The Idiom X in Mind: A Construction Grammar Case Study

Abstract

This work presents a case study of the idiomatically combining expression X in mind (e.g., What did you have in mind?). Four senses are identified based on semantic and syntactic properties: X in mind “remember, consider”, X in mind [to] “intend or desire”, (with) X in mind (absolutive) “remember, think about”, and (with) X in mind (prepositional) “consider”. Using Sign-Based Construction Grammar formalisms, the analysis accounts for differences in the combinatorics of each sense. Underlying this account is an open question regarding the “remember, consider” sense, which is licensed by various, seemingly unrelated verbs (e.g., have, keep, be, remain, etc.). A single feature description is crafted, creating a natural class able to account for allowable idiomatic licensors even when the phrase is used productively (e.g., affix in mind) while preventing verbs falling outside of this class (e.g., *give in mind), avoiding lexical overgeneration, and the need to posit individual rules for each allowable licensor.