The Interplay of Synonymy and Polysemy

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Constructions themselves contain slots called 
argument roles
. These argument roles 
capture more general roles such as agent, patient and goal (1995:43). To illustrate, the 
ditransitive construction is represented as follows:
(6) CAUSE-RECEIVE 
(1995:49) 
Each construction must specify how the participant roles of verbs map onto the 
argument roles (1995:48). Goldberg posits several principles which will not be discussed. 
The concept, though, is that the ditransitive construction requires an agent (agt) in initial 
position, and a 
robber
can be construed as an agent (1995:54). It is possible for verbs and 
constructions to differ in the amount of roles available. In that case, there must be a resolution 
of sorts. If the verb has more roles, then some roles do not get expressed at the sentence level. 
If the construction has more roles, then extra roles appear in the sentence even though they 
are not part of the verb’s semantics (1995:54-58).
The language system is a set of interconnected constructions. Elements within a 
language are connected and can influence each other even if they do not strictly interact 
(1995:72). This is captured by asymmetric 
inheritance links
 
between constructions. Links 
are posited when one construction inherits information regarding semantics or syntax from 
another. Goldberg adopts a type of inheritance termed 
normal mode 
(1995:73). In normal 
mode information is inherited, but can be overridden and allows for exceptions. A lower node 
can have information that conflicts with the dominant node. In that case, it only inherits the 
non-conflicting information (1995:73). 
Goldberg uses four types of inheritance links: polysemy links, metaphorical extension 
links, subpart links and instance links (1995:75).