Could this phrase be more constructional? : A Construction Grammar approach to the COULD X BE MORE Y phrase from the television show Friends

Abstract: This thesis investigates the COULD X BE MORE Y phrase (CXBMY), well-known from the television show Friends, to argue for its qualification as a construction. By analyzing the phrase’s formal and functional features, as well as its frequency in the COCA corpus, this thesis compares the findings to the definition of constructions by Goldberg (2006, p. 5). The results prove the hypothesis that CXBMY is a construction since the form-function interrelation conveys its meaning; the form of a yes-no question and emphasis on the main auxiliary is understood based on its function as a rhetorical question and potential parody of the Friends character Chandler, and vice versa. The linguistic information of CXBMY – syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and information packaging – all contribute to describe the meaning of CXBMY, while simultaneously needing one another to create a complete understanding of CXBMY. Consequently, CXBMY has a non-predictability that requires us to store it in a mental constructicon. While CXBMY shows links to other known constructions, such as the SUBJECT AUXILIARY INVERSION CONSTRUCTION and INFORMATION PACKAGING CONSTRUCTION, its specific interrelation between form and function distinguishes CXBMY from other known constructions. Thus, this thesis reaches the conclusion that CXBMY is a construction. Additionally, since the inferential pragmatic function, intonation and information structure of CXBMY is crucial to understand its meaning, this thesis highlights the prominence of these linguistic aspects within Construction Grammar, which have so far been sparsely researched (Leino, 2013; Gras & Elvira-García, 2021; Finkbeiner, 2019).