Systemic Functional Grammar INTRODUCTION What is Functional grammar
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Systemic Functional Grammar INTRODUCTION
What is Functional grammar? Functional grammar describes the relationship between grammatical structures and meanings It focuses on language resources for:
What is Functional grammar? Functional grammar describes the relationship between grammatical structures and meanings It focuses on language resources for: �Analyzing experience ( what is going on) � Subject matter ( field) - what about ?
What is Functional grammar? Functional grammar describes the relationship between grammatical structures and meanings It focuses on language resources for: �Analyzing experience ( what is going on) � Subject matter ( field) - what about ? �Analyzing interaction ( who is communicating with whom) � Roles and relationships ( tenor) – who to?
What is Functional grammar? Functional grammar describes the relationship between grammatical structures and meanings It focuses on language resources for: �Analyzing experience ( what is going on) � Subject matter ( field) - what about ? �Analyzing interaction ( who is communicating with whom) � Roles and relationships ( tenor) – who to? �Analyzing the ways messages are constructed � Mode and medium ( mode) – how to?
4 assumptions of SFG: �Language is: �FUNCTIONAL �SEMANTIC �CONTEXTUAL �SEMIOTIC
Why is Language functional? The function of language is to create meanings.
Why is Language contextual? • Because meanings are influenced by the context in which they are made. Cultural Context Social Context WHAT is being spoken or written about ? WHO is involved in the interaction ? HOW is the message being conveyed ? PURPOSE What is the purposeful cultural activity ? Written Symbols Text Auditory Symbols Subject Matter Roles and Relationships Mode and Medium Genre LEXICOGRAMMAR
Cultural Context PURPOSE What is the purposeful cultural activity ? Genre Football
Cultural Context Blues vs Browns Social Context WHAT is being spoken or written about ? WHO is involved in the interaction ? HOW is the message being conveyed ? PURPOSE What is the purposeful cultural activity ? Subject Matter Roles and Relationships Mode and Medium Genre Football
Cultural Context Football Blues vs Browns Social Context WHAT is being spoken or written about ? WHO is involved in the interaction ? HOW is the message being conveyed ? PURPOSE What is the purposeful cultural activity ? Written Symbols Text Auditory Symbols Subject Matter Roles and Relationships Mode and Medium Genre Luciano Morales
Why is Language semiotic? �Because language offers us different options or choices for creating meaning. We make meanings by choosing. �a finite set of options or oppositions �The choices in the system are discrete �It is the oppositions, not the substance, in the system that are important
Why is Language semantic? �Because its function is to create meanings. �Language creates 3 different kinds of meaning simultaneously ( METAFUNCTIONS): �EXPERIENTIAL OR LOGICAL ( System of transitivity) �INTERPERSONAL ( System of Mood) �TEXTUAL ( System of theme)
METAFUNCTIONS: �Experiential meaning: has to do with the way language represent our experience of the world as well as the inner world of thought and feelings �Interpersonal meaning: has to do with the way language express the writer’s or speaker’s reaction towards others and writer’s or speaker’s attitude towards a subject �Textual meaning: has to do with the way a text is organized. Language use to organize experiential and interpersonal meanings into a linear and coherent whole.