On the reality of constructions: The Spanish reduplicative-topic construction Valenzuela, Javier and Hilferty, Joseph and Garachana, Mar,, 3, 201-215 (2005), doi = https://doi.org/10.1075/arcl.3.11val, publicationName = John Benjamins, issn = 1572-0268, abstract= In the present paper, we adduce further evidence for the reality of grammatical constructions by focusing on a highly idiosyncratic configuration from Spanish, which we call the reduplicative-topic construction. This construction is a productive syntactic pattern that functions as a “constructional hedge”. The grammatical behaviors of this construction cannot be captured by syntactocentric approaches to grammar. Instead, co-ocurring multiple constraints must be taken into account, including phonological (intonation and rhythm), morphosyntactic and semantic factors. The thrust of our argument is that only a constructional approach can explain the facts needed to characterize this grammatical pattern. We conclude the paper by considering the implications of the constructional approach to syntax for linguistic theory., language=, type=