functional grammar

Semester O/view Resources Essays Bibliography

What is functional grammar? Functional grammar has a number of features which make it suitable for studying language variation. Firstly, it is based on the notion of choice - it models grammar as a set of options (a repertoire or resource). This means that it presents grammar to teachers and students as a set of tools they can use rather than a set of rules about what not to do.

theme and rheme

he textual metafunction
"The textual metafunction creates discourse"
 





"Of the various structures which, when mapped on to each other, make up a clause, we will consider first the one which gives the clause its character as a message. This is known as thematic structure. We may assume that in all languages the clause has the character of a message: it has some form of organization giving it the status of a communicative event. But there are different ways in which this may be achieved. In English, as in many other languages, the clause is organized as a message by having a special status assigned to one part of it. One element in the clause is enunciated as the theme; this then combines with the remainder so that the two parts together constitute a message." (Halliday, p 37)

• creates discourse
• clause as message
• the linguistic expression of the other two metafunctions (ideational, interpersonal)
• theme vs. rheme