Muhammad SherozM.Phil. English Linguistics

Riphah International University

FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

When people speak or write, they produce text.

Text is what listeners and readers engage with and interpret.

The term ‘text’ refers to any instance of language, in any medium, that makes sense to someone who knows the language.

We can characterize text as language functioning in context.

(cf. Halliday & Hasan, 1976: Ch. 1; Halliday, 2010).

Text and Grammar

Language is, in the first instance, a resource for making meaning; so text is a process of making meaning in context.

To a grammarian, text is a rich, many-faceted phenomenon that ‘means’ in many different ways. It can be explored from many different points of view.

we can distinguish two main angles of vision: (1) Text as an object in its own right. (2) Text as an instrument for finding out about something else.

Functional theories of grammar are those approaches to the study of language, that see the functions of language and its elements to be the key to understanding linguistic processes and structures.

Functional theories of language propose that since language is fundamentally a tool, it is reasonable to assume that its structure are best analyzed and understood with reference to the functions they carry out.

Functional Theories of Grammar

Functional theories of grammar differ from formal theories of grammar. In the latter seeks to define the diff. elements of language and describe the way they relate to each other as systems of formal rules or operations, whereas the former defines the functions performed by language and then relates these functions to the linguistic elements that carry them out.

This means that functional theories of grammar tend to pay attention to the way language is actually used in communicative context, and not jus the formal relations between linguistic elements.

1. The structuralist functionalism of the Prague school, was the earliest functionalist framework in the 1920s. 2. Simon Dik’s functional discourse grammar, originally developed in the 1970s and 80s. It has also been continuously developed by Linguist such as Kees Hengeveld. 3. Michael Haliday’s systemic functional grammar. Haliday draws on the work of Buhler and Malinowski.

FrameworksThere are several distinct grammatical theories that employ a functional approach

4. Role and reference grammar, developed by Robert Van Valin. 5. Danish functional grammar combines Saussurean/Hielmslevian structuralism with a focus on pragmatics and discourse. 6. Lexical functional grammar, developed by Joan Bresnan and Ronald Kaplan in the 1970s.

• Structuralism is a theoretical paradigm that emphasizes that elements of culture must be understood in terms of their relationships to a larger over searching system of structure.

Simon Blackburn says; Structuralism is “the belief that phenomena of human life are not intelligible except through their interrelations. These relations constitute a structure and behind local variations in the surface phenomena there are constant laws of abstract culture.

Structuralist Functionalism of the Prague School

FDG is a grammar model and theory motivated by functional theories of grammar. This theories explain how linguistic utterances are shaped, based on the goals and knowledge of natural language users.

The top-level unit of analysis in FDG is the discourse move not the sentence or the clause. This is a principle that sets FDG apart from many other linguistic theories.

Functional Discourse Grammar by Simon C. Dik

FDG explains the phonology, morphosyntax, pragmatics and semantics in one linguistic theory.

According to FDG, linguistics utterances are built top-down in this order by deciding upon:

1. The pragmatic aspects of the utterance 2. The semantic aspects of the utterance 3. The morphosyntactic aspects of the utterance 4. The phonological aspect of the utterance

Principles of Functional Discourse Grammar

The conceptual component, which is where the communicative intention that drives the utterance construction arises.

The grammatical component, where the utterance is formulated and encoded according. To the communicative intention

The contextual component, which contains all elements that can be referred to in the history of the discourse or in the environment

The output component, which realizes the utterance as sound, writing or singing.

Components involved in building up an utterance:

SFG is part of social semiotic approach to language systemic functional linguistics. The term systemic refers to the view of language as “a network of systems, or interrelated elements of options for making meaning.” The term functional refers to Halliday’s view that language is as it is because of what it has evolved to do. Grammar, for Halliday is described as system not as rules, on the basis that every grammatical structure involves a choice from a describable options.

Traditionally the “choices” are viewed in terms of either the content or the structure of the language used. In SFG, language is analyzed in three ways (strata): semantics, phonology and lexicogrammar. SFG presents a view of language in terms of both structure(grammar) and words(lexis). The term “lexicogrammar” describes, this combined approach.

Systemic Functional Grammar By Michael Halliday

Three general functions of language (metafunctions)

1. The ideational functions, resources for constructing experience

2. The interpersonal functions, resources for enacting humans’ diverse and complex social relations.

3. The textual function, resources for enabling these two kinds of meaning to come together

Functions of language(Metafunctions)

It is based on the notion of choice – it models grammar as a set of options.

It looks at the way in which grammar is used to construct texts in their context of use.

It is concerned with the way in which grammar is organized to make meaning.

Overall, it is concerned with the way that the different kinds of meaning that contribute to grammatical structure are comprehensively addressed.

Features of Functional Grammar

1. analyzing experience – what is going on

2. analyzing interaction – who is communicating with whom

3. analyzing with ways in which messages are constructed.

It is concerned with the resource for:

1. At the clause level, FG deals with resource for analyzing experience (Process type, Participants and Circumstances),participating in communication (mood and modality), packaging information (theme and cohesion). In addition, it is concerned for combining clauses into clause complexes (sentences).

In order to Model Grammar As a Context Sensitive, Meaning-making Resource, FG Looks Closely At the Different Contributions

2. At the phrase and group level, FG deal with resources constructing participants( noun groups), assessing events and setting them in time (verb groups), modifying events (adverb groups), qualifying processes(preposition phrases).

3. At the word class level, FG is concerned with resources for adapting words to clause, phrase and group structures. With in words, FG is concerned with resources for analyzing morphemes(inflection and derivations).

Much of our everyday experience is shaped and defined by actions and events, thoughts and perceptions, and it is an important function of the system of language that it is able to account for these various ‘goings on’ in the world.

This means encoding into the grammar of the clause a mechanism for capturing what we say, think and do. It also means accommodating in grammar a host of more abstract relations, such as those that pertain between objects, circumstances and logical concepts.

Experiential function

There are many ways of accounting in language for the various events that constitute our ‘mental picture of reality’

There are often several ways of using the resources of the language system to capture the same event in a textual representation.

The particular grammatical facility used for capturing experience in language is the system of transitivity.

System of transitivity.

Transitivity normally picks out three key components of processes. The first is the process itself, which is typically

realised in grammar by the verb phrase. The second is the participant(s) associated

with the process, typically realised by noun phrases.

The third is the circumstance(s) associated with the process, typically expressed by prepositional and adverb phrases.

Key components of processes

E xis ten tia l p rocesses M ate ria l p rocesses

M en ta l p rocesses R ela tion a l p rocesses

B eh aviou ra l p rocesses V erb a l p rocesses

Typ es o f p rocesses

Types of processes

Material processes are simply processes of doing. Associated with material processes are two inherent participant roles which are:

The Actor, an obligatory role in the process.

A Goal, a role which may or may not be involved in the process.

Material processes

(1) I nipped Daniel. Actor Process Goal(2) The washing machine broke down. Actor Process

Examples

Mental processes constitute the second key process of the transitivity system and are essentially processes of sensing.

Mental processes inhabit and reflect the world of consciousness, and involve:

cognition (encoded in verbs such as ‘thinking’ or ‘wondering’).

reaction (as in ‘liking’ or ‘hating’). perception (as in ‘seeing’ or ‘hearing’).

Mental processes

The two participant roles associated with mental processes are:

The Sensor (the conscious being that is doing the sensing).

The Phenomenon (the entity which is sensed, felt, thought or seen).

(3) Mary understood the story. (cognition) Sensor Process Phenomenon (4) Anil noticed the damp patch. (perception) Sensor Process Phenomenon (5) Sohail liked lecture. (reaction) Sensor Process Phenomenon

Examples

There is a type of process which to some extent sits at the interface between material and mental processes, a process which represents both the activities of ‘sensing’ and ‘doing’ called behavioural processes.

Behavioural processes embody physiological actions like ‘breathe’ or ‘cough’.

They sometimes portray these processes as states of consciousness as in ‘sigh’, ‘cry’ or ‘laugh’.

They also represent processes of consciousness as forms of behaviour, as in ‘stare’, ‘dream’ or ‘worry’.

Behavioural processes

The key (and normally sole) participant in behavioural processes is the Behaver, the conscious entity who is ‘behaving’.

(6) That student fell asleep in my lecture again. Behaver Process

Circumstance (7) She frowned at the mess. Behaver Process

Circumstances

Examples

These are processes of ‘saying’.the participant roles associated with

verbalisation are: (1) The Sayer (the producer of the speech). (2) The Receiver (the entity to which the speech is addressed). (3) The Verbiage (that which gets said)

Processes of Verbalisation.

(8) Mary claimed that the story had been changed. Sayer Process Verbiage (9) The minister announced the decision to parliament. Sayer Process Verbiage

Receiver

Examples

These are processes of ‘being’ in the specific sense of establishing relationships between two entities. Relational processes can be expressed in a number of ways.

There is however general agreement about three main types of relational process.

intensive relational processpossessive relational processcircumstantial relational processes

Relational processes.

An intensive relational process posits a relationship of equivalence, an ‘x is y’ connection, between two entities.

Examples:Allama Iqbal is our national poet.Ramzan is my father.

Intensive relational process

A possessive relational process plots an ‘x has y’ type of connection between two entities.

Examples:Ali has a car.You have a book.

Possessive relational process

circumstantial relational processes are where the circumstantial element becomes upgraded, as it were, so that it fulfils the role of a full participant in the Process.

The relationship is like ‘x is at/is in/is on/is with/ y’ configuration.

Examples:Book is on the table.Ali is in the class.

Circumstantial relational processes

Existential processes constitute the sixth and last category of the transitivity model.

Existential processes typically include the word ‘there’ as a dummy subject.

They normally only contain one participant role, the ‘Existent’.

Existential processes

‘Has there been a phone call?’Ali is standing there.

Examples

LFG is a grammar framework in theoretical linguistics, a variety of generative grammar. It is a type of phrase structure grammar, as opposed to a dependency grammar.

The development of the theory was initiated by Joan Bresnan and Ronald Kaplan in the 1970s, in reaction to the direction research in the area of transformational grammar had began to take. It mainly focuses on syntax, including its relation with morphology and semantics.

LFG views language as being made up of multiple dimensions of structure. Each of these dimensions is represented as a distinct structure with its own rules, concepts and form.

Lexical Functional Grammar

Danish functional school The Danish school of functional linguistics

was developed in an attempt to combine modern functional grammar and cognitive linguistics with the best ideas and concepts of the earlier structuralist school. The school insist in the basic structural division of communication in planes of content and expression

Functional Grammar in Denmark (Danish)

Danish functionalists also insist that language is fundamentally a means of communication between humans and is best understood and analysed through its communicative function. When analysing linguistic utterances, the content and expression planes are analysed separately, with the expression plane being analysed through traditional structural methods and the content plane being analysed mostly through methods from semantics and pragmatics.

Danish functionalists assume that an utterance is not to be analysed from the minimal units and up, but rather from the maximal units and down, because speakers begin the construction of utterances by choosing what to say in a given situation, then by choosing the words to use and finally by building the sentence by means of sounds.

Role and reference grammar (RRG) is a functional theory of language which allows an input text to be represented in terms of its logical structure.

Among the main features of RRG are the use of lexical decomposition based upon semantics of David Dowdy (1979), an analysis of clause structure, and the use of a set of thematic roles organized into a heirarchy in which the highest-ranking roles are “Actor” (for the most active participant) and “Undergoer.”

Role and Reference GrammarBy William Foley and Robert Van Valin

In RRG, the description of a sentence in a particular language is formulated in terms of:

a. Its logical (semantic) structure and communicative functions.

b. The grammatical procedures that are available in the language for the expressions of these meanings

CONCLUSION

THANK YOU