Systemic Functional Linguistics, Part 2
Volume 2
Contributing Author
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen [+–]
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Edited by
Kazuhiro Teruya [+–]
Kazuhiro Teruya is the author of several systemic functional books: two volumes of description of Japanese, co-authored books on key terms in SFL and a complete guide to systemic functional linguistics, an introduction to SFL in Japanese (edited and co-authored) and an edited series of Matthiessen’s collected works. Previously he taught at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PRC and at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was also involved in the Language-based Intelligent Systems project at the Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, in Japan.
Kaela Peijia Zhang [+–]
Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
Kaela Peijia Zhang is a Lecturer at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Previously she worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. Her main areas of interest and research include systemic functional linguistics, multimodality, health communication, and science communication. She has combined a multimodal corpus for addressing meaning-making strategies in public health communication.
Diana Slade [+–]
Australian National University
Diana Slade is Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. She is also Director of the ANU Institute of Communication in Health Care. Her major publications include Communicating in Hospital Emergency Departments (co-authored, Springer), Effective Communication in Clinical Handover: from Research to Practice (co-edited with S. Eggins and F. Geddes), and Analysing Casual Conversation (with S. Eggins, Equinox Publishing).
Volume 2 builds on the foundation developed in Volume 1, focussing on theoretically guided modelling of language in computational linguistic systems and on key aspects of the theory such as metafunction, rank (the conception of “morphology”), indeterminacy and probability. This volume also includes a treatment of systemic functional meta-theory — the theory of the nature and appliability of theory. The new chapter written for Volume 2 extends the discussion of the challenge of theorizing language to the challenge of modelling language for neurosemiotics, thus paying attention to the appliability of systemic functional linguistics.
Table of Contents
Prelims
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Kazuhiro Teruya is the author of several systemic functional books: two volumes of description of Japanese, co-authored books on key terms in SFL and a complete guide to systemic functional linguistics, an introduction to SFL in Japanese (edited and co-authored) and an edited series of Matthiessen’s collected works. Previously he taught at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PRC and at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was also involved in the Language-based Intelligent Systems project at the Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, in Japan.
Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
Kaela Peijia Zhang is a Lecturer at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Previously she worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. Her main areas of interest and research include systemic functional linguistics, multimodality, health communication, and science communication. She has combined a multimodal corpus for addressing meaning-making strategies in public health communication.
Australian National University
Diana Slade is Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. She is also Director of the ANU Institute of Communication in Health Care. Her major publications include Communicating in Hospital Emergency Departments (co-authored, Springer), Effective Communication in Clinical Handover: from Research to Practice (co-edited with S. Eggins and F. Geddes), and Analysing Casual Conversation (with S. Eggins, Equinox Publishing).
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Kazuhiro Teruya is the author of several systemic functional books: two volumes of description of Japanese, co-authored books on key terms in SFL and a complete guide to systemic functional linguistics, an introduction to SFL in Japanese (edited and co-authored) and an edited series of Matthiessen’s collected works. Previously he taught at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PRC and at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was also involved in the Language-based Intelligent Systems project at the Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, in Japan.
Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
Kaela Peijia Zhang is a Lecturer at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Previously she worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. Her main areas of interest and research include systemic functional linguistics, multimodality, health communication, and science communication. She has combined a multimodal corpus for addressing meaning-making strategies in public health communication.
Australian National University
Diana Slade is Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. She is also Director of the ANU Institute of Communication in Health Care. Her major publications include Communicating in Hospital Emergency Departments (co-authored, Springer), Effective Communication in Clinical Handover: from Research to Practice (co-edited with S. Eggins and F. Geddes), and Analysing Casual Conversation (with S. Eggins, Equinox Publishing).
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Kazuhiro Teruya is the author of several systemic functional books: two volumes of description of Japanese, co-authored books on key terms in SFL and a complete guide to systemic functional linguistics, an introduction to SFL in Japanese (edited and co-authored) and an edited series of Matthiessen’s collected works. Previously he taught at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PRC and at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was also involved in the Language-based Intelligent Systems project at the Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, in Japan.
Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
Kaela Peijia Zhang is a Lecturer at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Previously she worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. Her main areas of interest and research include systemic functional linguistics, multimodality, health communication, and science communication. She has combined a multimodal corpus for addressing meaning-making strategies in public health communication.
Australian National University
Diana Slade is Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. She is also Director of the ANU Institute of Communication in Health Care. Her major publications include Communicating in Hospital Emergency Departments (co-authored, Springer), Effective Communication in Clinical Handover: from Research to Practice (co-edited with S. Eggins and F. Geddes), and Analysing Casual Conversation (with S. Eggins, Equinox Publishing).
Foreword
Introduction
Kazuhiro Teruya is the author of several systemic functional books: two volumes of description of Japanese, co-authored books on key terms in SFL and a complete guide to systemic functional linguistics, an introduction to SFL in Japanese (edited and co-authored) and an edited series of Matthiessen’s collected works. Previously he taught at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PRC and at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was also involved in the Language-based Intelligent Systems project at the Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, in Japan.
Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
Kaela Peijia Zhang is a Lecturer at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Previously she worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. Her main areas of interest and research include systemic functional linguistics, multimodality, health communication, and science communication. She has combined a multimodal corpus for addressing meaning-making strategies in public health communication.
Australian National University
Diana Slade is Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. She is also Director of the ANU Institute of Communication in Health Care. Her major publications include Communicating in Hospital Emergency Departments (co-authored, Springer), Effective Communication in Clinical Handover: from Research to Practice (co-edited with S. Eggins and F. Geddes), and Analysing Casual Conversation (with S. Eggins, Equinox Publishing).
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 1
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 1 is concerned with designing a model where a grammar and a lexicon can be made to function as a text-production system, PENMAN. It discusses the subcomponents that deal with semantic information and with syntactic information and identifies the problems of relating these two types of information to design strategies to meet the problems.
Chapter 2
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 2 illustrates how systemic functional linguistics makes contributions in the areas of grammar and choosers for grammar in computation to fulfil the demands placed upon a large-scale computational grammar in a text generator, Nigel, that was being developed as part of Penman project. In particular it demonstrates the metafunctional organization of systemic grammar that leads naturally to a multi-functional factoring of the sentence generation process. This process is then defined in terms of features of grammatical and semantic choice and their realization statements with realization operators for text generation.
Chapter 3
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 3 further expands the illustration of the text generation system discussed in Chapter 2. It discusses the semantics of the Nigel grammar, that is, the framework of a chooser and inquiry semantics that was developed to deal with the problem of making purposeful grammatical choices in response to a communicative situation. The whole chooser and inquire framework is illustrated with respect to examples from the choosers of the MOOD TYPE and PRIMARY TENSE systems that are identified through a network of inquiries. The chapter suggests the compatibility of the framework with sociological semantics.
Chapter 4
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 4 deals with two semantic interfaces that are implemented in text generation systems using systemic-functional grammar, i.e, chooser and inquiry semantics, whose framework is discussed in Chapter 2 and situation-specific semantic systems. The former approaches from below with respect to lexicogrammar and the latter from above, from context. The chapter discusses each of these two complementary approaches to semantics and their relative merits in adopting these approaches in one generation system.
Chapter 5
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 5 sheds new light on the monomodal treatment of constituency in linguistic theorizing as the default mode of syntagmatic organization by bringing out complementarity and resonance of different modes of organization in interpreting language. To this rule-based thesis of constituency, it presents an antithesis that there are different modes of meaning and each of these modes of meaning engenders different mode of expressions. This contrast between the thesis and its antithesis expands the conception of grammatical organization to the point where grammatical structure is no longer insulated from its semiotic environment. It thus synthesizes in harmony metafunctional modes of meaning into simultaneous constituency structures of their complementary modes of expression such as simulated waves and prosodies.
Chapter 6
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 6 interprets Zadeh’s notion of fuzziness in terms of a constructivist view of the role of language in relation to human thinking and illustrates how fuzziness is constructed by language as an inherent property of how we construe our experience of the world as meaning organized into networks of fuzzy classes. The nature of fuzzy classes of meaning is illustrated typologically in terms of the system network of PROCESS TYPE in English that is complemented by fuzzy representations of topology. This illustrative example of a system network points to the overall potential of the grammar of English being instantiated in a given situation, accumulating relative frequencies to form probabilities of various features in the overall systemic potential of language.
Chapter 7
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 7 offers a solution to the problem of the disjunction between theory and description, which is to reconstrue theory and its role in description. Such solution construes linguistic theory as a semiotic resource to meet the unprecedented demands and technological possibilities for the new production of linguistic descriptions in the transition to the 21st century. After revealing how the complementary goals of theory and description have become polarized for some influential linguists and showing how some do not hold the notion of theory-neutral descriptions, this chapter further uses case marking systems as an example to indicate that theory is a resource for enriching description.
Chapter 8
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 8 features an interview held at the University of Liverpool, the U.K. in July 1998. Matthiessen’s responses to seven questions provide his views on many issues related to systemic functional linguistics’ theoretical backbones, including emphasizing its appliable strengths, nurturing the theory with various applications, affirming the importance of developing system networks, differentiating systemic functional approaches from other functional theories, listing some major areas of expansion within systemic functional linguistics, following the trinocular perspective to describe other semiotic systems, and valuing the typological work.
Chapter 9
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 9 gives an elaborate account for Halliday’s conception of language as a probabilistic system. It conducts a holistic review of Halliday’s work on probability, and the focus of this chapter is on the probability of choice in language. Halliday’s characterization of probabilities in language are discussed as one continuous phenomenon extended along the cline of instantiation – systemic probabilities at the potential pole of the cline and their instantiation as relative frequencies in particular texts at the instance pole.
Chapter 10
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 10 explores two categories in the processing of text, i.e., instantial systems and logogenesis – the process of instantiation and the process of modifying an instantial system as a text unfolds. The nature of instantial systems and modification is illustrated with the REFERENCE system – as the meaning unfolds, the instantial system is continuously being modified between people in particular semiotic events. Instantial systems are exemplified from all three metafunctional vantage points to show that the logogenetic development of the instantial system is expansion – a cycle of modification throughout the semiotic event. After systematically explaining how such expansion is ordered, instantial systems and logogenesis is also located in the overall organizations of the system-process of language in context.
Chapter 11
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 11 presents a systematic overview of the systemic functional approach to the area of lexicogrammar which is traditionally called “morphology”. Through defining the location of morphology in systemic functional theory, the grammar of words trinocularly is explicated in terms of the combination of the semiotic dimensions of rank, delicacy, stratification and instantiation. This chapter shows to what extent this trinocular view in terms of the hierarchies of rank and stratification differs from other theoretical models with respect to the description of morphological phenomena, how the systemic functional approach analyzes and/or classifies different morphological types of languages, and how this approach explains the lexical/grammatical distinction. Regarding the analysis of morphology issues, the main challenges of the systemic functional approach are discussed and its future research is also suggested.
Chapter 12
The Architecture of Language According to SFL: Some Reflections on Implications for Neurosemiotics [+–]
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics,
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.
Chapter 12 begins with Matthiessen’s personal encounters with neurolinguistics, neuroscience, and related research fields from 1970s to 1990s. This chapter then approaches certain aspects of neurosemiotics informed by systemic functional linguistics, including locating the potential phenomenal realms of study of neurosemiotics in terms of an ordered typology of systems, identifying key properties of semiotic systems such as all strata of language in context, moving from internal strata to interface strata, and further concentrating on semantics as an interface stratum, on especially ideational semantics. This chapter goes into details about neurosemiotics informed by systemic functional linguistics, which help prepare scholars to develop “biologically implementable” linguistic accounts for neuroscience.
