halliday

HallidayandHisSystemic-FunctionalGrammarAbstract:MichaelAlexanderKirkwoodHalliday(oftenM.A.K.Halliday)isthefounderofSystemic-FunctionalGrammarwhichisoneofthetwoworld'smajorlinguistics.Hedevelopedtheinternationallyinfluentialmodeloflanguage,thesystemicfunctionalgrammar.Hisgrammaticaldescriptionsgobythenameofsystemicfunctionalgrammar(SFG).Hallidaydescribeslanguageasasemioticsystem,notinthesenseofasystemofsigns,butasystemicresourceformeaning.ForHalliday,languageisameaningpotential;byextension,hedefineslinguisticsasthestudyofhowpeopleexchangemeaningsby'languaging'.Hallidaydescribeshimselfasageneralist,meaningthathehastriedtolookatlanguagefromeverypossiblevantagepoint,andhasdescribedhisworkaswander[ing]thehighwaysandbywaysoflanguage.However,hehasclaimedthattotheextentthatIfavouredanyoneangle,itwasthesocial:languageasthecreatureandcreatorofhumansociety.InadditiontoEnglish,themodelhasbeenappliedtootherlanguages,bothIndo-Europeanandnon-Indo-European.KeyWords:Hallidayandhislife,linguistictheoryanddescription,influences,relationstootherbranchesofgrammarMichaelHallidaywasborninYorkshire,Englandin1925.HewastrainedinChineseforwarservicewiththeBritisharmy.HegothisBAinChineselanguageandliteratureatLondonUniversityin1947.From1947to1949hestudiedunderthesupervisionofLuoChangpeiatPekingUniversity.From1949to1950hestudiedatLingnanUniversity,SouthChina,tutoredbyWangLi.OnreturningtoEngland,heworkedforhisPhDdegreeunderthesupervisionofJ.R.Firth.By1955,hefinishedhisdoctoraldissertation“TheLanguageoftheChineseSecretHistoryoftheMongols”,ananalysisofaworkwritteninanorthernChinesedialectinthe14thcentury.Inthetenyearsthatfollowed,hetaughtlinguisticsatCambridgeUniversityandEdinburghUniversity.From1965to1970,hewasprofessoroflinguisticsinLondonUniversity.Later,hetaughtinvariousplacesintheworld,includingtheUnitedStates.In1975,hemovedtoAustraliaandfoundedtheDepartmentofLinguisticsintheUniversityofSydney.Heholdsthreehonorarydoctorates,andsomeprofessorshipsandfellowshipsinmanyinstitutionsovertheworld.In1995hebecameguestprofessorofPekingUniversityinChina.In1976hemovedtoAustraliaasFoundationProfessorofLinguisticsattheUniversityofSydney,whereheremaineduntilheretired.Hehasworkedinvariousregionsoflanguagestudy,boththeoreticalandapplied,andhasbeenespeciallyconcernedwithapplyingtheunderstandingofthebasicprinciplesoflanguagetothetheoryandpracticeofeducation.HereceivedthestatusofEmeritusProfessoroftheUniversityofSydneyandMacquarieUniversity,Sydney,in1987,andiscurrentlyDistinguishedVisitingProfessorintheFacultyofEducation,UniversityofHongKong.Infact,Hallidayhasawiderangeofresearchinterests:semanticsandgrammarofmodernEnglish;languagedevelopmentinearlychildhood;textlinguisticsandregistervariation;educationalapplicationsoflinguistics;textgenerationinartificialintelligence;Chinesegrammarandphonology.Hehasproducedworksonavarietyoftopicscoveringsystemicgrammarandfunctionalgrammar;languageacquisition;languageandsociety;languageandsemiotics;languageteachingandtranslation;textanalysisandstylistics.However,amongthemthemostimportantisSystemicGrammarandFunctionalGrammar.InfluncedbyhistutorFirthwhothinksasystemisasetofmutuallyexclusiveoptionsthatcomeintoplayatsomepointinalinguisticstructure.LikeFirthianphonology,itisprimarilyconcernedwiththesemanticallyrelevantchoicesinthelanguageasawhole.Hallidaydefinessystemas“asetofoptions,asetofpossibilitiesA,BorC,togetherwithaconditionofentry”.Onaverygenerallevel,thereisthechainsystemandthechoicesystem.Inthesystemnetwork,peoplearemakingchoices.Hallidaybelievesthattherearerealizationrelationshipsbetweenvariouslevels.Meaningiscodedbywordingwhichiscodedbysound(orwriting).HowdoesHalliday’ssystemicgrammardifferentfromotherschools?First,itattachedgreatimportancetothesociologicalaspectsoflanguage.Second,itviewslanguageasaformofdoingratherthanaformofknowing.Thirdly,itgivesarelativelyhighprioritytodescriptionofthecharacteristicsofparticularlanguagesandparticularvarietiesoflanguage.Fourthly,itexplainsanumberofaspectsoflanguageintermsofclines(ie.ungrammatical-moreunusual-lessusual-grammatical).Fifthly,itseeksverificationofitshypothesesbymeansofobservationfromtextsandbymeansofstatisticaltechniques.Lastly,ithasasitscentralcategorythecategoryofthesystem.Anyway,Hallidayhasmadeagreatcontributiontothedevelopmentoflinguistics.Althoughduetothedeficiencyofhumanknowledgeaboutlanguageingenera,hefailedtodealwiththeproblemofmeaning.HistheoryofSystemicGrammarandFunctionalGrammarhasindeedbroughtsomethingnewtothelingusticworld.LinguistictheoryanddescriptionThegrammarofexperience:thecoverofAnIntroductiontoFunctionalGrammar,2nded.(1994),byM.A.K.Halliday,showingthetypesofprocessastheyhaveevolvedinEnglishgrammar.Hallidayisnotableforhisgrammaticaltheoryanddescriptions,outlinedinhisbookAnIntroductiontoFunctionalGrammar,firstpublishedin1985.Arevisededitionwaspublishedin1994,andthenathird,inwhichhecollaboratedwithChristianMatthiessen,in2004.ButHalliday’sconceptionofgrammar-or‘lexicogrammar’(atermhecoinedtoarguethatlexisandgrammararepartofthesamephenomenon)–isbase