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Glossary of Systemic Functional terms
Christian Matthiessen
ELM, Macquarie University
iii/97
DRAFT.
© C. Matthiessen. Please do not copy or quote without permission. Comments very welcome!
This document offers a glossary of terms related to the material
in Halliday (1994), Halliday & Hasan (1985), Martin (1992),
Matthiessen (1995), and other systemic-functional works, either
theoretical or descriptive (see Matthiessen, 1995: Section 1.9
and Figure 1-23). It is based on Appendix 3 of Matthiessen (1995)
and on the glossary in Matthiessen & Bateman (1991). It also
relates to the current effort to produce a multilingual glossary
of systemic-functional terms and glosses being co-ordinated by
M.A.K. Halliday & C. Matthiessen. The French terms given are
taken from Alice Caffarel's glossary of French systemic terms, Glossaire
anglais-français des termes en linguistique systémique
-fonctionnelle.
But first a word on the nature of this glossary as a general
resource and as an aid in translating between different
approaches is in order. We have to understand technical terms as
part of a theory of language and the descriptions of particular
languages that are based on that theory. So what is a theory of
language? Many years ago, J.R. Firth characterized linguistics as
"language turned back on itself"; and what he said
about using language to describe language in The semantics of
linguistic science (in 1948, Lingua) is still very relevant:
Terminology, nomenclature or technical vocabulary/ lexis is thus
something that is "necessitated by a system of
thought". It is one aspect of the language we use to model
language - it is one aspect of our metalanguage. Now we know that
an ordinary language cannot be equated with its vocabulary:
English is not the same as English lexis; we see only one aspect
of English when we look up lexical items in a dictionary. English
is far more than its lexis; it also includes the grammatical
resources that together with lexis make up the system of wording
or lexicogrammar of the language and it includes the systems of
sounding (phonology) and of meaning (semantics). Consider the
following passage from the introduction to Chapter 3 of
Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar:
Technical terms are shown in bold. It's very clear from this
passage that the distinction between technical terms and
non-technical ones is indeterminate: for example, we might
consider map in three distinct structures are mapped on
to one another or combine in meanings of three
different kinds are combined, this then combines with the
remainder to be technical terms. However, wherever we draw
the line between technical terms and non-technical ones, it is
also very clear from the passage that the technical terms are
only part of the picture: they make up some of the lexical items
that together with grammatical structures constitute the wordings
of the metalanguage. For example, the clause each expressing one
kind of semantic organization draws on part of the grammar of
English that is very central to linguistic theory. This is the
grammar of identifying clauses where a general relationship of
symbolization is construed between two participants, the Token
and the Value:
Other examples in IFG that draw on this type of clause are: a
noun expresses a person, other animate being, inanimate object or
abstraction, bounded or unbounded, etc.; the Theme is the element
which serves as the point of departure of the message, it is that
with which the clause is concerned; the Subject specifies the one
that is actually responsible for realizing (i.e., in this case
for carrying out) the offer or command; [the Actor] means the one
that does the deed. This is of course only one example of a
grammatical construction that is important in modelling language;
there are many others and it is helpful to pay attention to the
way in which the resources of grammar are used to theorize about
and describe language (what Halliday & Martin, 1993: 6, call
"technical grammar"). The general point is technical
terms are only part of the lexical resources we use in
linguistics; and lexis is only part of the system of wording,
lexicogrammar. And beyond lexicogrammar, we also have to consider
the many and varied patterns of discourse semantics that play a
central role in our metalanguage. Halliday & Martin (1993: 4)
makes the point as follows:
The technical terms of our metalanguage thus only make up one
part of the overall metalinguistic resources: a theory is much
more than its technical terms. Now, just as with terms or lexical
items in general, we can view and describe technical terms in two
different ways - (i) dictionary view and (ii) thesaurus
view.
(i) Dictionary view. We can view them as individual items,
list them alphabetically in a dictionary and describe them in
terms of the dictionary definitions or glosses. For example, in
their glossary, Halliday & Martin (181: 345) provide the
following glossary entry for Theme:
Here we access information about the theoretical and descriptive
terminology by looking up lexical forms in alphabetical order.
The various technical terms form a network of lexical relations,
but this network is not represented in an explicit form - it has
to be recovered from the gloss. Thus from the gloss above we can
infer part of a network of technical terms where 'Theme' is
related by realization to both 'point of departure' and to 'first
position' and where it is classified as a kind of clausal textual
function:
This gloss illustrates a very fundamental property of all
technical terms: they are defined by their location in a network
of relationships that they enter into.
(ii) Thesaurus view. In the dictionary view of technical
terms, we have to "uncover" the relationships that
individual terms enter into from the glosses. In contrast, the
thesaurus view brings out these relationships quite explicitly;
in particular, it represents taxonomic relationships involving
the'kinds of' relationship between a class and its subclasses
(see IFG, pp. 332-3). Thus Mark Roget organized the English
vocabulary into a small number of general lexical domains, which
he subclassified further in several steps.
Martin (1992) provides a "thesaurus view" of part of
the lexis of symbolic relations - relations that serve within the
identifying clause type discussed briefly above. Using a system
network, he shows explicitly what the taxonomic relationships
are: see the figure below.
A glossary is by definition a dictionary view of
(technical) vocabulary; but I have tried to indicate theoretical
relationships as explicitly as possible to ensure that particular
technical terms do not remain insulated from the rest of the
metalanguage. In particular, I have indicated whether terms are
theoretical or descriptive. Theoretical terms are part of the
general theory of language; descriptive terms are part of
descriptions of particular languages such as Chinese, English,
French, Japanese, Tagalog and Vietnamese. For descriptive terms,
I have further indicated the relevant theoretical categories and
dimensions (such as paradigmatic/ syntagmatic, ideational/
interpersonal/ textual). For the relationship between theory and
description, see e.g. Matthiessen (1995: 57-62) and Matthiessen
& Nesbitt (1996)
This glossary is intended to explain systemic terms and to relate
systemic and non-systemic terms; it is an aid in metalinguistic
translation, i.e. in translation between the systemic
meta-language and other meta-languages. It is necessary to do
this, but at the same time it is important to recognize that
glossaries can be misleading and even intellectually harmful,
since, as noted above, a theory cannot be reduced to a glossary
of its technical terms. A glossary is based on items - the terms
glossed - and this tends to foreground the items at the expense
of the system or network of relations they are part of. A
technical vocabulary is not a list of items; it is a network of
relationships. So if we pick out one vocabulary item, say Goal
(systemic), and gloss it as Patient (non-systemic), we have lost
the fact that Goal is just one part of one theoretical model of
transitivity and Patient is part of another model and they are
not systemically equivalent although they may be applied
analytically to the same constituents of a clause in a large
number of examples.
Although there are significant points of contact between the
systemic tradition and Indian and Chinese linguistics (e.g. in
the theoretical foregrounding of prosodies and syllables), the
'translations' between the systemic tradition and other
traditions in this glossary are concerned with Western traditions
and more specifically traditional grammar and those originating
in the US. (Thus, there are only a few items from the Prague
School, while Glossematics, continental European structuralism,
current French and Dutch functionalist approaches, the various
German traditions, and so on are left out entirely.) Also, it
should be noted that the main focus is on the level of
lexicogrammar (= syntax + morphology + lexis) rather than
phonology, semantics, and context, although some central terms in
these areas are included.
Conventions
Systemic terms in bold italics, e.g. Actor.
Non-systemic terms in bold, e.g. Actor.
Theoretical systemic terms are marked "[theoretical]".
Descriptive systemic terms are marked "[descriiptive:",
and their location in the interpretation of English lexicogrammar
is given by reference to stratum, metafunction, axis, and rank,
e.g. "[descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x
clause rank]".
Absolute. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x
structural x clause rank] Interpersonal clause function
neutralizing the distinction between Subject and Complement. It
is assigned to nominal groups in certain minor clauses of the
type 'alarm' (as in [Absolute:] Fire! ) and to nominal groups
standing unattached in headlines, product names, business names,
street names and other "little texts" (as in
[Absolute:] A Multinational Era). => IFG p. 96 and p. 395.
Accompaniment. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential
x structural x clause rank] Circumstantial role in transitivity
structure: the extending type of circumstance. Accoompaniment is
the circumstantial equivalent of the meanings 'and', 'or', and
'and not'. For example:
He invited Gorbachev to "work [Accompaniment: commitative:]
with me to bring down the last barriers to a new world of
freedom. (Time 94)
He is the boss, and [Accompaniment: commitative:] without him,
the accord will not work.
[Accompaniment: additive:] Instead of tidings of joy, Hollywood
offers the writhings of Job. (Time 94)
you end up regulating those people [Accompaniment: additive:]
instead of the small percentage of people who commit most crimes
(Time 93)
=> LexCart p. 343.
Actor. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant role in a material clause;
the participant always inherent in the clause according to the
transitive model of transitivity. The process it participates in
may or may not extend to affect another participant, the Goal.
For instance:
The systemic term Actor is to be distinguished from the systemic
term => Agent. While the former is confined to material
clauses in the transitive model, the latter is a generalized
transitivity function - the 'causer' - in the ergative model of
transitivity (see transitivity models). In non-systemic
literature, the term Agent may correspond to either Actor or
Agent. Bloomfield (1933) used the terms Actor-Action-Goal, but it
has not been taken over in most non-systemic treatments of
transitivity roles. => LexCart Section 4.7.
adjective. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction:
general x systemic x word rank] Secondary word class within
primary word class of nominals serving as Epithet within nominal
groups. For example:
Certain adjectives can also serve in hypotactic verbal group
complexes; for example:
Adjunct. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x
structural x clause rank] Interpersonal clause function:
constituent that is not an alternative Subject (in contrast to a
Complement). Adjuncts are experiential (circumstances), textual
(conjunctives), or interpersonal (modal adjuncts or comment
adjuncts). For instance:
Non-systemic writers often use adverbial as roughly equivalent to
Adjunct; Quirk et al. (1985) use adjunct roughly in the sense of
experiential Adjunct (circumstance) together with subjunct,
disjunct and conjunct. => LexCart Section 5.1.1.1.
adverb. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction:
general x systemic x word rank] Primary class of word serving as
Head or Modifier in adverbial group or as Submodifier in any kind
of group (or as expansion of verb in a phrasal of consisting of
verb + adverb). For example:
=> IFGpp. 25, 214
adverbial. Often used as term for Adjuncts outside
of systemic functional terms, as in "manner adverbial"
or "sentence adverbial".
adverbial group. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x
metafunction: general x systemic x group rank] Group of words of
the primary class adverb. They serve to realize Adjuncts in the
clause - interpersonal Adjuncts and certain experiential ones, in
particular those of Manner: quality/ degree. => IFG § 6.4.1;
LexCart§ 7.4.
AGENCY. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
systemic x clause rank] Transitivity system simultaneous with
PROCESS TYPE: the choice between 'middle' (nucleuse of Process +
Medium construed as not being caused by an Agent) and 'effective'
(nucleus of Process + Medium construed as being caused by an
Agent). For example:
=> LexCart Sections 4.3 and 4.6.
Agent. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant role in clause, according
to the ergative transitivity model (see transitivity models): the
participant causing the actualization of the combination of
Process + Medium. In a material clause, it is the Actor; in a
mental one, the Phenomenon; and in a relational one, the
Attributor or the Token. For instance:
=> IFG p. 147 ff. => LexCart Section 4.6.
In non-systemic literature, the term agent may correspond to the
systemic Actor, to Agent or to both.
Angle. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Circumstantial role in the transitivity
structure of the clause, of the projecting type. For example:
=> IFG p. 151, 158 => LexCart Section 4.11.2.1.
ascriptive. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
systemic x clause rank] Term in system RELATIONAL ABSTRACTION,
contrasting with 'identifying'. A Carrier is construed as being
ascribed or attributed to an Attribute: the relation can be
interpreted as one of class-membership - the Carrier is construed
as a member of the class described by the Attribute. For example:
=> LexCart p. 302.
Assigner. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural
x clause rank] Participant role in intensive identifying
relational clauses: the participant that assigns a relation of
identity between Token and Value. It serves as Agent in the
ergative model of transitivity. For example:
=> IFG p. 171 => LexCart p. 314.
Attribuend. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Alternative systemic term for =>
Carrier, the participant role to which an Attribute is ascribed
in an ascriptive relational clause.
Attribute. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant or participant-like role in
an ascriptive relation to a participant serving as Medium,
typically in an ascriptive relational clause (as in The moon is
[Attribute:] a balloon, David tconsidered the moon [Attribute:] a
balloon), but also, more restrictedly, in certain material
clauses (as in They painted the collage [Attribute:] red; He fell
[Attribute:] flat). => LexCart Section 4.10.1. on relational
Attributes. The Attribute of a relational clause conflates with
Range.
attributive. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
systemic x clause rank] Alternative term for => 'ascriptive'.
Attributor. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant role in intensive
ascriptive relational clauses: the participant that assigns a
relation of ascription between Carrier and Attribute. It serves
as Agent in the ergative model of transitivity. => IFG p. 171.
=> LexCart p. 314.
Behalf. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Circumstantial role in the clause, type
of Cause.
Behaver. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant role in the clause, more
specifically in 'behavioural' clauses.
Beneficiary. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant role in the clause,
according to the generalized ergative transitivity model (see
transitivity models): the participant benefiting from the
actualization of the combination of Process + Medium. In a
material clause, it is the Recipient (My aunt gave the farmer a
duckpress) or the Client (Pour me out a cold Dos Equis beer) and
in a verbal one, it is the Addressee (Joe told us all about Eve).
It also occurs in a few relational clause types (I owe you an
apology) and mental clauses (I envy you your luck; I don't
begrudge you your happiness). IFG pp. 132-134. => LexCart
Section 2.2.1.7 (Beneficiary/ Recipient), => LexCart Section
2.2.11 (Beneficiary/ Receiver), => LexCart Section 2.2.1.12.3
(Beneficiary in certain relational clauses).
binder. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction:
general x systemic x word rank] Tertiary word class: subtype of
conjunction (which is a subtype of adverbial) marking
hypotactically dependent clauses and downranked clauses.
call. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x
systemic x clause rank] Systemic term in the system MINOR CLAUSE
CLASS.
Carrier. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant role, the participant to
which the Attribute is ascribed in an ascriptive relational
clause. => LexCart Section 4.10.1.
case marking. The term case marking was originally
restricted to the marking by morphological case (such as
nominative, accusative, dative). It has now been extended to
include other means of such as adpositions and sometimes even
word order. In systemic work, it would still be used in its
original sense since "case" has not been extended as a
descriptive category.
case marking system. The system according to which
different cases are assigned to different nominal groups in a
clause. Two different systems are widely discussed, the
nominative-accusative and the ergative(-absolutive) systems.
Languages may implement either of these or a mix of the two (a
"split" system). These systems have now been extended
to include phenomena such as reflexivization and structural
ellipsis in coordinated clauses. The notion of a case-marking
system is related to the systemic notion of transitivity model;
and nominative-accusative and ergative are related to the
transitive and intransitive transitivity models of systemics.
However, while the systemic transitivity models are confined to
the experiential metafunction, the notion of case-marking system
is not tied to a particular metafunction. (In systemic accounts,
the different metafunctional influences on case marking are
teased apart. Thus a language may be experientially ergative
without interpersonal or textual ergativity in the 'case
marking'.)
case role. The role served by an argument of a verb
(predicate) -- sometimes also called semantic role; the notion
goes back to Fillmore's (1968) category of deep case. It
corresponds largely to the systemic notion of transitivity
function or role (including participant roles and circumstance
roles; e.g. Halliday 1967/8; 1985: Ch. 5), except that case role
may sometimes be interpreted as entirely semantic and not
grammatical whereas systemic transitivity functions are
grammatical. Another difference is in the theoretical status of
case roles or deep cases vs. transitivity functions: inventories
of the former are often taken to be universal where the
transitivity functions presented in e.g. Halliday (1985: Ch. 5)
are not. See Martin (1996) for detailed discussion of case role/
deep case vs. systemic transitivity function.
category. [theoretical] A construct or abstraction in
systemic theory; units, functions, classes, and so on are
categories of the theory of grammar (cf. Halliday, 1961).
Caterogies are distinguished from scales such as delicacy and
stratification. In formal linguistics, "category" has
been used in a much more restricted sense, corresponding to
'class' in systemic linguistic.
category. As in phrase category. The systemic term
for the category of formal grammar is the traditional term class
(as in word class).
Cause. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank]
challenge. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x
systemic x move rank] A move in an exchange that challenges the
previous move.
circumstance. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Generalized transitivity function in
the clause, which consists of a process, participants involved in
it, and attendant circumstances. Circumstances belong to four
types: (i) enhancing circumstances: Location, Extent, Cause,
Manner; (ii) extending circumstances: Accompaniment; (iii)
elaborating circumstances: Role; and (iv) projecting
circumstances: Angle, Matter. For example:
Participants tend to be more centrally involved with the process
than circumstances, which are consequently said to be attendant,
more peripheral, or obliquely related to the process. The
difference, which is comparable to Tesnière's (1959) distinction
between actant and circonstant, between participants and
circumstances is a cline; it is clearer in some languages than in
others. For instance, in English, it is fairly clear since,
broadly speaking, (i) participants can be Subject but
circumstances cannot, and (ii) participants are realized by
nominal groups but circumstances by adverbial groups or
prepositional phrases. In Akan, the difference is much less
clear: there is no voice system to differentiate between
participants and circumstances and both are realized by nominal
groups (rather than nominal groups vs. prepositional phrases);
circumstantial relations are marked by dependent verbs in serial
verb constructions. => LexCart Section 4.11.
class. [theoretical] The systemic term for the term
category in formal grammar. It generalizes the traditional notion
of word classes and thus applies to morphemes, groups, phrases,
and clauses as well as words. The least delicate classes are
sometimes called primary classes and further differentiations are
secondary classes. For example:
Classifier. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x group rank: nominal] Function in the structure of
the nominal group; a premodifier specifying of subclassification
of the thing represented by the nominal group. Classifier
corresponds to Fries' (1970) close-knit modifier. It is usually
realized by a noun. Classifier is differentiated from Epithet.
For instance: a (Epithet:) soft-spoken (Classifier:) Government
(Thing:) aid. (In typological literature, the term classifier is
used for nouns expressing classes of things in languages such as
Chinese and Thai. In systemic work, this has often been called
"measure".) IFG p. 164-5. => LexCart Section 7.3.3.3
.1.
clause. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction: general x
systemic/ structural: unit x clause rank][French: phrase] The
highest-ranking unit in the grammar. It is the point of origin of
the systems of TRANSITIVITY, MOOD and THEME, realized by three
simultaneous structural layers (transitivity structure, modal
structure and thematic structure). In the unmarked case, it
realizes a figure (experiential), move (interpersonal) and
message (textual); and it is realized by a tone group. Examples
(ranking clauses separated by ||, clause complexes by |||;
included clauses separated by << >>, downranked
clauses by "'):
||| It might have been otherwise || had President Bush not waited
until after the election || to announce || that he was nearly
doubling U.S. troop strength in the Persian Gulf.||| As it was,
|| only a few sitting members of Congress were defeated, hardly
enough "to make more than a token difference in the
composition of the Senate <<(where the Democrats picked up
one seat)>> and the House <<(where they picked up
eight)>>'. ||| In fact, the most significant result
involved a politician "who wasn't even on the ballot'. |||
For if the election of 1990 changed nothing else, || it
undermined the perception "that George Bush is all but
immune to the normal vicissitudes of politics'. ||| Suddenly, and
for the first time in his presidency, Bush seemed vulnerable. |||
The weakening process began || when Bush abandoned his "no
new taxes" pledge || and deprived Republican right-wingers
of their favorite issue. ||| Then Congress rejected the
deficit-reduction package "negotiated by White House aides
and congressional leaders'. ||| After that, the President went
from bad to worse || as he alternately attacked the Democrats, ||
tried to explain his domestic policies || and confronted growing
doubts about the U.S. deployment in the Persian Gulf. ||| By the
time he finally signed a budget deal last week, || his
performance ratings in the polls had dropped 20 points. |||
(Time)
clause complex. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x logical x
structural x clause rank] [French: phrase complexe] Halliday's
(1965, 1985) term for a combination of clauses related
paratactically (as in I came, I saw, I conquered) or
hypotactically (as in when I came, I conquered) but not through
embedding (i.e. downranking of clause to serve within another
unit); the mode of combination is the mode of organization of the
logical subtype of the ideational metafunction. For example,
clauses combined through coordination form a clause complex. IFG
Ch. 7. => LexCart Section 3.2.(For examples, see under
"clause".)
The term clause complex corresponds roughly to the non-systemic
term clause combining, except a clause complex never involves
embedding and 'clause combining' may include embedding (i.e.,
constructions where one clause serves as a constituent in another
unit as if it were a group/phrase or word).
cleft. (Sometimes it-cleft.) The it be ... that construction in
English and its equivalent in other languages (as in it was the
dog that died : the dog it was that died). It corresponds to the
systemic notion of => theme predication (IFG p. 59-61). =>
LexCart Section 6.2.1.4.
Client. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x
clause rank] Participant function in the transitivity function of
the clause. It represents the participant a service is done for.
It is related to one type of cause, viz. Behalf. For instance:
Sir Chris built (Client:) him a gazebo; Sir Chris build a gazebo
(Client:) for him. Cf. I'll do it (Behalf:) for you. IFG p. 132.
=> LexCart Section 4.7.1.
Shall I run your bath [Client:] for you?
cline. [theoretical] Introduced in Halliday (1961), in opposition
to a hierarchy of discrete terms, as a continuum along a single
dimension with potentially infinite gradation - as in
"cline of instantiation". "Cline" might be
glossed as scale, except that this term has a special technical
sense, particularly in early systemic linguistics.
Cognizant. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Older term for what is now usually
called => Senser (IFG p. 111) - the senser of a mental
process, i.e. the participant involved (inertly) in conscious
processing; it corresponds roughly to the non-systemic notion of
=> Experiencer.
cohesion. [theoretical] [French: cohésion] The textual
lexicogrammatical resources for expressing relations within text
without creating grammatical structure. The cohesive resources
include reference, substitution / ellipsis, conjunction, and
lexical cohesion. The term cohesion is also used in non-systemic
literature, sometimes in direct reference to systemic work on
cohesion (particularly, Halliday & Hasan, 1976), sometimes
more loosely to refer to the text-ness of a text. (The term has a
different use in Tagmemics, where it refers to one of the four
cells in a four-cell tagmeme.) => IFG Chapter 9. => LexCart
Section 2.3.6.
collocation. [theoretical] [French: collocation] Non-structural,
lexical relation between lexical items, measured as the
likelihood of their co-occurrence in text. For instance, regret
and deeply collocate. => IFG pp. 312-3. => LexCart Section
4.8.2.
complex. [theoretical] Complex of grammatical units of any rank
or class, potentially lineally recursive; complexes include
coordination (extending complexes) and apposition (elaborating
complexes). => LexCart Section 2.3.4. (See also => clause
complex.)
conflation. [theoretical] Realization operator used to specify
the identity of two functions, as in Agent / Subject. Corresponds
to what is sometimes called assignment in non-systemic work (as
in function assignment). => LexCart Section 1.4.
congruent. [theoretical] The 'literal' as opposed to the
metaphorical realization of meaning: the congruence between
semantics and lexicogrammar (IFG Ch. 10). => LexCart Sections
1.5.3; 2.4.2; 3.2.6.1; 4.12; 5.1.2.2; 7.3.3.3.5.
CONJUNCTION. [descriptive: lexicogrammatical x textual x systemic
x clause rank] [French: CONJONCTION] Textual system of cohesion:
resource for making rhetorical-semantic relations explicit. =>
IFG Section 9.4. => LexCart Section 6.1. The basic CONJUNTION
TYPES are 'elaboration', 'extension' and 'enhancement'; examples
are given below:
It might have been otherwise had President Bush not waited until
after the election to announce that he was nearly doubling U.S.
troop strength in the Persian Gulf. As it was, only a few sitting
members of Congress were defeated, hardly enough to make more
than a token difference in the composition of the Senate (where
the Democrats picked up one seat) and the House (where they
picked up eight). [elaboration: clarification: verificative:] In
fact, the most significant result involved a politician who
wasn't even on the ballot. [enhancement: causal-conditional:
general:] For if the election of 1990 changed nothing else, it
undermined the perception that George Bush is all but immune to
the normal vicissitudes of politics. Suddenly, and for the first
time in his presidency, Bush seemed vulnerable.
The weakening process began when Bush abandoned his "no new
taxes" pledge and deprived Republican right-wingers of their
favorite issue. [enhancement: temporal: following:] Then Congress
rejected the deficit-reduction package negotiated by White House
aides and congressional leaders.[enhancement: temporal:
following:] After that, the President went from bad to worse as
he alternately attacked the Democrats, tried to explain his
domestic policies and confronted growing doubts about the U.S.
deployment in the Persian Gulf. By the time he finally signed a
budget deal last week, his performance ratings in the polls had
dropped 20 points. (Time)
context. [theoretical] [French: contexte] Context is a
higher-order semiotic system located stratally above the
linguistic system. Context is functionally diversified into
field, tenor, and mode. The notions of context of situation and
context of culture originate with Bronislaw Malinowski, an
anthropologist working in the first half of this century. Doing
field work in the Trobriand Islands, he came to recognize and
argue for the importance of context in the interpretation of
text. His work on context was further developed within
linguistics, first by Firth and then by Halliday and others.
Context is differentiated along the cline of instantiation, from
context of culture to context of situation. Context of culture is
the context of the overall linguistic system and context of
situation is the context of a text, an instance of the system.
Intermediate between the two is situation type - the context of a
registerial variety of the overall linguistic system. => IFG
p. 370. => LexCart Section 1.6.
In earlier systemic writings, context was used for what is now
called semantics. The term context is also used widely in
non-systemic literature, sometimes in the systemic sense
sometimes not. Frames, schemata, and scripts within cognitive
psychology and AI are similar to situation and situation types in
many respects.
cryptotype, cryptotype. [theoretical] Whorf's term for a covert
grammatical category. For instance, the process types, material,
mental, verbal, and relational, are largely cryptotypes in
English. It has been taken over in systemic work (e.g., Halliday,
1983). Cryptotypes affect the organization of the grammatical
system; that is, the grammatical system 'reacts' to their
presence and we can identify cryptotypes by reference to such
reactances.
culmination. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x
clause rank] The textual choices controlling the relative
sequence of clause elements after the Process, in particular in
examples such as I gave him some money vs. I gave the money to a
friend (cf. IFG p. 149-50). The transformational term for the
relative sequence of direct and indirect object (complement), as
in the pair above, is dative shift. => LexCart Section 6.4.
dative shift. Transformational term used to describe the
relationship between pairs such as she gave her friend a cook
book for his birthday ~ she gave a cook book to her friend for
Christmas; cf. culmination.
de-automatization, de-automatization. [theoretical] Prague School
term, which has been taken over in systemic theory to refer to
the situation where the grammar realizes higher-level meanings or
themes over and above the semantic categories it normally
realizes automatically (see Halliday, 1982).
Deictic. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x structural x
group rank: nominal] [French: Déictique] Function in the
structure of the nominal group, inserted as a realization of
choices in DETERMINATION and realized by a determiner (or a
rankshifted genitival nominal group). For instance: the wages of
sin.
The term deictic is also used in non-systemic work but not to
refer to a particular function but in the general sense related
to deixis. => IFG p. 160-2. => LexCart Section 7.3.5.1.
DEICTICITY. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x
systemic x clause rank]The name of the choice between 'modal' and
'temporal' in indicative clauses: the question is how the clause
is made finite, i.e. related to the here & now, through the
Finite element -- through time (past / present / future in
relation to 'now') or through modality (possible, probable, etc.
in relation to 'now'). For instance, he's cutting the lawn is
temporal while he may be watering the lawn is modal. =>
LexCart Section 5.1.1.3.
delicacy. [theoretical] [French: finesse] The scale from general
to specific. In a system network, delicacy corresponds to the
ordering of systems from left to right by means of entry
conditions. For example, the following systems of MOOD increase
in delicacy from left to right:
=> LexCart Section 1.2.2.
elaboration. [descriptive: semantics/ lexicogrammar x ideational
x systemic x transphenomenal] [French: elaboration] One of the
three types of expansion, the other being 'extension' and
'enhancement'. Elaboration is a transphenomenal type, which means
that it is manifested in different environment of the
lexicogrammatical system - for example, those of the clause
complex, CONJUNCTION, and RELATION TYPE (in relational clauses).
It is a reltion of 'being', covering subtypes such as
restatement/ identity, exemplification/ classification.
ELLIPSIS. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x
various ranks] [French: ELLIPSIS] Textual system within the
domain of cohesion for giving elements of wording in clauses or
groups a textual status as continuous and contrastive
information. The distinction between 'continuous' and
'contrastive' is realized by leaving out or eliding continuous
elements and retaining contrastive ones. For example:
A: It looks like verse a little bit on the page, doesn't it?
B: Oh yes, it looks like verse a little bit on the page. (CEC
847)
A: Have you read Pincher Martin?
B: No, I haven't read Pincher Martin. (CEC 849)
=> IFG Section 9.3. => LexCart p. 95, pp. 158-60, Section
6.6.
entry condition. [theoretical] The condition under which the
options specified by a system are available; that is, in terms of
the traversal of the system network, the condition under which
the system can be reached. An entry condition is a simple feature
or a complex of features. See example under entry for =>
system. => LexCart Section1.2.2.
Epithet. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural
x group rank: nominal] Experiential nominal group function,
representing qualities of the thing represented by the nominal
group. Typically realized by an adjective. It corresponds to
Fries' (1970) loose-knit modifier. It is distinct from the
Classifier function. For instance:
Note that the Epithet comes after the Thing under certain
circumstances; this is always true of non-specific pronominals as
Thing: [Thing:] something [Epithet:] wrong.
(Outside of systemic linguistics, adjectives serving as Epithet
are often said to serve an attributive function, and this is a
potential source of confusion since the function Attribute is a
clause function in systemic descriptions of grammar, as in the
evening is (Attribute:) delightful. This use of often called
predicative outside of systemic linguistics.) => IFG p. 162-4.
=> LexCart Section 7.3.3.3.5.
ergative model. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
clause rank]Experiential model ­p; transitivity model
based on the variable of external cause: the basic question is
whether the occurrence of the combination of Process + Medium
(e.g., 'open + door') is brought about by a cause external to
this combination, the Agent (e.g., 'Henry + open + door': Henry
opened the door) or not (e.g., 'open + door': the door opened).
There is one function common to both alternatives, the Medium.
=> IFG LexCart Section 5.8.
If we look at the clause in English from an interpersonal point
of view, asking about the identity of the Subject, English looks
'nominative-accusative':
However, if we look at the clause from an ideational point of
view, focusing on transitivity patterns, we find an ergative
model (alongside the 'nominative-accusative' or transitive one):
Exchange. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x exchange
rank] Metaphor for talking about the fundamental organization of
dialogue and the context in which speech functions are used. The
interactants in a dialogue engage in a symbolic exchange of
meanings. For instance, one interactant may move the dialogue
forward by demanding information, thus assigning himself or
herself the role of 'questioner' but also assigning the addressee
the complementary role of intended 'answerer'. => IFG LexCart
Section 4.1; Halliday (1984); Martin (1992: Chapter 2). =>
LexCart Section 5.1.2.3.
Experiencer. Case (semantic) role used in non-systemic work
inspired by Fillmore's (1968) case grammar. It corresponds
roughly to the systemic transitivity function Senser (earlier,
Cognizant), but is not necessarily restricted to mental clauses.
expansion. [descriptive: semantics/ lexicogrammar x ideational x
systemic x transphenomenal]
experiential. [theoretical] [French: expérientielle] One of the
two subtypes of the ideational metafunction. It is the resource
for representing experience. Its mode of organization is
constituency. It corresponds (more or less) to what has been
called functions of Darstellung, representation, denotation,
cognitive content, semantics. (Sometimes these non-systemic terms
include the other subtype of the ideational metafunction, the
logical metafunction, sometimes not.) => LexCart Section 1.3,
2.3.3.
extension. [descriptive: semantics/ lexicogrammar x ideational x
systemic x transphenomenal] [French: extension] A type of
expansion.
feature. [theoretical] The label of a term in a system; it can be
semantic, lexico-grammatical, or phonological. For instance, in
the system 'indicative/imperative', there are two terms, the
features 'indicative' and 'imperative'. Feature is also used
widely in the non-systemic literature, where it does not entail
systemicization in a system. It is used quite extensively in
phonology and lexical semantics but also (increasingly) in
grammar, in particular in Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar
and Lexical Functional Grammar. The term component is also used
(as in componential analysis). => LexCart Section 1. 2.2.
field. [theoretical] [French: champ] Field of discourse; one of
the aspects of context. The field is the social activity relevant
to a text; it includes the traditional notion of subject matter.
It may be similar to certain uses of the term domain in
computational linguistics. => LexCart Section 1.6.1.
floating quantifier. Transformational term for items such as all
in the boys all laughed; originally treated as moved (floated)
out of quantifier position in the noun phrase, i.e. from all the
boys laughed. In systemic analysis, such items would not be
floating quantifiers but circumstances of Manner, as in (Actor:)
the boys (Manner:) all (Process:) laughed.
function, function. [theoretical] Common term both in systemic
and non-systemic linguistics. In systemic linguistics, there are
three terms for particular types of function. (i) micro-function:
language use/ domain of meaning in proto-langauge, before use and
metafunction have become differentiated. (ii) macro-function:
language use in the transition between proto-language and adult
language. (iii) metafunction: generalized functional principle of
linguistic organization. There are three metafunctions -
ideational (with two modes: experiential + logical),
interpersonal, and textual. (iv) structural function:
functionally defined constituent; e.g. Subject, Actor, Theme.
Structural functions are configured in => function structures;
each structural function derives from one or other of the
metafunctions. The table below summarizes the structural
functions used in the descriptions of the grammar of English
according to rank and metafunction.
(Note that there is a special use of the term function in
mathematics and formal semantics: such a function takes an
argument and returns a value.)
function structure. [theoretical] A function structure (or
structure for short) is made up of a configuration of grammatical
functions such as Actor, Subject, and Theme. Each function may be
realized by either a set of grammatical features or a set of
lexical features. The grammatical feature set constitutes a
preselection of features that have to be chosen when the grammar
is re-entered to develop a function further. For example, the
function Actor may have the associated preselection 'nominal
group', which means that once the structure of the clause of
which Actor is a constituent has been fully defined, the grammar
is re-entered and Actor is developed as a nominal group. The term
function structure is used inside and outside systemic
linguistics. It always refers to a configuration of functions,
but in certain non-systemic theories there may be only one
functional layer. In systemic theory, function structure is
contrasted with syntagm (Halliday, 1966). In Lexical Functional
Grammar, there is a similar contrast between function structure
(f-structure) and constituent structure (c-structure). =>
LexCart Section1. 4.
functional dialect. The Prague School notion of functional
variation; corresponds to the systemic notion of register.
Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP). Prague School term roughly
equivalent to the textuall clause and information unit systems
(cf. Halliday, 1974), including centrally something like the
Theme ^ Rheme structure in English.
Generic Structure Potential (GSP) is Hasan's term for a statement
of the resources for structuring a particular type of text.
'Generic' is related to genre: the structure is defined for a
particular genre, such as a type of service encounter, a type of
advertisement, or a nursery tale. 'Potential' refers to the fact
that a given generic structure potential specifies the set of
possible structures for a defined genre. => LexCart Section
1.7.1.
Given. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x texual x structural x
information unit rank] Textual function of the information unit:
information presented as recoverable to the listener. Part of the
Given + New structure of the information unit. Unless the
assignment of New is marked (as opposed to unmarked), the
boundary between Given and New is variable. The term given is
also used outside of systemic linguistics. Given has sometimes
been combined with Theme as one function, but they are
independently variable (see Fries, 1981). => IFG p. 59-60;
Section 8.6 (278-81). => LexCart Section 6.5.
Goal. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x
clause rank] Participant role in the material clause, in the
transitive model of transitivity (the goal of the impact),
together with the function Actor. For instance: They shoot horses
don't they. Bloomfield (1933) uses the term Goal, but nowadays
Patient (sometimes Undergoer in roughly the same sense) is the
common term outside of systemic linguistics; it is comparable to
Goal but Patient is not necessarily restricted to the context of
material clauses, so the two terms are not equivalent. => IFG
p. 103. => LexCart Section 4.7.
grammar. [theoretical] The term has the traditional sense in
systemic theory. That is, it includes syntax as well as
morphology, the two simply having different domains on the
grammatical rank scale. Grammar is taken to be the most general
part of lexicogrammar, the system of wording. The other part of
lexicogrammar is lexis (vocabulary). Lexicogrammar realizes
semantics and is realized by phonology (graphology).
grammar. In linguistic work influenced by Chomsky, grammar is the
model of the overall linguistic system: it includes semantics and
phonology as well as syntax (and morphology).
grammatics. [theoretical] Systemic term for grammatical theory,
sometimes used to avoid the potential ambiguity between grammar
in the sense of grammatical theory (as in Functional Grammar) and
grammar as the phenomenon under study (as in the grammar of
Hopi).
group. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x rank] Group is the rank
between clause rank and word rank: groups function in clauses and
are composed of words. A group is in many respects a group of
words or a word complex: words enter into logical structure to
form a group. Examples:
well he'd been doing a thesis on feet (CEC 484)
This aspect of the group explains its difference from the phrase;
a phrase does not have a logical (univariate) structure but
rather an experiential (multivariate) structure: the structure of
the prepositional phrase is like a miniature of the transitivity
structure of the clause, viz. Minorprocess: preposition +
Minirange: nominal group. In the terms of Bloomfield (1933), we
can say that groups are endocentric and phrases are exocentric.
If groups were only word complexes, we would not need them as a
separate rank; there is more to them than logical structure (a b
g ...). The degree to which other metafunctions contribute to
their structuring depends on the class of group; the primary
classes of group in English (as described in IFG Ch. 6) are
tabulated below:
As the table indicates, nominal and verbal groups are interpreted
as having both logical, univariate structures and multivariate
structures; the other classes of group are interpreted as only
having logica, univariate structures (although multivariate ones
could be set up). => IFG Ch. 6. => LexCart Section 7.2.
Outside systemic linguistics, the distinction between group and
phrase is not usually made; phrase is the usual term for both
(cf. noun phrase, verb phrase, and prepositional phrase). While
the nominal group of systemic linguistics is comparable to the
noun phrase in formal grammar (although they are interpreted in
terms of different types of structure), the verbal group is not
equivalent to the verb phrase; the verbal group is a purely
verbal construct while the verb phrase is roughly the predicate
of traditional grammar and logic. => LexCart Section 7.1.
ideational. [theoretical: metafunction] [French: idéationnelle]
One of the metafunctions: language as ideation. It comprises two
modes of 'ideating', the logical and experiential subtypes. It
corresponds roughly to non-systemic terms such as Darstellung,
representational, [semantic] content, and semantics. While
ideational is often equated with semantics outside systemic
linguistics, it is treated as a metafunction in systemic
linguistics and applies to grammar as well as to semantics. =>
LexCart Section 1.3.
IDENTIFICATION. [descriptive: semantics x textual x systemic x
rank] [French: identification] Semantic textual system of options
in reference, presenting or presuming a (discourse) referent: see
Marting (1992: Chapter 3). IDENTIFICATION is realized
lexicogrammatically by REFERENCE. => IFG Section 9.2.
INFORMATION. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x
rank of information unit] Textual system of options in assigning
elements statuses in newsworthiness as given or new information.
=> IFG Chapter 8. => LexCart Section 6.5.
information unit. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x rank]
The grammatical unit of spoken English realized by the tone
group. It is the point of origin of one textual system,
INFORMATION (Given-New organization), and one interpersonal
system, KEY. In the unmarked case, an information unit is
coextensive with a clause. => IFG Chapter 8. => LexCart
Section 6.5.
instantiation. [theoretical] [French: actualisation]The cline
between the overall systemic potential of language and the text
(instance of the potential). Intermediate between these two on
the cline of instantiation are registers (registerial varieties
of the overall potential). At higher-level system of context, the
overall systemic potential is associated with context of culture,
registers with situation types and texts with situations.
Instantiation also refers to the process of moving between
potential and instance - the process of actualizing the system in
text. => LexCart Section 1.6.1.
interpersonal. [theoretical: metafunction] [French:
interpersonnelle] One of the metafunctions: language as
interaction. The resources for establishing and maintaining the
relationship between speaker and listener. It combines Bühler's
conative and expressive functions, which are simply different
orientations (towards addressee and speaker) within the
interpersonal metafunction in the linguistic system (cf. the
notion of inter-act in entry on speech act). => LexCart
Section 1.3, 2.3.5.
hypotaxis. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x logical] One of the two
types of logical interdependency, the other one being parataxis
(Halliday, 1965, 1985: Ch. 7; Hudson, 1968). Hypotaxis is
interdependency where the interdependents are of unequal status
-- dependency. Roughly comparable to co-subordination in Role and
Reference Grammar (Foley & Van Valin, 1984). The traditional
term subordination does usually not differentiate hypotaxis and
embedding (rankshifted clauses). The term hypotaxis is also used
outside systemic linguistics, but not necessarily in the same
sense. => LexCart Section 2.3.4, 3.2.
KEY. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x structural x
information unit rank] Interpersonal system, with the information
unit as point of origin. It includes those speech functional
distinctions not expressed by MOOD systems in the clause and
realized by TONE selections at the level of phonology (falling
vs. rising pitch and many elaborations of this basic
distinctions). => IFG Section 8.9 (284-5). => LexCart
Section 5.1.3.
lexicogrammar. [theoretical: stratum] [French:
lexicogrammaire]The combination of grammar and lexis
(vocabulary); the resources for expressing meaning as wordings.
Outside of systemic linguistics, grammar and lexis are almost
always treated as distinct modules and lexis is modelled as the
lexicon (though the lexicon also includes lexical semantics and
phonological information). => LexCart Section 1.2, 2.4.4.
logical. [theoretical: metafunction] [French: logique] A subtype,
together with experiential, of the ideational metafunction. (The
term is also used widely outside systemic linguistics, but in the
sense of pertaining to logic rather than in the metafunctional
sense.) This is the metafunction providing the resources for
creating clause complexes and other complexes, for representing
serial time by means of serial tense, and so on. => LexCart
Section 1.3, 2.3.4.
metafunctions. [theoretical: metafunction] [French:
métafonction] The highly generalized functions language has
evolved to serve and which are evidenced in its organization.
Halliday (1967/8) identifies three metafunctions, the ideational,
the interpersonal, and the textual. The ideational metafunction
can be further differentiated into the experiential and the
logical subtypes. Metafunctions are distinguished from
macrofunctions and microfunctions. Macrofunctions can be
identified in a child's transition between his/her protolanguage
and adult language (cf. Halliday, 1975); microfunctions are the
first functions/uses of a child's protolanguage.
Ideational grammar is often treated as semantics outside of
systemic linguistics, while textual and interpersonal grammar are
dealt with partly under the heading of pragmatics. In systemic
theory, all three metafunctions are found both at the level of
semantics and the level of grammar: it is not possible to export
transitivity from grammar into semantics, because this area of
semantics is already occupied by the semantics of transitivity.
=> LexCart Section 1. 3, 2.1.2.
Manner. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x
clause rank] Circumstantial role in the transitivity structure of
the clause (corresponding to the interpersonal Wh element how?),
of the enhancing subtype. There are four types of Manner:
quality, degree, comparison and means. For example:
Bush hopes not only to impress Gorbachev [Manner: means:] with
his understanding of Soviet problems but also to argue [Manner:
quality:] cogently about solutions.
Matter. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x
clause rank] Circumstantial role in the transitivity structure of
the clause, of the projecting subtype. For example:
Bush hopes not only to impress Gorbachev with his understanding
of Soviet problems but also to argue cogently [Matter:] about
solutions.
Circumstances of Matter typically occur in mental or verbal
clauses (and also in certain relational clauses where the
Attribute refers to a mental quality).
Means. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x
clause rank] Circumstantial role in the transitivity structure of
the clause, subtype of => Manner.
Tie them [Manner: means:] with string.
metarule. In Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar, a rule for
pairing two (structural) rules, i.e. a meta-statement for
relating them. In this respect, it resembles the system of
systemic theory.
minimal bracketing. [theoretical] Minimal bracketing is
differentiated from the maximal bracketing of IC-analysis (IFG
Section 2.2, p. 22-). The rank-based constituency of
systemic-functional grammar (and phonology) differs from the
immediate constituency of formal grammar (and phonology). The
former is associated with minimal functional bracketing, while
the latter works with maximal bracketing in terms of grammatical
classes. Some contrasting examples are given below (the formal
analyses are adapted from Radford, 1981).
MODALITY. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x systemic
x clause/ group rank] [French: modalité] Interpersonal system of
options in assigning an assessment in probability, usuality,
readiness or obligation of a high/ medium/ low value on the scale
between 'yes' and 'no'. => IFG Section 4.5, 10.4. =>
LexCart Section 5.5.
mode. [theoretical] [French: mode] One of the components of
context. It represents the role played by language in the speech
interaction, including the medium (spoken, written, written to be
spoken, etc.) as well as the rhetorical mode (expository,
instructive, persuasive, etc.). Mode is a second-order category
in the sense that it is brought into existence by the existence
of language itself. (The term mode is also used in other ways in
linguistics, for example as the name of the distinction between
realis and irrealis.) => LexCart Section 1.6.1.
modes of meaning. [theoretical] Refers to the different kinds of
meaning associated with the different metafunctions (Halliday,
1979; Matthiessen, 1988, 1990). => LexCart Section 1.3.
modes of organization. [theoretical] Refers to different kinds of
syntagmatic or paradigmatic organization (Halliday, 1979;
Matthiessen, 1988), in particular, constituency, interdependency,
pulse (period), and prosody. => LexCart Section 1.2.2.
Mood. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x structural x
clause rank] Interpersonal clause function, in the interpretation
of the English clause as interaction. It typically includes
Subject and Finite, but may also include modal adjuncts (more
specifically, mood Adjuncts). IFG Chapter 4, Section 4.2 in
particular. => LexCart Section 5.1.1.1.
MOOD. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x systemic x
clause rank] [French: modes/types de phrase] Interpersonal clause
system; the grammaticalization of speech function in the clause
(accompanied by KEY in the information unit, IFG Section 8.8,
284-5). MOOD is thus the primary grammatical resources for
enacting dialogic roles and relationships; it is the grammar of
interaction. Also used outside of systemic linguistics. (Note
that mood is traditionally also used for morphological categories
such as the subjunctive.) => IFG Chapter 4. => LexCart
Section 5.1.1.1.
multivariate. [theoretical] A type of structure: the functions of
a multivariate structure stand in different kinds of relation to
one another. For example, the functions of the transitivity
structure of the clause all have different values -- Actor,
Process, Goal, Location, and so on. Contrasts with univariate.
=> IFG p. 172. => LexCart p. 639.
NEGOTIATION. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x systemic x
exchange rank] [French: NEGOCIATION] Semantic interpersonal
system of options in dialogic exchange: see Martin (1992: Chapter
2).
network. A relational type of organization; a graph. Examples
include discrimination networks, the networks of stratificational
theory, and system networks. In systemic theory, a network is
specifically a system network.
Nigel. The name of the systemic generation grammar of the Penman
text generator developed at the University of Southern California
/ the Information Sciences Institute. It includes the systemic
grammar of the generator and the semantic interface between the
grammar and the rest of the system.
nominal. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction: general x
systemic x word rank] Primary => word class (subtypes: noun
[common/ proper/ pronoun]/ adjective/ numeral/determiner) serving
as ranking element of nominal group. Collectively, nominals in a
nominal group thus serve to construe participants, to enact
persons and to present referents; the different subtypes
contribute to different aspects of these tasks. Examples:
[nominal: noun:] It might have been [nominal: adjective:]
otherwise had [nominal: noun:] President [nominal: noun:] Bush
not waited until after [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal:
noun:] election to announce that [nominal: noun:] he was nearly
doubling [nominal: noun:] U.S. [nominal: noun:] troop [nominal:
noun:] strength in [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal:
adjective:] Persian [nominal: noun:] Gulf. As [nominal: noun:] it
was, only [nominal: determiner:] a [nominal: numeral:] few
sitting [nominal: noun:] members of [nominal: noun:] Congress
were defeated, hardly [nominal: adjective:] enough to make more
than [nominal: determiner:] a [nominal: noun:] token [nominal:
noun:] difference in [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: noun:]
composition of [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: noun:] Senate
(where [nominal: noun:] the [nominal: noun:] Democrats picked up
[nominal: numeral:] one [nominal: noun:] seat) and [nominal:
determiner:] the [nominal: noun:] House (where [nominal: noun:]
they picked up [nominal: numeral:] eight). In fact, [nominal:
determiner:] the most [nominal: adjective:] significant [nominal:
noun:] result involved [nominal: determiner:] a [nominal: noun:]
politician [nominal: noun:] who wasn't even on [nominal:
determiner:] the [nominal: noun:] ballot. For if [nominal:
determiner:] the [nominal: noun:] election of [nominal: numeral:]
1990 changed [nominal: noun:] nothing [nominal: adjective:] else,
[nominal: noun:] it undermined [nominal: determiner:] the
[nominal: noun:] perception that [nominal: noun:] George
[nominal: noun:] Bush is all but [nominal: adjective:] immune to
[nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: adjective:] normal [nominal:
noun:] vicissitudes of [nominal: noun:] politics. Suddenly, and
for [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: numeral:] first
[nominal: noun:] time in [nominal: determiner:] his [nominal:
noun:] presidency, [nominal: noun:] Bush seemed [nominal:
adjective:] vulnerable.
[nominal: determiner:] The weakening [nominal: noun:] process
began when [nominal: noun:] Bush abandoned [nominal: determiner:]
his "[nominal: determiner:] no [nominal: adjective:] new
[nominal: noun:] taxes" [nominal: noun:] pledge and deprived
[nominal: adjective:] Republican [nominal: noun:] right-wingers
of [nominal: determiner:] their [nominal: adjective:] favorite
[nominal: noun:] issue. Then [nominal: noun:] Congress rejected
[nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: noun:] deficit-reduction
[nominal: noun:] package negotiated by [nominal: noun:] White
House [nominal: noun:] aides and [nominal: adjective:]
congressional [nominal: noun:] leaders. After [nominal: noun:]
that, [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: noun:] President went
from [nominal: adjective:] bad to [nominal: adjective:] worse as
[nominal: noun:] he alternately attacked [nominal: determiner:]
the [nominal: noun:] Democrats, tried to explain [nominal:
determiner:] his [nominal: adjective:] domestic [nominal: noun:]
policies and confronted growing [nominal: noun:] doubts about
[nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: noun:] U.S. [nominal: noun:]
deployment in [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal: adjective:]
Persian [nominal: noun:] Gulf. By the time [nominal: noun:] he
finally signed [nominal: determiner:] a [nominal: noun:] budget
[nominal: noun:] deal [nominal: adjective:] last [nominal: noun:]
week, [nominal: determiner:] his [nominal: noun:] performance
[nominal: noun:] ratings in [nominal: determiner:] the [nominal:
noun:] polls had dropped [nominal: numeral:] 20 [nominal: noun:]
points. (Time)
(The classification of nominal words has varied over the history
of Western linguistics from ancient Greece onwards, for example
with respect to whether nouns and adjectives have been classified
together or not (as nouns: substantives/ adjectives. See Robins
(1966: 3-19/ 1969: 187-204.) => IFG p. 28-9, 214. =>
LexCart pp. 83-84, p. 652.
packaging. Metaphor sometimes used outside systemic linguistics
(due to Chafe, 1979) for the presentation of information -- the
content is 'packaged' by means of resources such as voice and
theme. It is roughly equivalent to the textual metafunction of
systemic theory, although it may include other considerations as
well. The metaphor is one example of the general conduit metaphor
used in talking about language (cf. 'put meaning into words'
etc.).
Patient. Case (semantic) role in many non-systemic approaches to
transitivity functions; comparable to Goal, but unlike Goal,
Patient is not necessarily restricted to material clauses.
path augmentation. [theoretical] The computation of the path from
a preselected feature in a system to the root of the system
network, i.e. of the path that leads to the feature.
Penman. Text generation system being developed at the University
of Southern California / the Information Sciences Institute.
phase I, II, and III. [descriptive: ontogenesis] The three phases
of language development -- protolanguage, the 'child tongue'
before the child starts learning the mother tongue (phase I), the
transition into adult language (phase II), and the period of
learning adult language (phase III).
Phenomenon. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x
structural x clause rank] Participant role in the transitivity
structure of a mental clause: the phenomenon sensed by the
Senser, as in She saw [Phenomenon:] them, She saw [Phenomenon:]
them leaving the house. In a middle clause, it is the Range; in
an effective clause, it is the Agent. The Phenomenon can be
phenomenal (an ordinary 'thing'), macro-phenomenal (an act, i.e.
process configuration), or meta-phenomenal (a fact, i.e. a
projected process configuration). => LexCart Section 4.8.1.
phrase. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x group/phrase rank] Like
groups, phrases constitute the rank intermediate between clauses
and words. However, unlike groups they are not logically
structured groups of words, but rather more like miniature
clauses. IFG Section 6.1, p. 158-8; Section 6.5, 189-91. =>
LexCart Section 2.2.3, 7.0.2.
phrase. In non-systemic work, often the common term for both
group and phrase (no distinction is made).
POLARITY. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x systemic
x clause (& group: verbal) rank] [French: polarité] The term
for the system 'positive / negative' and for the region of
systems including this system. Often simply called negation
outside systemic linguistics. => IFG p. 75; Section 4.5, p.
85-89. => LexCart Section 5.3.
potential. [theoretical] The representation of what a language
user can do, as in meaning potential = what he/she can mean. It
contrasts with actual, what he/she does (i.e., potential vs.
actual = can do vs. does). The actual is the actualization of the
potential. => LexCart Section 1.6.3, 1.7.1.
Predicate. (i) In traditional logic and grammar, the predicate
forms a sentence together with the subject; it corresponds to the
VP of modern formal grammar. That it, Subject + Predicate is
represented as NP + VP. So for instance, the Predicate of I'll be
seeing you is ll be seeing you. (In modern formal grammar, the
category of Aux has also been recognized, giving the sentence the
basic structure NP + Aux + VP.) (ii) In predicate logic and
(formal) semantics, the predicate is the unit expressed by the
(main) verb of a sentence, capable of taking one or more
arguments. It is roughly comparable to the notion of process in
systemic linguistics.
Predicator. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x
structural x clause rank] Interpersonal clause function; the
verbal part of the Residue. It is realized by a verbal group or a
verbal group complex, excluding only the Finite element. For
instance: I'll be seeing you, you seem to tend to forget your
duties. (Note that Predicator is different from Predicate. ) IFG
p. 78-9. => LexCart Section 5.1.1.1.
preposition. [descriptive: semantics x metafunction: general x
systemic x word rank] Secondary word class of primary class
verbal. Prepositions serve as Minor-processes in prepositional
phrases, with a nominal group (complex) as Complement/ Range; the
phrase forms a kind of mini-clause. Prepositions may be simple
(e.g., at, on, in, over), sometimes of verbal origin (indicating
their affinity with verbs, e.g. regarding, following, using), or
complex (e.g, on top of, according to, because of). Examples:
It might have been otherwise had President Bush not waited
[preposition:] until [preposition:] after the election to
announce that he was nearly doubling U.S. troop strength
[preposition:] in the Persian Gulf. As it was, only a few sitting
members [preposition:] of Congress were defeated, hardly enough
to make more [preposition:] than a token difference
[preposition:] in the composition [preposition:] of the Senate
(where the Democrats picked up one seat) and the House (where
they picked up eight). In fact, the most significant result
involved a politician who wasn't even [preposition:] on the
ballot. For if the election [preposition:] of 1990 changed
nothing else, it undermined the perception that George Bush is
all but immune [preposition:] to the normal vicissitudes
[preposition:] of politics. Suddenly, and [preposition:] for the
first time [preposition:] in his presidency, Bush seemed
vulnerable.
The weakening process began when Bush abandoned his "no new
taxes" pledge and deprived Republican right-wingers
[preposition:] of their favorite issue. Then Congress rejected
the deficit-reduction package negotiated [preposition:] by White
House aides and congressional leaders. [preposition:] After that,
the President went [preposition:] from bad [preposition:] to
worse as he alternately attacked the Democrats, tried to explain
his domestic policies and confronted growing doubts
[preposition:] about the U.S. deployment [preposition:] in the
Persian Gulf. By the time he finally signed a budget deal last
week, his performance ratings [preposition:] in the polls had
dropped 20 points. (Time)
preselection. [theoretical] Selection of a feature before it is
actually encountered; preselection takes place from one stratum
to the stratum next below or from one rank to the rank next below
(allowing for the possibility of rankshift). Preselection is
partly similar to various feature spreading conventions, as used
e.g. in Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar. => LexCart
Section 1.4.
proposal. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x systemic x
move rank] An offer or command, i.e. the exchange of
goods-&-services. => IFG p. 71. => LexCart Section
5.1.2.1.
proposition. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x systemic x
move rank] A statement or question, i.e. the exchange of
information. (Note that this use of the term differs both from
its use in logic and its everyday use.) => IFG p. 70. =>
LexCart Section 5.1.2.1.
proposition. In logic and (formal) semantics, the logico-semantic
unit expressed by a sentence capable of being assigned a truth
value.
prosody. [theoretical] Term used technically in Firthian
phonology, where it is opposed to phonematic unit, and taken over
into systemic phonology: a phonological feature extending over
more than one phonematic unit (which means that the feature is
not placed segmentally); for instance, nasalization and lip
rounding may be prosodic. (Prosody is roughly comparable to
Harris's, 1951, long component.) One of the advantages with
treating features as prosodic is that they don't have to be
placed arbitrarily in phonemic structure. In systemic theory, the
term prosody has been extended to grammar and semantics to refer
to the interpersonal mode of syntagmatic organization (Halliday,
1979; Martin, 1992; Matthiessen, 1988, 1991).
rank (scale). [theoretical] A hierarchy of units such as
[grammar:] clause - group/phrase - word - morpheme, [semantics,
interpersonal:] exchange - move, or [phonology:] tone group -
foot - syllable - phoneme. The rank scale determines the basic
realization patterns. Functions of the units at one rank are
realized by units at the rank below. For example, clause
functions are realized by groups/phrases and group functions are
realized by words. In non-systemic work, the term level is
sometimes used. (The term rank was used in a different sense in
Jespersen's writings.) => IFG Ch. 1; p. 25; 158-9. =>
LexCart Section 1.2.1, 2.2.
rankshift. [theoretical] [French: déplacé de rang] The
semogenic process whereby a unit of one rank is moved down the
rank scale to serve as if it were a unit of a lower rank as an
element within another unit.
realization, realization. [theoretical] Term in linguistics in
general for a symbolic relationship between content and
expression; also expression, coding, etc.. Realization and
mutation have been contrasted (cf. Gleason, 1965) as basic
principles underlying grammatical theories. Systemic grammar is
realizational whereas transformational grammar is mutational.
=> IFG p. 37. => LexCart Section 1.4.
realization operator. [theoretical] Together with one or more
operands, a realization operator makes up a realization
statement. Realization operators include Insert, Conflate,
Expand, and Order. See realization statement. => LexCart
Section 1. 4.
realization statement. [theoretical] A specification of a
structure fragment, such as the presence of a function or its
ordering in relation to another function, stated as a
re-expression of a systemic feature or a combination of features.
A realization statement consists of one realization operator and
one or more operands. For example, the statement (Conflate
Subject Agent) consists of the conflation operator Conflate and
the operands Subject and Agent, which are grammatical functions.
=> LexCart Section 1.4.
recoverable. [descriptive: semantics x textual x systemic] With
respect to a referent in a text: it is recoverable to the
addressee if he/she can identify it (elsewhere in the text or in
the context, including both immediate and general context). The
term identifiable is often used in the same sense. => LexCart
Section 7.3.5.1.
register. [theoretical] A variety of language determined by a
particular set of values of the context; it is determined by what
the speaker is doing socially. (Cf. register in music.) The
principle controlling variables are field [of discourse] (type of
social action), tenor [of relationship between speaker and
listener] (role relationships), and mode (symbolic organization).
The notion of register is a generalization of the traditional
notion of genre; it is also akin to the Prague school notion of
functional dialect. Registers can be identified at different
degrees of delicacy or specificity. For example, we can identify
a particular register as written instruction in how to prepare
food - a recipe in a cookery book - or, more delicately, as
written instruction for an American public in how to prepare Thai
food. In Martin's (e.g. 1992), the term register is used in a
different sense to refer to field, tenor and mode within context:
see Matthiessen (1993) for a comparison with Halliday &
Hasan's model. (Outside systemic linguistics, the term register
is also used in several other senses.) => LexCart Section
1.6.4.
Residue. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x structural
x clause rank] Modal function in the interpretation of the clause
as representation. The part of the clause that does not
constitute the Mood, i.e. the Predicator, complements, and
(non-modal) adjuncts. The earlier term was Proposition. Residue
is different from Predicate in the logical / traditional Subject
^ Predicate analysis in a number of respects. For instance, it
only includes the Predicator part of the verbal group, not the
Finite. Further, it is a rhetorical notion, not a logical one; it
is the part of the clause often elided in dialogic exchanges (as
in, Mood: He'll Residue: be here tomorrow. - No, Mood: he won't
Residue: --). => IFG Section 4.3, p. 78-. => LexCart
Section 5.1.1.1.
Rhetorical Structure Theory. Theory of text organization
developed within the Penman project. It interprets text as being
organized relationally. A rhetorical relation is typically
asymmetric, relating two spans of text, a nucleus and a
satellite. The spans of texts related rhetorically may have
internal organization. A rhetorical relation is defined in terms
of the conditions for using it and its intended effect on the
addressee. Rhetorical relations correspond partly to conjunctive
relations. => LexCart Section 1.8.2.
right dislocation. Transformational term for examples such as
he's a real genius, your brother. It corresponds to theme
substitution (Halliday, 1967/8). => LexCart Section 6.2.1.5.
Role. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x
clause rank] Circumstantial role in the transitivity structure of
the clause, of the elaborating subtype. The "guise" a
participant serves in when taking part in the Process or the
"product" resulting from taking part in the Process.
For example:
Cut the ducks [Role: product:] into portions.
scale. [theoretical] [French: gamme]Introduced in Halliday (1961)
as the general term for rank, exponence (later, realization), and
delicacy. (The term scale is also used widely outside systemic
linguistics in the sense of cline.)
schema. This term has been used in a number of ways in cognitive
psychology, linguistics and AI. It is often used to refer to, in
systemic terms, a configuration of elements within a situation
type, but interpreted as a cognitive construct. Often used in the
same way as frame.
script. This term was introduced into AI by Schank and Abelson;
it's associated in particular with Schank's Yale School of AI. A
script is a conventional sequence of actions for achieving some
purpose. So, for instance, there are scripts for a visit to the
restaurant and for a fishing expedition. The idea of script is
related to situation type in systemic theory. Broadly speaking,
Schank and Abelson responded to the same type of concerns
Malinowski had when he introduced his theory of context (context
of culture and context of situation; Malinowski, 1923). For
instance, Malinowski pointed to the impossibility of interpreting
text without reference to context, including problems in
translation.
sentence. [descriptive: graphology x rank: sentence]
Graphological unit realizing clause complex in lexicogrammar. Its
beginning is normally marked by initial capital and its end by a
full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. => IFG Section
1.1. Outside systemic linguistics, "sentence" has been
used in a variety of senses, often neutralizing the distinction
between 'clause' and 'clause complex'.
specific. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x
group rank: nominal] Halliday's generalization of 'definite' in
the definite article of traditional grammar so as to include
other demonstratives and personals as well. => IFG p. 160.
=> LexCart Section 7.3.5.1.
speech act. Notion originating within the philosophy of language
(the classic study is Austin's "How to do things with
words") but now widely used and developed within
linguistics, particularly within approaches close to philosophy.
When a speaker speaks, s/he acts; and such an act of speech is
relevant at more than one level, including its preconditions and
its intended effect. The theory of speech acts is known as speech
act theory; it is often treated as part of pragmatics. Speech act
corresponds to speech function in systemic semantics (more
specifically, interpersonal semantics); it also corresponds to
speech function and 'notional mood' in more traditional
approaches. The difference between the systemic notion of speech
function and speech act is partly that the former is conceived of
as an inter-act that forms part of an exchange.
SPEECH FUNCTION. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x
systemic x move rank][French: fonction élocutive] Semantic
system of interactive options for the construction of moves in
dialogue: the adoption and assignment of speech roles. The most
central systems are the simultaneous ones of: TURN: initiating/
responding, ORIENTATION: giving/ demanding, and COMMODITY:
information/ goods-&-services. SPEECH FUNCTION is realized by
MOOD in the lexicogrammar, and through MOOD, by TONE in the
phonology. => IFG Section 4.1 => LexCart Section 5.1.2.
starting structure. [theoretical] The default structure for any
grammatical unit posited by Fawcett (1980).
stratum, stratum. [theoretical] A system or a particular order of
abstraction in language: semantics, lexicogrammar, and phonology
are the three strata in Halliday's version of systemic theory.
Strata are related through (inter-stratal) realization; for
instance, semantics is realized through lexicogrammar. The
earlier term in systemic linguistics (taken over from Firth) was
level (as in Firth's levels of analysis); since level was used in
other senses in non-systemic linguistics, the equivalent term
stratum was taken over from stratificational linguistics. In
Relational Grammar, stratum has a different use, more like the
layer in a function structure. => LexCart Section 1.1.
SUBSTITUTION. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x
clause & group rank ] Textual system for differentiating
between continuity and contrast, functioning together with =>
ELLIPSIS as a cohesive resource. For example:
A: Are there any questions you want to ask use, Mr Blake?
B: No, I don't think so.
system. [theoretical] A system is the central category for
representing paradigmatic organization at any stratum -
phonological, grammatical, or semantic. It consists of (i) a
statement of a choice between two or more terms, represented by
features, (ii) and an entry condition, which specifies when the
choice is available. The entry condition is a simple feature or a
feature complex; these features are terms in other systems.
Because of their entry conditions, systems form system networks.
Each term in a system may have one or more realization statements
associated with it. (The realization statements specify structure
fragments; from their vantage point, the system is like a
'metarule'.) Example:
=> LexCart Section 1.2.2.
tenor. [theoretical] One of the components of context. The role
relationship between the interactants in a speech situation. It
includes relations of formality, power, and affect. Tenor
influences interpersonal choices in the linguistic system. For
instance, the strategy chosen for issuing a command depends
largely on the tenor of the relationship. => LexCart Section
1.6.1.
text, text. [theoretical] As a systemic term, text refers to a
semantic unit; it is a stretch of language functioning - doing a
job - in context. As language functioning in context, a text is
an instance of the linguistic system. Note that a text can be
either spoken or written. => LexCart Section 1.5.
textual. [thetorical: metafunction] One of the systemic
metafunctions - the resources for presenting information as text
in context. It includes the resources of theme, information,
conjunction, substitution-ellipsis and reference. => LexCart
Section 1.3, 2.3.6.
THEME. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x clause
rank] Textual clause systems, including THEME SELECTION, THEME
PREDICATION, and others. These systems provide options for giving
certain elements of the clause textual prominence as local
context or point of departure and other elements non-prominence,
realized as Theme ^ Rheme; certain other features may be added to
this status, such as identification. => LexCart Section 6.2.
Theme. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x structural x
clause rank] Textual clause function: the point of departure of
the clause as message. It sets up the local context for each
clause. This local context often relates to the method of
development of the text: the Theme is selected in such a way that
it indicates how the clause relates to this method and
contributes to the identification of the current step in the
development. The term theme has an entirely different meaning in
formal grammars (as does the term thematic roles), which has
nothing to do with the long tradition of work on theme in Prague
School linguistics and other functional traditions. => IFG
Chapter 3. => LexCart Section 6.2.
theme. (i) In functional linguistics, following the Prague
School, an aspect of Functional Sentence Perspective. (ii) In
formal grammar, nowadays particularly Government and Binding
theory but following Gruber (1965), a particular case role in the
case frame of a verb. The term theme is also used outside
grammar, as in the 'theme' of a story.
THEME PREDICATION. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x
systemic x clause rank] One of the textual clause systems of
THEME. It provides the option of imposing an additional layer of
thematic organization on the clause so as to set up the Theme as
an identifier, typically selected from a set of potential
alternatives, as in it was the dog that died (... 'not the cat')
(instead of the unmarked the dog died). For example:
A: There's a lot more in grammar than people notice. People
always notice the lexis.
B: Yes.
A: Lots has been done about that - but I mean you can only get so
far and so much fun out of 'pavement', 'sidewalk', etcetera.
B: Mm.
A: It's the grammar "where the fun is'.
B: //1 Yes // 4 it's the grammar "which is interesting' //
(CEC: 255)
Cleft or it-cleft in formal grammar. => IFG Section 3.7,
59-61. => LexCart Section 6.2.1.4.
THEME IDENTIFICATION. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x
systemic x clause rank] One of the textual clause systems of
THEME. It provides the option of imposing an alternative
constituency organization of the clause on the model of an
identifying clause, where the thematic constituent is explicitly
identified with the rhematic constituent, as in what we want is
Whatneys (instead of the unmarked We want Whatneys). Example:
Let's be quite specific. They write articles that taunt us and
mock us to make us look silly. We write a reply that makes each
writer of those articles look sillier. They refuse to publish our
reply. We say, in that case we will limit your circulation. We
haven't blacked them out. We reduce them to a few thousand
copies. What we stop them from doing is to sell advertisements.
The fact that they know that I reserve the right to reply has
been an educating experience for the correspondents. (Lee Kuan
Yew, in Time)
Pseudo-cleft or wh-cleft in formal grammar. => IFG p. 41-4.
=> LexCart Section 6.2.1.6.
THEME MATTER. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x
clause rank] One of the textual clause systems of THEME. It
provides the option of specifying a marked topical Theme as a
purely thematic element not serving a transitivity role - often
as an elaboration of something inintroduced earlier in the
discouse, after some distance in the text. This type of Theme is
typically "picked up" cohesively in the clause, by
reference or lexical cohesion. In writing it appears with a
marker such as as for, as to, with respect to, regarding; but in
speech, it typically occurs by itself. Example:
a: If you felt you could have got honours ...
A: no. I - well, maybe I was slightly ... cos there was this
other friend of mine that knows about the same amount as me and
he actually got an honours viva - you have to have another viva
to get honours - and four people went for it and two got it and
this friend of mine he didn't get it and I mean I couldn't have
got it either: the questions he had got in therapeutics and that
he was asked I wouldn't have known either and the questions that
the other chap who got it was asked I wouldn't have known. You
know, I didn't know it in as much depth as that, so I wouldn't
have got it anyway. (CEC: 600)
THEME SUBSTITUTION. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x
systemic x clause rank] One of the textual clause systems of
THEME. It provides the option of replaying the Theme at the end
of the clause as an 'afterthought': they're such darlings, your
children. Example:
I was an undergraduate here, of very ripe years, until last July
and I went back to my old job in the Civil Service and I found it
so dull that I got this lecturing job in a teacher's training
college, which is quite fun. I mean they're not university
calibre, obviously, the students on the whole, but in some ways
they're more fun ... (CEC: 154)
The transformational term is right dislocation. => LexCart
Section 6.2.1.5.
tone group. [descriptive: phonology x rank: tone group] The
highest-ranking unit on the phonological rank scale of English. A
tone group carries an intonation contour (a 'tone' or 'medolody')
and is the point of origin of two systems that determine its
shape, TONE (the direction of the pitch movement) and TONICITY
(the placment of the major pitchmovement). The structure of the
tone group is (Pretonic ^) Tonic, which are realized by feet
(units at the rank next below on the phonological rank scale).
=> IFG Ch. 8. => LexCart Section 5.1.3.
topic. The subject matter of a clause; what it is about - often
as one member of the pair topic + comment. Topic corresponds
roughly to the experiential part of Theme, Topical theme, in
Halliday's analysis of English, but it typically excludes textual
and interpersonal Themes. (Sometimes the notion of given or known
is also included in topic, but never in Halliday's Theme.) Cf.
IFG p. 39.
transformational relations. Terms sometimes used to describe
paradigmatic relations, systemic agnation, as transformations
between structures; for instance, voice can be seen as a
transformational relation between active and passive clauses.
Transformational relations often correspond to systems in
systemic-functional grammar - systems are part of the
paradigmatic organization of grammar.
transitivity models. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x ideational x
systemic & structural x (typically) clause rank] General
model for organizing the configuration of a process plus its
participants. Halliday (1967, 1967/8 etc.) discusses two
transitivity models in relation to English, the transitive model
and the ergative one. The transitive model is one of extension or
impact: a process is acted out by one participant, the actor (the
lion ran), and it may extend ('transcend') to another
participant, the goal (the lion hunted the tourist), and it may
be initiated by yet another participant, the initiator (hunger
made the lion hunt the tourist):
The fundamental question is whether the process the Actor engages
in extends to (impacts) a Goal (transitive) or not
(intransitive).
The ergative model is one of external causation: the fundamental
question is whether the actualization of the combination of
Process + Medium is caused externally by an Agent (the soldier
marched the prisoners) or not (the prisoners marched):
=> IFG Section 5.8. => LexCart Section 4.1.2.
transitivity functions (roles). [descriptive: lexicogrammar x
experiential x structural x clause rank] The functions in the
experiential structure of the clause - its transitivity structure
(clause as representation): process, participants, and
circumstances. Outside of systemic linguistics, case roles and
semantic roles have been used for different but related
interpretations of the same area of language. One difference has
to do with the level (stratum) at which these roles are posited:
in systemic theory they are at the level of grammar, whereas
outside systemic theory they are usually treated as part of
(lexical) semantics nowadays. In systemic theory, there are
correlates at the semantic level; but both semantics and grammar
are needed in the interpretation of transitivity, for instance to
handle grammatical metaphor in this area. => LexCart Section
4.1.1.
unification-based grammars. Family of grammars where there is a
clear separation between data structures specifying grammatical
information and procedures for using these data structures.
Grammar is interpreted as a set of data structures and these are
brought together, say in the specification of a sentence, by
means of some kind of operation of unification. (Unification is
largely comparable to the notion of union in set theory, but
there are differences; see e.g. Kay, 1979.) In his survey of
unification grammars, Schieber (1986) includes Martin Kay's
Functional Unification Grammar, Bresnan & Kaplan's Lexical
Functional Grammar, and Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar. He
does not discuss Systemic Functional Grammar, but it also belongs
with this family of grammars (cf. Winograd, 1983, on feature and
function grammars; and Kasper, 1988, on the intertranslatability
between Systemic Functional Grammar and Functional Unification
Grammar.)
unit. [theoretical] Units are the carriers of structure (i.e.
they are organic configurations of functions) and the poins of
origin of system networks. They ordered by the rank scale (of a
particular stratum). Grammatical units of English include the
clause, the nominal group, the verbal group, the prepositional
phrase, the noun, and the verb. Units may be combined through the
logical metafunction to form complexes of units (such as the
clause complex); but these complexes do not themselved constitute
units (since they are not multivariately structured organic
wholes but rather univariately structured series or chains). The
systemic notion of 'unit' is, in many respects, comparable to the
AI use of the term 'frame' (cf. Halliday's, 1961, description of
a meal). => LexCart Section 1.2.1.
univariate. [theoretical: structure] A type of structure, opposed
to multivariate. In a univariate structure, each function stands
in the same relation to the others. For example, as we build up a
coordinate structure, each new element is related to the previous
simply as the 'next' link in the coordination chain: Tom [Next:]
Dick [Next:] Harry [Next:] Sally [Next:] and Hellen. There are
two types of univariate structure, hypotactic structure and
paratactic structure. => IFG p. 172.
word. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x rank: word] In systemic
linguistics, the rank between group/ phrase and morpheme on the
grammatical rank scale in e.g. English. In systemic theory,
morphology is simply word grammar, i.e. the grammar of units of a
particular rank, but it is not separated from 'syntax'.
word class. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction: general x
systemic x word rank] The general theoretical category of class
manifested in the description of languages with a word rank:
class of word - primary, secondary or more delicate
(traditionally also "part of speech"). The primary and
secondary word classes posited in IFG and LexCart in the
description of English are as follows:
wording. [theoretical] The term is taken from 'folk linguistics'.
Wording is the output of lexicogrammar to be realized
phonologically or graphologically: the combination of 'words'
(i.e., lexical and grammatical items) and structure.
References
Bloomfield, L. 1933.
Chafe, W. 1979.
Fries' (1970)
Fries, 1981
Gruber (1965)
Halliday, M.A.K. 1966
Halliday, M.A.K. 1974. In F. Danes (ed.), .
Halliday, M.A.K. 1975. Learning how to mean. London: Edward
Arnold.
Halliday (1984); The nature and ontogenesis of dialogue.
Martin (1992: Chapter 2)
Martin, J.R. 1996. Metalinguistic diversity.
Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. & C. Nesbitt. 1996. On the idea of
theory-neutral descriptions. R. Hasan, C. Cloran & D. Butt
(eds.).
Radford, 1981
Robins, R.H. 1966. The development of the word class system of
the European grammatical tradition. Foundations of Language 2:
3-19. Reprinted in R.H. Robins, 1969, Diversions of Bloomsbury:
Selected writings on linguistics. Amsterdam: North Holland. pp.
187-204.
Tesnière's (1959)
(Halliday, 1979; Martin, 1992; Matthiessen, 1988, 1991