16.2182, Review: Linguistic Theories: Bloor & Bloor (2004)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-16-2182. Sun Jul 17 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.2182, Review: Linguistic Theories: Bloor & Bloor (2004)

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1)
Date: 14-Jul-2005
From: Ali Khormaee < khoalireza at yahoo.com >
Subject: The Functional Analysis of English, Second edition 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 15:06:35
From: Ali Khormaee < khoalireza at yahoo.com >
Subject: The Functional Analysis of English, Second edition 
 

AUTHOR: Bloor, Thomas; Bloor, Meriel
TITLE: The Functional Analysis of English, 2nd ed.
SUBTITLE: A Hallidayan Approach
PUBLISHER: Arnold
YEAR: 2004
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-267.html


Ali Reza Khormaee, Department of English Literature & Linguistics, 
Kordestan University 

Introduction

The book under review is intended as an introduction to Systemic 
Functional Grammar (SFG) based on the functional analysis of English. The 
theoretical model taken is that of Halliday (1994) and Halliday and 
Matthiesen (2004). The audience is considered to be the students new to 
English as well as specialists in other fields, such as discourse 
analysis, media students and gender studies. The book is organized into 
twelve chapters. Chapter 1 and 2 introduce some theoretical principles and 
basic terminology. Chapters 3 through 10 illustrate different aspects of 
SFG, chapter 11 shows the applications of SFG, and finally chapter 12 
gives us a historical overview of certain approaches - past and present. 
All the twelve chapters contain a section named "Further Study" which 
suggests some related books and papers. Chapters 3 to 10 also include 
exercises that get the reader practically engaged in the terms, notions 
and concepts introduced.
 
Synopsis

Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to some theoretical and practical 
principles basic to the type of the analysis put forward in the book . 
They are as following: 

1. Language is a system of meanings .That is, through our language acts, 
we produce meaning by means of lexical choices, grammatical resources, and 
linguistic forms.
2. Our linguistic choices are mainly unconscious. They are, of course, 
heavily dependant on the context. 
3. The complex aspects of the situation in which language is used dictate 
our way of using language. Different situations necessitate different 
uses. 
4. The unit of study is attested texts- the text being any stretch of 
language, spoken or written, for the purpose of real people's 
communication in actual circumstances .
5. The main unit of structure and, of course, the major unit of 
grammatical analysis is the clause which is itself part of a rank starting 
with clause, going through group and word, and ending with morpheme. 
6. The term function, which plays a central role in SFG, is generally 
divided into three categories: grammatical function, communicative 
function, and metafunction. Metafunction is, in turn, classified into 
three subcategories, namely ideational (experiential and logical), 
interpersonal, and textual metafunctions. 

Chapter 2 is also an introductory one. It starts with the parable of a 
lunatic dictator banning the technical terms. The parable is used to show 
the necessity of terminology in any science, including linguistics. The 
authors go on to brief the reader with the nine word classes accepted in 
English within SFG. They are noun, pronoun, adjective, numeral, 
determiner, verb, preposition, and conjunction. Part of the chapter is 
dedicated to defining subject as a context-dependant concept and the tests 
used in English for detecting it. A section deals with the notion of group 
and introduces nominal group, verbal group, adverbial group, conjunction 
group, and prepositional group. The chapter ends with a brief description 
of three approaches toward clause, namely "clause as exchange", "clause as 
message", and "clause as representation" which are respectively discussed 
with more details in chapters 3, 4, and 6.

Chapter 3 deals with the internal structure of the clause. It starts with 
a revisiting of subject which includes apposition, tests for detecting 
subject in a clause (subject-finite agreement test, question tag test, yes-
no question test), subjects in passive clauses, and dummy subjects. One 
section brings us a discussion of the division of the verbal group into 
Finite and Predicator and their respective role in turning sentences into 
negative and interrogative, dividing clause into Mood (subject + finite) 
and Residue (Predicator, Complement, Adjunct), and finally the link 
between the system of Mood (indicative vs. imperative) and the system of 
Polarity (positive vs. negative) within a clause. In the next section, the 
authors, following Berry (1975), treat the concept of Complement as an 
element within the clause which fills who or what slot after the verb. 
Complements are classified into direct object, indirect object, and 
intensive Complements. The pre-final section includes a discussion of 
Adjunct as a grammatically optional element in a clause and its 
classifications: circumstantial, conjunctive, and modal. The final section 
provides the reader with the analysis of a sample text as far as the 
internal elements of the clause are concerned. In short, chapter 3 covers 
the internal components of the clause: Subject, verbal group, Complement, 
and Adjunct. It elaborates on the idea of "clause as exchange". 

Chapter 4 brings the information structure and thematic structure of the 
clause into focus. First, it discusses the information structure (how the 
clause serves as a means of information packaging) and consequently the 
context-dependant dichotomy of given/new information in written and spoken 
English. A section is dedicated to the thematic structure which introduces 
the twin notions of theme and rheme. This section goes on to show that, in 
English, subject, Predicator, Complements, and circumstantial Adjunct can 
function as theme. It also treats unmarked themes in declaratives, 
interrogatives, wh-interrogatives, imperatives, and exclamatives. Marked 
theme in declarative clauses is another item covered. This section ends 
with some points about simple themes versus multiple themes. The last 
section shows the interaction of the thematic and information structure 
and the relevant linguistic opportunities and choices this interaction 
makes available to speakers/writers. This chapter discusses the notion 
of "clause as message". 

Chapter 5 is on the textual metafunction. That is, how language users 
apply the given-new structure, theme-rheme structure, and cohesive devices 
to longer stretches of language in order to give them texture (the quality 
of being text). The authors, using an example text, brief us on what the 
thematic progression and cohesive devices are, and how they play their 
role in "texturizing" any stretch of language. They introduce three common 
patterns of thematic progression, namely the constant theme pattern, the 
linear theme pattern, and the split rheme pattern. Bloor and Bloor also 
discuss the pattern of derived themes. They dedicate the rest of the 
chapter to the description of cohesive ties: reference, substitution, 
ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion. Reference is limited to 
endophoric reference (within the text) and two classification are 
presented, cataphoric (forward- looking) and anaphoric (backward- 
looking). Reference is also divided into personal, demonstrative, and 
comparative. Substitution is defined as a mechanism through which we avoid 
the repetition of lexical items, using grammatical resources. It is 
subdivided into nominal, verbal, and clausal substitution. Ellipsis is the 
omission of words, groups, and clauses with three classifications: 
nominal, verbal, and clausal. Lexical cohesion is described as the 
choosing of an item based on the previous choices. Reiteration, near-
synonyms, mutually exclusive categories, antonyms, collocations, and 
general nouns come under the umbrella of lexical cohesion. We can conclude 
that chapter 5 illustrates that how speakers/writers resort to the 
linguistic resources (thematic structure, information structure, cohesive 
ties) to realize the textual metafunction.

Chapter 6 tells how a clause realizes the ideational metafunction. It 
treats the clause as a means of representing the world (clause as 
representation). To do this, the authors introduce two crucial concepts, 
Process and Participant. Process has two interrelated senses: (1) what is 
going on in the clause as a whole; (2) that part of the clause that 
encodes the Process, verbal group. Participants are the entities taking 
part in the Process. Processes are classified into four major categories: 
materia, mental, relational, verbal . Material Process (kill, eat) is an 
action-type Process, which is classified into intransitive (involving only 
an Actor-Participant), transitive (containing a Goal-Participant in 
addition to an Actor), and ditransitive (having a Beneficiary-Participant 
in addition to Actor and Goal). Mental Process (see, know) expresses a 
psychological event. The related Participants are Senser (the entity 
experiencing the Process) and Phenomenon (that which is experienced). 
Relational Process is typically encoded by copular verbs, and is divided 
into attributive Process in which an Attribute (hungry) is attributed to a 
Carrier (John) and identifying Process which involves an Identifier- 
Participant and an Identified-Participant (John is his name). Verbal 
process includes a Sayer and a Quoted in case of direct speech or a 
Reported when dealing with indirect speech. This chapter also provides us 
with a discussion of grammatical metaphor in the sense that a congruent 
form is substituted by a non-congruent form. There are three types of 
grammatical metaphors : experiential in which a process is turned into a 
noun ( nominalization ), logical where, for example, two processes of the 
type X because Y is rendered into the type X is Y, and interpersonal in 
which modal verbs are expressed by adverbs, adjectives, or nouns. A final 
short section is on the concept of Circumstance as an element which is 
neither a Process nor a Participant and which deals with temporal and 
physical settings and the manner in which the Process is realized. This 
chapter demonstrates how Process, Participant, and Circumstance within the 
clause help language users represent the world, real or imaginary. 

Chapter 7 tells us about the structure of the nominal group (head, 
modifier: pre-modifier and post-modifier).We are told that modifiers can 
be approached from two points of view. Either we can consider them as 
elements realizing logical metafunction within the nominal group because 
they stand in dependency relation to a head, or we can take them as 
constituents materializing experiential metafunction since they tell us 
things about the world around us concerning a head. The latter is taken by 
the authors for their practical purpose, while not denying the former. 
Modifiers as having experiential function are classified into five groups: 
deictics (these stations) numeratives (two stations), classifiers (bus 
station), epithets (noisy station), and qualifiers (a station over the 
corner). The first four ones are all pre-modifiers and the last one is 
conflated with post-modifiers. Within the nominal group, the head has the 
experiential function of thing, with the thing being general enough to 
include anything that can serve as a head, and at the same time 
representing a class (station, girl, box, resistance). One section is 
dedicated to the difference between prepositional phrases as qualifiers 
and prepositional phrases as Adjuncts, and another to the embedding of 
prepositional phrases within prepositional phrases when acting as 
qualifiers. Two final sections are respectively on the nominal group 
complexes and other complexes. In summary, this chapter gives us a general 
view of the nominal group structure. 

Chapter 8 is on the embedding of clauses. It starts with a discussion of a 
clause embedded within a nominal group, and thereby introducing the 
notions embedded or rankshifted clause and superordinate clause. The 
chapter goes on to provide us with some points on the types of the 
embedded clauses within nominal groups (defining or restrictive relative 
clauses and non-defining or non-restrictive relative clauses), contact 
clauses in which the relative pronoun is omitted and the related stylistic 
options, rankshifted clauses in which the relative pronoun is the 
complement of a preposition and the relevant stylistic issues, and non-
finite (reduced) relative clauses. A section discusses multiple embedding. 
Toward the end of the chapter, a discussion is presented concerning 
embedded clauses, whether finite or non-finite, functioning as subject or 
Complement, and postposed (extra posed) clauses. This chapter provides, in 
each section, a functional analysis of the internal structure of the 
clause based on the terms and notions introduced in chapter 3 (subject, 
Predicator, Finite, Complement, Adjunct). It gives us a functional view of 
the embedding of clauses in English within SFG. 

Chapter 9 studies the expansion of a clause by means of producing clause 
complexes. These complexes are a combination of two or more clauses 
through linking equal clauses called parataxis, or binding one clause to 
another in a dependency relationship referred to as hypo- taxis. Linking 
equal clauses is carried out using linking conjunctions or linkers (and, 
or, so, but) traditionally termed as coordinate conjunctions. In binding 
one clause to another, we have one dominant and one dependent clause. The 
binding is realized through binding conjunctions or binders traditionally 
known as subordinate conjunctions. Three subsections are respectively 
about the sequence of clauses when dealing with hypotaxis and parataxis, 
non-finite dependent clauses, and the differences between defining 
relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses, the most important of 
which is considering defining ones as instances of parataxis and non-
defining ones as tokens of hypotaxis. A final section presents us some 
examples of more complicated clause complexes, showing instances of 
multiple hypotaxis and parataxis. 

Chapter 10 looks at clause complexes from a logical point of view. That 
is, how a clause projects another (projection vs. expansion). Projection 
is of two types. One is paratactic and the other hypotactic. Paratactic 
projection involves direct speech or thought where a main clause stands in 
parataxis to a clause expressing direct speech or thought ( He said "I saw 
it on TV- I thought "This is the end of road for me).Hypotactic projection 
includes cases in which a main clause projects another clause representing 
an indirect speech or thought (Nick said there were fifty of you - He 
thought that the origin had one grave defect). This chapter also briefs on 
cases of non-finite projection where we have one clause projecting a non-
finite clause (He told me to do it). There exists a section on grammatical 
metaphor (nominalization). This is a process through which a projecting 
verb turns into a projecting noun: 

He argued that she was wrong. 
His argument that she was wrong ... 

The difference lies in the fact that, in the former, we have a dependent 
clause and in the latter an embedded one. The two final sections provide 
us respectively with examples of more complicated clause complexes and 
ambiguous clause complexes. 

Chapter 11 is designed to show the applications of SFG because the 
authors, following Halliday (1994) believe that theories are "means of 
action" and must have applications. This is realized by showing the uses 
of the functional analysis of English in analyzing scientific texts and 
valued texts, and by illustrating how SFG in English can put forward 
guidelines and helps in areas such as language development and teaching, 
language and power, language and literature, not to mention other areas. 
In short, this chapter establishes the point that theories in general and 
linguistic theories in particular are not for mere theorizing, hence 
denying the idea of theory for the sake of theory . Therefore, reading 
through the chapter, we are brought to the conclusion that the functional 
analysis of language in general and of English in particular is helpful 
because it goes beyond sheer theorizing. 

Chapter 12 gives us a historical overview which encompasses the ideas and 
theories of the beginning of the twentieth century modern linguistics (de 
Saussure), American linguistics(Sapir, Whorf, Bloomfield, Chomsky), the 
Prague School (Trubetskoy, Jacobson, Mathesius, Firbas), and founders of 
functional linguistics (Malinowski, Firth). It also introduces some 
alternative functional approaches, like those of Givon, Dik, and Fawcett. 
This chapter tries to demonstrate some affinities and contrasts concerning 
SFG as formulated by Halliday.

EVALUATION

The Bloor and Bloor's book has an accessible style. Reading the book, the 
reader feels safe and home with the basics of SFG analytic framework and 
can approach other more detailed introductions and more technical books 
and papers. The followings are among its merits:
1. Real authentic examples;
2. Clear definitions, descriptions, and classifications;
3. Exercises and the answer key;
4. The "Further Study" section; and
5. The glossary.

REFERENCES

Berry, M. (1975) Introduction to Systemic Linguistics: 1. Structures and 
Systems. London:Batsford.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1994) Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: 
Edward Arnold.

Halliday M. A. K. & C. M. I. M. Matthiesen (2004) An Introduction to 
Functional Grammar. London: Arnold. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

I have a Ph. D. in linguistics from Tehran University. My area of interest 
is syntax-information structure interface. The title of my Ph. D. 
dissertation is "Noun Phrase Topicalization in Persian: A 
Syntactodiscoursal Approach" in which I studied noun phrase topicalization 
based on two approaches, namely Government & Binding and information 
structure, and arguing for the merits of the information structure 
approach over Government & Binding.





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