Michael Halliday

Biography

He was born in England in 1925

He became one of the pioneers of eco-critical discourse analysis (a discipline of ecolinguistics)

The impact of his work extends beyond linguistics into the study of visual and multimodal communication, and he is considered to have founded the field of social semiotics

He changed his field of specialisation to linguistics, and developed Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) also known as Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)

Social Semiotics

Is a branch of the field of semiotics which investigates human signifying practices in specific social and cultural circumstances, and which tries to explain meaning-making as a social practice.

"the science of the life of signs in society".

Ecolinguistics

Ecolinguistics emerged in the 1990s as a new paradigm of linguistic research which took into account not only the social context in which language is embedded, but also the ecological context in which societies are embedded.

The Notion of System in Linguistics

System network in Systemic Linguistics

It is a theoretical tool to describe the sets of options available in a language variety.

Michael Halliday

Systemic Functional Linguistics

Systemic functional linguistics is an approach to linguistics that considers language as a social semiotic system. The point of departure for Halliday's work in linguistics has been the simple question: "How does language work?"

systemic refers to the view of language as "a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making meaning"

It is functional because language have evolved under the pressure of the particular functions that the language system has to serve.

Meaning is choice, users select from "options that arise in the environment of other options", and "the power of language resides in its organization as a huge network of interrelated choices"

Stratification dimension

In the evolution of language from primary to higher-order semiotic, "a space was created in which meanings could be organized in their own terms, as a purely abstract network of interrelations". Between the content of form-pairing of simple semiotic systems emerged the "organizational space" referred to as lexicogrammar. This development put language on the road to becoming an apparently infinite meaning-making system.

Metafunctional dimension

Language displays "functional complementarity". In other words, it has evolved under the human need to make meanings about the world around and inside us, at the same time that it is the means for creating and maintaining our interpersonal relations. These are two modes of meaning in discourse—what Halliday terms the "ideational" and the "interpersonal" metafunctions. They are organized via a third mode of meaning, the textual metafunction, which acts on the other two modes to create a coherent flow of discourse.

 Instantiation dimension

Syntagmatic dimension.

METAFUNCTIONS

Metafunctions are systemic clusters; that is, they are groups of semantic systems that make meanings of a related kind. The three metafunctions are mapped onto the structure of the clause.

children's grammar

In connection with the transitivity, let us see the definition of clause

“A clause in English is the simultaneous realization of ideational, interpersonal and textual meanings.” (Halliday,1981)

“A clause is the product of three simultaneous semantic processes. It is at one and the same time a representation of experience (ideational), an interactive exchange (interpersonal), and a message (textual) (Halliday, 1985

Transitivity

In traditional grammar, transitivity was developed as the concept of transitive or intransitive verb (Halliday,1976) whether the verb takes an object or not, but in SFL it functions to link grammar to the meta functions; however, in Halliday’s terms, transitivity as a major component in experiential function of the clause deals with the “transmission of ideas “representing ‘processes’ or ‘experiences’: actions, events, processes of consciousness and relations”

Ideational

Experiential

Logical

Stop

caution

go

Textual

Imaginative:

Interpersonal

Speaker/writer persona

Interactivity

Language used to explore the imagination. May also accompany play as children create imaginary worlds, or may arise from storytelling.

Instrumental:

social distance

Communicative Distance

Relative Social Status

Spontaneity

Language is used to fulfill a need on the part of the speaker. Directly concerned with obtaining food, drink and comfort.

Regulatory:

Regulatory Language is used to influence the behavior of others. Concerned with persuading / commanding / requesting other people to do things you want.

Interactional:

Interactional Language is used to develop social relationships and ease the process of interaction. Concerned with the phatic dimension of talk.

Personal:

Personal Language is used to express the personal preferences and identity of the speaker. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Here I am!’ function – announcing oneself to the world.

Paradigmatic dimension

Representational:

Language used to exchange information. Concerned with relaying or requesting information.

Heuristic:

Language used to learn and explore the environment. Child uses language to learn; this may be questions and answers, or the kind of running commentary that frequently accompanies children’s play.

. All of these resources are, in turn, "predicated on the vector of instantiation", defined as "the relation between an instance and the system that lies behind it". Instantiation is a formal relationship between potential and actual. Systemic functional theory assumes a very intimate relationship of continual feedback between instance and system: thus using the system may change that system.

. Language unfolds syntagmatically, as structure laid down in time (spoken) or space (written). This structure involves units on different ranks within each stratum of the language system. Within the lexicogrammar, for example, the largest is the clause, and the smallest the morpheme; intermediate between these ranks are the ranks of group/phrase and of word.

The End