Language, Function, Cognition:Part 2: Systemic Functional Linguistics

Language, Function, Cognition

Week 2: The Systemic Linguistic

Framework

Mick O’Donnell Modulo 6 bis, 311

[email protected]

3. The SFL Framework

Systemic Model of Language Strata

3.1 A Stratal Model of Language

Context of Situation

Semantics

Grammar

Phonology/Graphology

meanings

wordings

Soundings/Spellings

Language:

Context of Culture


Systemic Model of Language Strata

3.1 A Stratal Model of Language


Semantics

Grammar


meanings

wordings

Soundings/Spellings

Language:

Context of Culture

Context of Culture constrains the set of contexts of situation

that are usual in a culture.

Context of Situation constrains the

appropriateness of language choices

The Language Strata:

• SFL works with three levels of analysis within language: 1. Semantics: how the text is organised as a system of meanings;

2. Grammar: how the sentence is structured into units of words and phrases;

For speech: 3. Phonology: how the text is organised as a system of soundings

(phonemes, tone units, turns, etc.)

For writing: 3. Graphology: how the text is

organised as a system of written symbols (characters, sentences, paragraphs, etc.)


3.2 Strata within Language


Semantics

Grammar


Language:

Context of Culture


• Systemicists generally follow a “prosodic phonology” approach.

• Based on J.R. Firth’s Prosodic Phonology.

• Not a lot of attention paid to this area (SFL focuses on meaning)

• However, Halliday did work on Intonation:

Halliday M.A.K. 1967. Intonation and Grammar in British English (Janua Linguarum Series Practica 48). The Hague: Mouton.

Halliday M.A.K. 1970. A Course in Spoken English: Intonation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Paul Tench is probably the main Systemic Phonologist: Tench, P. 1990. The Role of Intonation in English Discourse. Frankfurt, Main: Peter

Lang.

Tench, P. (ed.) 1992. Studies in Systemic Phonology. London; New York: Pinter Publishers.

Tench, P. 1996. The Intonation Systems of English. London; New York: Cassell.

3.3 Language: Phonology


• Called “Lexico-grammar” to emphasise that it is words and their combination that makes sentences.

• As stated previously, SFL takes a 3-layer view on grammar:

• Phrases (called groups) have just one layer of analysis:

3.4 Language: Grammar

My mother gave a book to me

Subject Pred Complement Adjunct

Actor Process Goal Recipient

Theme Rheme

Transitivity

Mood

Theme

the large electric car

Deictic Epithet Classifier Thing

7

SFL asks three questions:

• How is language structured to enable interpersonal meanings to be realised? Here we explore how different Mood structures allow clauses to realize different interpersonal meanings in text.

• How is language structured to enable experiential meanings to be made? Here we describe how different Transitivity structures allow clauses to realize different experiential meanings in text.

• How is language structured to enable textual meanings to be made? Here we examine how different Theme structures allow clauses to realize different textual meanings in text.

Eggins (1994:143)




Systemic Grammar breaks down into three main areas:

1. Mood: Analysis of the clause using more traditional syntactic functions:

2. Transitivity: analysis of the clause in terms of who is doing what to whom:

3. Theme: Analysis of the clause in terms of message structure



Theme Rheme


Actor Process Goal Recipient


Subject Pred Complement Adjunct


3.4 Language: Grammar: Mood

clause

FINITENESS

finite-clause

FINITE-CLAUSE-TYPE3

declarative-clause

interrogative-clauseINTERROGATIVE-CLAUSE-TYPE

yes-no-question

wh-question

imperative-clause

MODALITY

nonmodal-clause

TENSE present-clause

past-clause

NONMODAL-CLAUSE-TYPE

do-insert

no-do-insert

modal-future-clauseMODAL-TYPE

future-clause

modal-clause

nonfinite-clauseNONFINITE-CLAUSE-TYPE

infinitive-clause

present-participle-clause

past-participle-clause

PROGRESSIVENESS not-progressive-aspect

progressive-aspect

PERFECTNESS not-perfect-aspect

perfect-aspect

POLARITY positive-clause

negative-clause


Transitivity: (or process type analysis)

1. Processes: what kind of event is being described)

2. Participants: the entities involved in the process, e.g., Actor, Sayer, etc.

3. Circumstances: the adjuncts of the clause, specifying when, where, why, etc.

3.4 Language: Grammar: Transitivity


Types of Process 1. Material Processes: physical actions in the real world

- Actor: the one who does the action - Goal: The one who is affected by the action - Recipient: the one who receives something - Beneficiary: the one for whom something is done


John drove Mary home

Actor Process Goal Circ: destination

Mary was driven home by John

Goal Process Circ: destination Actor

John gave Mary a book

Actor Process Recipient Goal

John built Mary a house

Actor Process Beneficiary Goal


Types of Process 2. Mental Processes: processes of perception, cognition, affection

- Senser: the one who does the mental action - Phenomenon: The thing that is perceived, thought, appreciated


John saw Mary

Senser Process Phenomenon

Mary liked what he liked


John thought that Mary was coming


Perception:

Cognition:

Emotion:

That he was tall pleased Mary

Phenomenon Process Senser


Types of Process 3. Verbal Processes: processes of communication

- Sayer: the one who communicates - Addressee: the one recieving the message - Verbiage: What they say


John told Mary to go

Sayer Process Addressee Verbiage

John was told to go by Mary

Addressee Process Verbiage Sayer

John said that he was tired

Sayer Process Verbiage


Types of Process 4. Relational Processes: expressing possession, equivalence, attributes...

- Carrier: An entity being described - Attribute: The description of the entity

- Possessor: the one owning or containing something - Possession: the thing owned or contained. - Token: an entity being equated with another - Value: the other description.


John is tall

Carrier Process Attribute

John owns a Mercedes

Possessor Process Possession

John is the president

Token Process Value


THEME: point of departure for the clause

Consider the following sentences • Canaries have been used for centuries to test the air in mines.

• For centuries, canaries have been used to test the air in mines.

• Miners have used canaries to test the air for centuries.

• The air has been tested in mines for centuries using canaries.

• They all express the same proposition, but focus a different entity.

• We call this first occuring entity in the claause, the THEME.

• The rest of the clause is called the RHEME.

3.4 Language: Grammar: THEME

The spider gave the beetle a bite

Subject/Actor/Theme

A bite was given to the beetle by the spider

Subject/Goal/Theme Actor

The beetle was given a bite by the spider

Subject/Theme/Recipient Actor

A bite the beetle was given by the spider

Complement/Goal/ Theme

Subject Actor

By the spider the beetle was given a bite

Theme/Actor Subject

Theme, Subject and Participants combine in different ways

SMB 14812 - C.M. Lingüística Inglesa (2009-2010) 17

How layers of analysis combine

Did the spider give the beetle A bite?

Finite Subject Predicator Complement Complement

Actor Process Beneficiary Range

Theme → Rheme →


• In post-Chomskian contexts, “Semantics” concerns just propositional semantics (representation of experience).

• Speech acts and means of organising the text are allocated to “pragmatics”.

3.5 Language: SEMANTICS


• In SFL, “semantics” includes also pragmatics. – Ideational Semantics: the representation of the ideational content (of

clauses, or of whole texts)

– Interpersonal Semantics:

• Sentence level: speech acts (called ‘speech functions’)

• Discourse level: Organisation of sequences of speech-acts into exchanges, turns, etc. Also, analysis of evaluations in text (Appraisal theory)

– Textual Semantics: how the text is organised as a message:

• Generic Structure: the staging of a text, e.g., as Introduction, Body, Conclusions

• Rhetorical Structure: organising of sentences as facilitating others (e.g., Evidence, Example, Result, etc.)

• Thematic Progression: How the selections of themes throughout a text are organised to help the reader understand what the text is about.

3.5 Language: SEMANTICS

• Halliday’s semantic strata is largely is mostly concerned with the semantics of the clause:

• Ref: Halliday and Hasan (1989) Language, Context, and Text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Oxford, OUP.


3.5 Language: Semantics

Context

Semantics

Grammar

Phonology

Language:

Ideational Experiential

Logical

Interpersonal Speech function

Textual Cohesion, Reference, Theme, Given/New

• In Jim Martin’s approach, the “semantics” is about the organisation of the text “above” the clause (discourse-level structures):

• Ref: Martin J.R. and David Rose (2003) Working with Discourse: Meaning Beyond the Clause (Open Linguistics Series). London: Continuum.


2.8 Language: Semantics

Context

Discourse Semantics

Grammar

Phonology

Language:

Ideational Ideation,

Conjunction

Interpersonal Negotiation (exchange),

Appraisal (Attitudes)

Textual Identification (reference,

cohesion), Periodicity (theme, new)


• Ideational Semantics of a sentence

• Ideational Semantics of a text

3.5 Language: SEMANTICS: Ideational

J-999

J-998

King

brooch

designer

designersilver

class

workplace

class

designer

employer Liberty

nationality

Scottish

London

class

company

enamel

Art-DecoADJewels

style

style

material

materialInstantiatation

Generalisation

material

place-of-wearing

breast

design human brooch

Actor Affected


3.5 Language: SEMANTICS: Speech Function

moveMOVE-TYPE

initiateINITIATE-TYPE

question

+PB

statement

+PC

respondRESPOND-TYPE

answer

+PC

agree

+PS

deny-knowledge

+PD

disagree

+PR


3.5 Language: SEMANTICS: Speech Function

Move No.

Turn Text

Exchange Type

Initiative Speech Function

Comm- odity

1 o: good AFternoon ~ Salut. initiate greet

2 inforMAtion SERvice Neg. initiate propose info

3 c: YES ~ Neg. respond support

4 I'd LIKE information on some PAnel beaters

Neg. initiate propose info

5 o: Ø on some PAnel BEAters? Neg. initiate elicit info

6 c: HMM Neg. respond propose info

7 Øwhere you live LOcally Neg. initiate elicit info

8 c: HMM ~ Neg. respond propose info

9 CHIPpendale ~ Neg. initiate propose info

10 YEH Neg. respond support


3.5 Language: SEMANTICS: Texual Semantics

• Textual Semantics involves the resources language offers for the organisation of a text as a message.

• This includes:

References: • M.A.K. Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan 1976 Cohesion in English. London: Longman.

• Martin J.R. and D. Rose 2003 Working with Discourse. London: Continuum.

Within the clause (grammar) Over a Discourse

Cohesive devices (pronouns, ellipsis, substitution)

Cohesive chains, identity chains

Theme choices Thematic Progression

Reference choice Information Structure (Given/New)

- Generic Structure

Conjunctions. Rhetorical Structure


3.5 Language: SEMANTICS: Texual Semantics

Example of Thematic Progression Analysis

Conj Adjuncts Theme Rheme

Hard by a great forest

dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and his two children

The boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel

He had little to bite and to break and once, when great dearth

fell on the land he could no longer procure even daily bread

Now when he thought over this by night in his bed…

he groaned

and (he) said to his wife “”

I 'll tell you what, husband," answered the woman

early tomorrow morning We will take the children out into the forest to where it is the thickest

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Language, Function, Cognition:Part 2: Systemic Functional Linguistics