PROLOGUE: note to the student

Who is this course for?

This course was originally written to be a component in a distance learning MA for teachers of English at Birmingham University. It focuses on linguistic aspects of English grammar rather than the rule-based grammar which learners may be more familiar with (such as Mind Your Grammar). It has been taught to BA English major students in both Sweden and Hong Kong, and is therefore appropriate for anyone studying English at an advanced level or teaching English as a second language.

If you are studying to improve your English rather than linguistics, there is still a lot in this course which can help your understanding of how English works. For example, Lesson 5 "Functions of the sentence" gives a useful overview of the system of MOOD in English (questions or statements etc), and Part 2 (b) gives a detailed explanation of the use of DEICTICS in English (words like "the", "a", "this" or "my" which take their meaning from the context). This is one of the most difficult areas that learners encounter, and this section can serve as a useful reference for students. Part 2 (c) also has a full explanation of the use of adjectives in English - do you know the difference between "bored" and "boring" and why they are different? 

Part 3 may also be particularly useful for the language learner as it deals extensively with the the system of English verbs, and has a full explanation of TENSE and ASPECT, as well as the use of MODAL VERBS. 

What is "functional" grammar? 

The term "functional" is used because it describes the chief principle of this approach to grammar, which sees grammatical categories in terms of their communicative functions. This course draws extensively on the work of grammarians and linguists like Michael Halliday and John Sinclair, and uses some of their terminology as well as concepts. Reference is also made to the work of Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik.

But before you start following these lessons, take some time to make sure you are familiar with the key concepts outlined below.

THE CONCEPT OF SUBJECT

The notion of subject is the most basic grammatical concept, and traditionally grammarians have identified three types of subject:-

1. psychological subject - the concern of the message, what is in the speaker's mind (theme)
2. grammatical subject something predicated (subject)
3. logical subject - doer of the action (actor)

 These three concepts of subject correspond to the notions of theme, subject and actor which are generally used in grammatical analysis. In Halliday's "Introduction to Functional Grammar", these notions are understood in terms of the idea of the clause as message, the clause as exchange, and the clause as representataion.

Analysis of clause structure

These categories correspond broadly to the analysis of the clause in three categories:-

1. The clause as representation - the semantic structure of process, participants and circumstantial elements.

2. The clause as exchange - interactive speech roles, communicative functions.

3. The clause as message - information structure and textual meaning of the clause - thematic foregrounding (starting point), meaning derived from context.

All clauses have these elements of meaning in some way.

THE CLAUSE AS MESSAGE

Basic information structure: topic / comment (also called theme - rheme)

The theme occupies the first position in a clause:-

once upon a time

very carefully

on Monday

as for, regarding etc

e.g what he said to me was the truth

Themes may also be verb themes: 
eg Forget it I won't 
and whole clauses can act as themes

Choice of theme

Themes are marked or unmarked - this refers to which clause element is chosen for foregrounding, and which is most usual (unmarked ).
What is marked (NOT normally chosen) depends on mood:-
Declarative: the theme is typically the same as the Subject 
e.g I blame you. (unmarked)

Marked theme - in declarative mood, this is typically an adverbial or prepositional phrase
e.g suddenly, at night, without pity
The most marked theme is a complement:
e.g nature I loved, blue the color is

Interrogative mood: this is the basic question form.  
1. Polar (yes / no), themes in the finite verb, 2 part themes
unmarked:-

2. WH - theme
marked:-
e.g In your house who does the cooking?
Thematic structures in the interrogative:-

Imperative mood:

THE CLAUSE AS EXCHANGE

This concerns dialogue - the interaction that takes place between speakers and speech roles, what we do when we exchange goods, services, and information.

In exchange of information the most complicated linguistic structures may be involved.

In speech acts such as offers, instructions, requests and so on, language functions to achieve an end. 

Grammatical resources are highly developed for exchange functions, and the system which is most closely linked with interactive meaning and specific speech roles is the system of mood.

MOOD -> S + finite

THE CLAUSE AS REPRESENTATION

This refers to the semantic structure of clauses - the process, participants and circumstances. This semantic structure expresses our deepest experience of reality - of being, doing, feeling, existing, happening.

Clause structure organises experience as a semantic configuration.

Processes are typically verb phrases, participants noun phrases, and circumstances prepositional or adverbial phrases.