Tuesday 26 May 2015

Misidentifying A Metafunction

Martin (1992: 178):
As noted in 4.1 with respect to text [4:3] some kinds of relations between clause complexes are more "rhetorical" than experiential. … The rhetorical nature of these conjunctions can be brought out by comparing them with three experientially oriented conjunctive relations in the same text … 

Blogger Comment:

In SFL theory, non-structural conjunctive relations — textual transitions between messages or groups of messages — are textual, while structural relations between clauses in complexes are logical.  See Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 583-5).

This use of 'experiential' is meant to be a characterisation of Halliday & Hasan's (1976: 239-41) external conjunction, 'relations between external phenomena', in contradistinction to internal conjunction, relations 'internal to the communication situation'.  See tomorrow's posting.