Domain-specific intensifying constructions and/in weather-related proverbs. A case study based on Dutch dialects in Flanders.

International audience [Introduction] There are few things so rigorously present in human consciousness and communication as the subject of the weather. Nevertheless, both in formal (weather forecasts) and informal contexts (daily conversations), this “weather discourse” remains understudied within linguistics (Liégeois 2019). This kind of discourse (Koch & Oesterreicher 1985), however, appears very interesting to different constructionist approaches (Gautier 2018), such as frame semantics and (cognitive) construction grammar. [Research question] In this context, this proposal looks from a constructionist perspective into what could be called “weather sayings” in the dialects of Flanders; that is, popular sayings about the condition of the weather – like “it’s raining cats and dogs” in English. Such formulae are present in all languages, but research on it has mostly been restricted to their cultural background – e.g. religious ideas present in them (Eriksen et al. 2010) –, although the relationships between fixed formulae and constructions have been at the core of CxG research since the seminal paper by Fillmore & Kay (1988).We therefore propose a cognitivist constructional approach to look into the syntax and semantics underlying a vast majority of these sayings. Of particular interest to us is the question to which extent syntax and non-compositional semantics are intertwined in these constructions and might even cause historical syntactic change in them. Furthermore, we will also demonstrate the presence of patterns within this type of formulae confirming their Cx status.[Examples] For this paper, we will limit ourselves to the following constructions in Flemish, Brabantic and Limburgian: (1)Het VP dat het VP a. ’t rint da’t ziek (Ypres, West Flemish)b. Tvries tottet krok (Munsterbilzen, Limburgian)(2)Het regent (+AP) + NPa. ’t regent mollejoegen (Veurne, West Flemish)b. ’t vriest stejenen öt de groond (Geel, Brabantic)(3)Het is kermis in de hel a. ’t Es Kirmesse in d’helle (Lovendegem, East ...