Abstract
The chapter examines the generally accepted fact that grammatical change originates in the interaction between a particular item, whether lexical or grammatical, and certain concrete contexts in which it is used. Capturing the interaction between a form and its environment calls quite naturally for the constructional approach, which has been increasingly applied particularly in grammaticalization research, leading to new conceptual and terminological questions.
The focus of the chapter is on applying constructional analysis and representational tools to diachronic material and particularly to changes that are part of grammaticalization processes.