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This paper discusses the emergence and development of a mirative constructional network involving the shell nouns  wonder ,  marvel  and  chance , called ‘wonder’ nouns here. In combination with negative quantifiers (e.g.  no wonder ), they can be used either lexically or as part of grammatical, mirative markers, qualifying a proposition as unsurprising in view of another situation. The network emerges in Old English around  wonder , with three meso-constructions which differ in surface structure but all inherit the anti-concessive discourse schema from the macro-construction, consisting of a proposition, mirative qualifier and justification. Two additional meso-constructions emerge in Middle English, which is also the time when the Romance loan  marvel  joins the network, making it gain in schematicity, abstractness and productivity. In Present-day English, another Romance loan,  chance , expands the mirative network even more. Throughout time, we observe node loss, node creation, constructional substitution and changes in frequencies of constructions. Theoretically, we propose a semiotic approach to diachronic construction grammar, arguing that multi-sign constructions invariably involve syntagmatic relations, which are themselves form-meaning pairings. This approach allows us to capture generalizations which would otherwise be missed.

‘Wonder’ Nouns and the Development of a Mirative Constructional Network: An Exercise in Semiotic Diachronic Construction Grammar