Cognitive Grammar claims that grammatical structure is symbolic in nature and that constructions are the primary objects of description. A construction is an assembly of symbolic structures (form-meaning pairings) linked by correspondences. While constructions have certain characteristic features, various kinds of departure from this prototype are also common. Grammatical patterns are captured by constructional schemas (schematic symbolic assemblies). Grammatical dependencies reside in correspondences between semantic elements, with the consequence that constituency is non-essential and often variable. The symbolic view of grammar offers a viable alternative to the autonomy thesis.