2017. Grammaticalization: Old and New Approaches Reconciled in two Case Studies.
    LIRIAS1821677
    description


    Published
  • thesis-dissertation
    D'hoedt, Frauke; 2017. Language change in constructional networks. The development of the English Secondary Predicate Construction.
    LIRIAS1820931
    description
    This study investigates the development of the English Secondary Predicate Construction, against the background of current views on language change. A Secondary Predicate Construction, or SPC, consists of a verb, a noun phrase (NP), and an Xphrase (XP). The NP and XP are in a predicative relation, similar to a subject-predicate relation in a copular clause. In (1a) for instance, consider him handsome involves a verb (consider), an NP (him), and an XP (the adjectival phrase handsome), with handsome predicating a property of him. Similarly, makes it difficult in (1b) contains a Verb-NP-XP configuration and conveys a subject-predicate relation between it and difficult. a. He’s not exactly Douglas Fairbanks, but some might consider him handsome. (BNC, 1991) b. The massive destructiveness of nuclear weapons makes it very difficult to justify them as ‘effective’ weapons in this sense. (BNC, 1986) While the predicative relation need not be signalled by a dedicated function word, as in (1) above, it can also be marked explicitly by an introductory as (2a), to be (2b), or for (2c). Thus, the English SPC comprises four ‘SPC subtypes’, which are referred to as zero-SPCs (with ‘zero’ markers), as-SPCs, to be-SPCs, and for-SPCs respectively. a. They see him as a possibility for the future. (BNC, 1992) b. Most of us have rather too much faith in the high tech ability of these smart cards, and imagine them to be capable of more than they are. (BNC, 1992) c. Roirbak had mistaken her for another boy. (BNC, 1991) The four SPC subtypes are functionally related constructions that are characterised by partly distinct and partly overlapping distributions. Moreover, the amount of distributional overlap they exhibit has been subject to change over time. This study, then, presents a diachronic, corpus-based account of the SPCs from Old English (OE) to Late Modern English (LModE), documenting their history and establishing the causes of shifts in their different distributions. By contrasting and linking the respective developments in zero-SPCs, as-SPCs, to be-SPCs and for-SPCs, light is also shed on the mechanisms underlying changes within a broader functional domain. This overarching goal splits into three more specific objectives, each feeding into the other. Firstly, I chart the developments of the individual SPC subtypes and establish their underlying mechanisms. For each SPC, I identify the licensing verbs with which it can occur and map out the changes it shows with respect to this set of licensing verbs (in terms of token frequency and productivity) in different stages of its development. Verb-SPC combinations have not remained constant over time: some have become obsolete (e.g., the zero-SPC with mistake in (3a) or the for-SPC with reckon in (3b)). Conversely, some patterns have been newly introduced, such as as-SPCs with regard in (4). a. Let them (...) mistake me wanton. (1589, OED) b. I reckon for nothing the researches of a Coyer. (1764, OED) Many pop stars still regarded a racehorse as the ultimate status symbol. (2005, OED) For each of the SPC subtypes, I further describe changes in the verbs’ combinatorial potential with the XP slot (which is characterised by various formal realizations), in the sequence of the formal components Verb-NP-XP, and developments in the semantics of the SPCs. Having established the development and distribution of the different SPC subtypes, I also explore the various mechanisms accounting for shifting distributions. These mechanisms may be restricted to one SPC subtype, but they may also stem from interactions with other SPCs. That is, growth in one SPC subtype may result from construction-internal developments affecting only that particular SPC, but may also be due to the influence of other functionally related SPCs. An example of the former is for instance the case in the zero-SPC, where make has developed a mental meaning (e.g., Whom makest tow þe? ‘Whom do you make yourself?’) through analogy with mental hold (e.g., He held it impossible that …). However, analogy can also operate across SPC subtypes: in Chapter 7, it is shown that the as-SPC has copied parts of the distribution of the zero-SPC on the basis of analogy, adopting a number of cognition verbs such as understand, conceive, approve, or know, which were already well-established with the zero-SPC. Given the functional relatedness of the various SPC subtypes, special attention is given to these construction-external mechanisms, as they are a useful diagnostic for tracing possible interactions between the various SPC subtypes. The first research goal feeds into my second aim, which is to show the significance of the results of the descriptive analyses for the broader theoretical discussion on mechanisms of language change. In particular, I challenge the time-honoured view (Bolinger, 1977; Goldberg, 1995; Nuyts & Byloo, 2015) that functionally related constructions entering into competition are bound to result either into one construction replacing the other (‘substitution’), or into both constructions developing their own functional niche (‘functional differentiation’). While such an idea has successfully accounted for some developments in previous studies, I argue that it fails to capture the intricate evolution of the SPC. Instead, I draw on the hypothesis developed in De Smet et al. (submitted) that argues for a scenario of ‘attraction’ between two or more functionally similar constructions. In such an attraction process, the constructions by default develop more, rather than less, overlap, because the language user recognises their commonalities and consequently transfers features from one construction to the other more easily. The remaining challenge is then to account for persisting differences between the constructions, as these cannot be put down to substitution or differentiation. It is shown that such remaining differences can often be explained on the basis of the constructions’ individual histories and relations with their source constructions, which may exert a pulling, or ‘anchoring’ force on the constructions’ later distributions. Since the SPC comprises not only two, but four related constructions, it constitutes an ideal testing ground for these hypotheses and serves to expand our knowledge of language change. Finally, this study is couched in the cognitive-functional framework of Construction Grammar. A third aim therefore is to reflect on some of the benefits and drawbacks of Construction Grammar for a study on the SPC. With its simultaneous focus on form and function and its (more recent) emphasis on Diachronic Construction Grammar (Traugott, 2008c; Fried, 2009; Trousdale, 2012; Traugott & Trousdale, 2013; Barðdal & Gildea, 2015), Construction Grammar offers an ideal background to unravel the intricate developments of the four formally and functionally related SPCs. Nonetheless, as this framework was mainly tailored to fairly specific constructions in the past, such as, among others, the let alone-construction (Fillmore et al., 1988), the way-construction (Israel, 1996), or the size noun-construction (Brems, 2010), it poses some challenges to apply it to highly abstract constructions like the SPC, which consists of a variety of formally and functionally related subtypes. In particular, two major aspects of Construction Grammar pose a challenge. The first relates to the question of the level of abstraction that can or should be posited for a construction. According to Construction Grammarians, constructions can be stored at different levels of schematicity (or, abstraction) and they can be stored redundantly. It follows that the linguist needs to select a level of schematicity for investigation, but how this should be done, or which underlying criteria should guide this decision, is not mentioned in the literature. I argue that this issue was not even thought of as problematic until recently, but may have serious repercussions for how the researcher approaches the construction. A second issue concerns the fact that relations within constructions, or ‘vertical/intra-constructional relations’, are often taken to have priority over relations between constructions, or ‘horizontal/inter-constructional relations’. Consequently, possible construction-external sources of influence on a construction’s development may be overlooked, resulting in an incomplete picture of the diachrony of a construction. The findings of the present study contribute to these discussions, and serve to evaluate Construction Grammar as a framework for studying abstract patterns. This study is structured as follows. In a first part (Chapters 1 to 5), I set out the necessary theoretical and methodological background for the study. The second part (Chapters 6 to 9) details the results of the corpus analyses, which amounts to a description of the historical development of the different types of SPCs and the parallels and differences they exhibit. The third part (Chapter 10 and conclusions) advances further theoretical reflections and sums up the conclusions. The main conclusion of the study is that the notion of an SPC macro-construction subsuming four SPC subtypes is only correct from a synchronic viewpoint, and is in fact the result of a gradual process of attraction. Originally, the SPC subtypes had little in common and were probably stored separately in the mind of the language user. As the subtypes developed more functional overlap over time, an overarching level of schematicity started to emerge, giving rise to the SPC as we know it today. This conclusion represents an important contribution to the issue of ‘abstraction’ in Construction Grammar, as it shows that the right level of abstraction can sometimes be revealed only from a diachronic perspective. This insight could only be attained by devoting specific attention to the analysis of horizontal relations existing between constructions, and thereby further underscores the importance of considering language change across constructional networks.

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