Trying To Classify Speech Function 'From Below' [New]

Martin (1992: 36):

As far as determining speech function is concerned, there are a number of factors to take into account. First of all, there are several indexical markers which clearly distinguish proposals from propositions. These include please, kindly, allright, okay and thank-you. Please and kindly are found in Commands, allright and okay in Response Offers to Commands and thank-you in responses to Offers or Commands.

Could I have a midi [middy] of Coopers, please?

— Okay.

— Thanks.

Beyond this, it is difficult to find unique grammatical criteria for recognising very general categories such as Offer, Command, Statement and so on.

 

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, here Martin is trying to argue semantic distinctions 'from below' — in terms of grammatical expressions. This is the direct opposite of the methodology of SFL Theory, which gives priority to the view 'from above' — the meanings that are expressed. See the previous post.

[2] This is misleading. To be clear, three of the four primary speech functions can be recognised by their congruent grammatical realisations:

• commands realised in imperative mood,
• statements realised in declarative mood, and
• questions realised in interrogative mood.