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- Volume 12, Issue, 2005
Functions of Language - Volume 12, Issue 2, 2005
Volume 12, Issue 2, 2005
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Theme unit analysis: A systemic functional treatment of textual meanings in Japanese
Author(s): Elizabeth A. Thomsonpp.: 151–179 (29)More LessAccording to Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) theory the structural shape of the clause in English is determined by the three metafunctions — ideational, interpersonal and textual (Halliday 1994:179). In Japanese, the situation is similar as far as ideational (Teruya 1998) and interpersonal (Fukui 1998) meanings are concerned. With respect to the textual metafunction, however, the situation appears to be different. Due to the presence of ellipsis, both anaphoric Subject ellipsis and formal exophoric Subject ellipsis (Hasan 1996), along with the operation of clause chaining, Japanese appears to organise textually over another kind of unit, the Theme unit. This paper will explore the Theme unit as it functions to organise discourse in Japanese, offering grammatical and semantic recognition criteria within a Systemic Functional theoretical framework. Justification for the theorisation of this textual unit will be presented together with a number of examples. In Japanese, the Theme unit is the unit within which Theme and Rheme unfold. Theme is realised by first position in the Theme unit, and the Theme unit can map onto clause simplexes, complexes, clauses within a complex and across sentences (in written texts). The paper will conclude with a discussion of the function of the Theme unit and the nature or status of the Theme unit within the SFL model of language, arguing that the notion is possibly applicable to the analyses of other languages, including English.
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Voice in Chinese: A systemic functional perspective
Author(s): Eden Sum-hung Lipp.: 181–203 (23)More LessThe present paper revisits a long-standing controversial issue in Chinese grammar — the passive voice — from a systemic functional approach. This study examines how the ba- and bei-constructions control the flow of information in text and shows that they are textually motivated. It argues, by differentiating the bei-construction from the OSV structure, and the ba-construction from the SOV and SVO structures, that the two constructions are not options of THEME, but form a separate level within the grammar. It then describes the system of VOICE in the language. Furthermore, facing the increasing productivity of the ba- and bei-constructions in process types other than transitive material processes, this study examines this trend of increasing productivity.
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The communicative potential of verbs of “away-from” motion in English, German and Russian
Author(s): Serge Sharoffpp.: 205–240 (36)More LessThis paper proposes a model for describing lexical semantics within systemic-functional theory. Formal approaches to lexical semantics assume that words have meanings which exist independently from communication and are represented by means of (semi-) formal definitions. Functional approaches treat language as a tool for social interaction and, in the case of lexical semantics, assume that lexical items provide resources for realising the communicative intentions of the speaker. The paper explores problems occurring when uses of words in context are categorised according to pre-established sense distinctions and proposes a mechanism that uses systemic networks to describe meanings of lexical items as functions of their uses. The paper ends with a case study of uses of English, German and Russian verbs of motion, including options for their translation. The model is also tested empirically by considering word uses in an aligned parallel English-German-Russian corpus.
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A cognitive view of the coordination of predicates
Author(s): Hanna Pishwapp.: 241–273 (33)More LessCoordination of predicates is not, as claimed by many researchers, pragmatically conditioned; neither can it be described or explained satisfactorily in terms of purely syntactic theories. The present study on conjoined predicates shows that this structure is used referentially and covers varying scopes and types of knowledge representations. Its use is examined in various linguistic systems, ranging from contact languages and a developing second language to native usage. While conjoining of predicates is realized in serial verbs in contact languages to expand the deficient lexicon, its function in initial stages of learner language is the creation of tight knowledge chunks. When the scope is widened with the expansion of the general linguistic system, it is extended to cover larger, novel contents. An accompanying investigation of native English shows a whole gamut of usages with the content varying from a narrow to a broad scope as well as to on-line chunking, which means that conjoined predicates symbolize information that is stored, perceived, or imagined and serves as a stylistic device in a large number of contexts. The development and the native use of this structure are described and explained in terms of Role and Reference Grammar, which takes a semantic and syntactic view on linguistic structures.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 31 (2024)
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Volume 30 (2023)
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Volume 29 (2022)
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Volume 28 (2021)
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Volume 27 (2020)
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Volume 26 (2019)
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Volume 25 (2018)
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Volume 24 (2017)
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Volume 23 (2016)
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Volume 22 (2015)
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Volume 21 (2014)
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Volume 20 (2013)
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Volume 19 (2012)
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Volume 18 (2011)
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Volume 17 (2010)
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Volume 16 (2009)
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Volume 15 (2008)
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Volume 14 (2007)
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Volume 13 (2006)
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Volume 12 (2005)
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Volume 11 (2004)
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Volume 10 (2003)
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Volume 9 (2002)
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Volume 8 (2001)
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Volume 7 (2000)
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Volume 6 (1999)
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Volume 5 (1998)
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Volume 4 (1997)
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Volume 3 (1996)
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Volume 2 (1995)
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Volume 1 (1994)
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Language patterns and ATTITUDE
Author(s): Monika Bednarek
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