Invitation to Systemic Functional Linguistics through the Cardiff Grammar: An extension and simplification of Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar ... Textbooks and Surveys in Linguistics) - Softcover

Fawcett, Robin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845533968 ISBN 13: 9781845533960

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2008

Synopsis

This short book is two books in one. First, it is a genuinely introductory introduction to the main concepts of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) for the 21st century. Drawing on recent research, it focuses on the structure of the clause in English, bringing out clearly (i) the 'multifunctional' nature of language, and (ii) the way in which structures are the result of 'choices between meanings'. It is an 'extension' of Halliday's SFG in several ways, including the introduction of new elements that are of growing importance in the language, and a 'simplification' of it in that it shows how the many 'strands of meaning' in a clause can be expressed in a single structure. But this is also a book for experienced linguists (who may include the teachers of the first group) who are interested in a scholarly work which (i) compares the two main current versions of Systemic Functional Grammar with respect to the structure of the English clause, and (ii) gives reasons for every decision to prefer one analysis to another. This 'book within a book' is achieved through a generous use of extended 'footnotes'. The Cardiff Grammar version of SFG is based as firmly in the core principles of SFG principles as the Sydney Grammar (the version in Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar). Halliday, however, describes the development in the Sydney Grammar since the 1970s as expansions into new areas beyond what he has aptly termed the 'lexicogrammar'. In contrast, the Cardiff Grammar's description of English lexicogrammar (and other languages) has made significant advances since the 1970s, under the influence of eight major factors. Versions of this book are being published concurrently in Chinese (by Peking University Press) and Spanish (University of Plata del Mar Press).

About this title

About the Author

Robin P. Fawcett is Emeritus Professor in Linguistics and the former Director of the Computational Linguistics Unit, Cardiff University. His most recent book is A Theory of Syntax for Systemic Functional Linguistics (Benjamins 2000). Books due for publication in 2008 include Alternative Architectures for Systemic Linguistics and his Functional Syntax Handbook (both Equinox).

Review

'Robin Fawcett is a first rate linguist and one of the major figures in both systemic functional grammar and in the computer implementation of grammars. [...] Publications from the Cardiff Grammar, [...] for which Fawcett is largely responsible, are fascinating and rewarding: a fruitful fusion of theorizing and pragmatism - a pointer to important developments in the linguistics of the next millennium.'Michael Gregory, Emeritus Professor, York University, Toronto 'There can be no doubt that SFG has lived up to its claim to be a text-oriented theory of language; [...] it has achieved a much wider coverage of English grammar than other approaches, this being especially true of the Cardiff Grammar. [...] In my view the Cardiff model represents a substantial improvement on the Sydney account.' Christopher Butler, Honorary Professor, Swansea University

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1845533968
• ISBN 13: 9781845533960
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 282