[Lingtyp] Question about functional linguistics

[Ilana Mushin]

Hi Eitan,
Great topic for a course!

In addition to Hopper & Thompson (1984) on lexical categories, there is also Hopper and Thompson (1980) Transitivity in grammar and discourse. Language 56:2, 251-299.

Hopper and Thompson followed this work on transitivity nicely in 2001 with a paper looking at transitivity in conversation.

Thompson & Hopper (2001) Transitivity, clause structure, and argument structure: Evidence from conversation Bybee & Hopper (eds) Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure. John Benjamins (pp.27-60)

Also Thompson & Mulac on that-complementation is a classic.

Thompson, S.  & Mulac, A. (1991) The discourse conditions for the use of complementizer that in conversational English. Journal of Pragmatics 15:3, 237-251.

If you are covering the scope of ‘West-coast functionalism’, I’d also suggest including the recent work in Interactional Linguistics, which is what this kind of functionalism morphed into for linguists like Sandy Thompson and Paul Hopper. There is an excellent comprehensive textbook.

Couper-Kuhlen, E. & Selting, M. (2018) Interactional Linguistics. CUP.

Have fun with the course!
Ilana

--
Ilana Mushin FAHA
Professor of Linguistics,
School of Languages and Cultures

Deputy Associate Dean (Research),
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD 4072
Ph: (07) 3365 6810

CRICOS Provider No: 00025B



From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Eitan Grossman via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Date: Tuesday, 23 September 2025 at 12:08 am
To: LINGTYP <LINGTYP at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: [Lingtyp] Question about functional linguistics
Hi all,

This is maybe a mail for a mailing list that no longer exists, the old FunkNet, but I thought I'd give it a try.

I am putting together a syllabus for an advanced BA course on functional linguistics, and have been re-reading a lot of the articles that have been meaningful for me over the years, and it is difficult to make a choice.

I wanted to ask for the wisdom of the crowd -- what articles (or books) in functional linguistics have been meaningful for you? What have you read with students? What works do you think every student should read?

I should say that I have in mind what is usually called West Coast Functionalism and usage-based linguistics, but would be happy to hear your thoughts on other perspectives.

Any replies would be much appreciated, and I would be happy to share the resulting reading list/syllabus.

Eitan


Eitan Grossman
Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Tel: +972 2 588 3809


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