Comparative constructional idioms in Spanish, English and French

This book investigates comparative constructional idioms of ugliness in Spanish, English and French from a Construction Grammar perspective, combining phraseological theory with a corpus-based methodology. It examines how patterns such as [más feo que X] and [feo como X] in Spanish, [ugly as X] in English or [laid comme X] in French reveal both the productivity and creativity of language, and how they reflect cultural models of ugliness and expressivity across linguistic communities. The analysis identifies cross-linguistic similarities and differences in the formal structure, semantic variation, and pragmatic functions of these idioms, uncovering how meaning and form interact within the grammar-lexicon continuum. By addressing the notion of constructional equivalence and proposing a tertium comparationis for cross-linguistic comparison, the study sheds light on how constructions evolve, extend analogically, and reflect cultural models. The book contributes to research on constructional idioms, usage-based grammar, and corpus linguistics, offering valuable insights for scholars of cognitive and contrastive linguistics, as well as those interested in how linguistic patterns encode culture and creativity.