On the relationship between construction and illocution

Written utterances on regulative signs in public spaces are characterized by a great variety of linguistic constructions, of which a considerable number can be assigned to “marginal grammar” (Fries 1987). On the one hand, the article presents an empirical corpus study that investigates which types of construction and illocution can be found on signs in public spaces. On the other hand, projectionist and constructionist approaches are used to examine how the relationship between construction and illocution can be modeled in this discourse domain. Based on the results of the study, implications for teaching German at upper secondary level are developed, which aim for an integrated view of formal and functional aspects of language.