Functional discourse grammar
Part of a series on |
Linguistics |
---|
Portal |
Functional grammar (FG) and functional discourse grammar (FDG) are
The top-level unit of analysis in functional discourse grammar is the discourse move, not the sentence or the clause. This is a principle that sets functional discourse grammar apart from many other linguistic theories, including its predecessor functional grammar.
History
Functional grammar (FG) is a model of
The notion of "function" in FG generalizes the standard distinction of
- Semantic function (Agent, Patient, Recipient, etc.), describing the role of participants in states of affairs or actions expressed
- Syntactic functions (Subject and Object), defining different perspectives in the presentation of a linguistic expression
- Pragmatic functions (Theme and Tail, Topic and Focus), defining the informational status of constituents, determined by the pragmatic context of the verbal interaction
Principles of functional discourse grammar
There are a number of principles that guide the analysis of natural language utterances according to functional discourse grammar.
Functional discourse grammar explains the phonology, morphosyntax, pragmatics and semantics in one linguistic theory. According to functional discourse grammar, linguistic utterances are built top-down in this order by deciding upon:
- The pragmatic aspects of the utterance
- The semantic aspects of the utterance
- The morphosyntacticaspects of the utterance
- The phonological aspects of the utterance
According to functional discourse grammar, four components are involved in building up an utterance:
- The conceptual component, which is where the communicative intention that drives the utterance construction arises
- The grammatical component, where the utterance is formulated and encoded according to the communicative intention
- The contextual component, which contains all elements that can be referred to in the history of the discourse or in the environment
- The output component, which realizes the utterance as sound, writing, or signing
The grammatical component consists of four levels:
- The interpersonal level, which accounts for the pragmatics
- The representational level, which accounts for the semantics
- The morphosyntactic level, which accounts for the syntax and morphology
- The phonological level, which accounts for the phonology of the utterance
Example
This example analyzes the utterance "I can't find the red pan. It is not in its usual place." according to functional discourse grammar at the interpersonal level.
At the interpersonal level, this utterance is one discourse move, which consists of two discourse acts, one corresponding to "I can't find the red pan." and another corresponding to "It is not in its usual place."
- The first discourse act consists of:
- A illocutionary force
- A speaker, denoted by the word "I"
- An addressee
- A communicated content, which consists of:
- A referential subact corresponding to "I"
- An ascriptive subact corresponding to "find", which has the function Focus
- A referential subact corresponding to "the red pan", which contains two ascriptive subacts corresponding to "red" and "pan", and which has the function Topic
- A
- The second discourse act consists of:
- A declarative illocutionary force
- A speaker
- An addressee
- A communicated content, which consists of:
- A referential subact corresponding to "it", which has the function Topic
- An ascriptive subact corresponding to "in its usual place", which has the function Focus
- Within this subact there is a referential subact corresponding to "its usual place", which consists of:
- A referential subact corresponding to "its"
- An ascriptive subact corresponding to "usual"
- An ascriptive subact corresponding to "place"
- Within this subact there is a referential subact corresponding to "its usual place", which consists of:
- A referential subact corresponding to "it", which has the function
Similar analysis, decomposing the utterance into progressively smaller units, is possible at the other levels of the grammatical component.
See also
- Nominal group
- Thematic equative
- Verbal Behavior (book)
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-927811-4.
- ISBN 978-3-03910-696-7. Archived from the originalon 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ISBN 9783110870374. Archived from the originalon 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ISBN 9780720460285.
- ^ Dik, Simon C. (1989). The Theory of Functional Grammar, Parts 1 & 2 (1 ed.).
- ISBN 9783110154047.