E-Book Overview
For nearly half a century, Professor M. A. K. Halliday has been enriching the discipline of linguistics with his keen insights into the social semiotic phenomenon we call language. This ten-volume series presents the seminal works of Professor Halliday. This third volume includes papers that explore different aspects of language from a systemic functional perspective. The papers are organized into three sections: the place of linguistics as a discipline; linguistics and language; and language as social semiotic. In addition, there is a new work from Professor Halliday, entitled 'On the "architecture" of human language', in which he focuses on the assumptions or working hypotheses that enabled him to explore important questions about this massive semiotic power called 'language'.
E-Book Content
On Language and Linguistics
Collected Works of M. A. K. Halliday
Volume 1: On Grammar Volume 2:
Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse
Volume 3: Volume 4:
On Language and Linguistics The Language of Early Childhood
Volume 5: Volume 6:
The Language of Science
Computational and Quantitative Studies
Volume 7:
Studies in English Language
Volume 8:
Studies in Chinese Language
Volume 9: Volume 10:
Language and Education Language and Society
Volume 3 in the Collected Works of M. A. K. Halliday
On Language and Linguistics M. A. K. Halliday Edited by Jonathan Webster
A\ continu LONDON • NEW YORK
Continuum The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London, SE1 7NX 15 East 26 Street, New York, NY 10010 First published 2003 Reprinted 2004 This collection © M. A. K. Halliday 2003 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-8264-5869-6 (hardback)
Typeset by BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts. Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodrnin, Cornwall
CONTENTS
Preface
vii
Acknowledgements
ix
Introduction: On the "architecture" of human language Professor M. A. K. Halliday
1
PART ONE: THE PLACE OF LINGUISTICS AS A DISCIPLINE Editor's introduction
33
1 Syntax and the consumer (1964)
36
2 Grammar, society and the noun (1966)
50
3 The context of linguistics (1975)
74
4 Ideas about language (1977)
92
5 Language and the order of nature (1987)
116
6 New ways of meaning: the challenge to applied linguistics (1990)
139
PART Two: LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE Editor's introduction 7 A brief sketch of systemic grammar (1969)
177 180
CONTENTS
8 Systemic background (1985)
185
9 Systemic grammar and the concept of a "science of language" (1992)
199
10 Language in a changing world (1993)
213
11 A recent view of "missteps" in linguistic theory (1995)
232
12 Linguistics as metaphor (1997)
248
13 Is the grammar neutral? Is the grammarian neutral? (2001)
271
PART THREE: LANGUAGE AS SOCIAL SEMIOTIC Editor's introduction
295
14 The functional basis of language (1973)
298
15 Towards a sociological semantics (1972)
323
16 The history of a sentence (1992)
355
17 The act of meaning (1992)
375
18 On language in relation to the evolution of human consciousness