The 5C Model of Linguistic Creativity: Construction Grammar as a Cognitive Theory of Verbal Creativity

Creativity is a design feature of human language. This paper presents a cognitive model of verbal creativity that draws on insights from the psychological research into creativity—particularly Glăveanu’s 5A model that distinguishes five crucial perspectives on a creative act (actors, audience, artefacts, actions and affordances). The paper will outline a linguistic version of this model that adopts Construction Grammar as its theoretical foundation. The resulting “5C model of constructional creativity” argues that the central elements of linguistic creativity are constructors, co-constructors, constructs, constructional blending and the constructional network.