Michael Halliday

Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often M.A.K. Halliday; 13 April 1925 –

Michael Halliday
15 April 2018) was an English-born linguist who developed the internationally
influential systemic functional linguistic SFL model of language. His grammatical
descriptions go by the name of systemic functional grammar.[1] Halliday describes
language as a semiotic system, "not in the sense of a system of signs, but a systemic
resource for meaning".[2] For Halliday, language is a "meaning potential"; by
extension, he defines linguistics as the study of "how people exchange meanings by
'languaging'".[3] Halliday describes himself as a generalist, meaning that he has tried
"to look at language from every possible vantage point", and has described his work
as "wander[ing] the highways and byways of language".[4] But he has claimed that
"to the extent that I favoured any one angle, it was the social: language as the
creature and creator of human society".[5]

Halliday's grammar differs markedly from traditional accounts that emphasise

classification of individual words (e.g. noun, verb, pronoun, preposition) in formal,
Halliday at his 90th-birthday
written sentences in a restricted number of "valued" varieties of English. Halliday's
symposium, 2015
model conceives grammar explicitly as how meanings are coded into wordings, in
both spoken and written modes in all varieties and formal registers of a language. Born Michael Alexander
Three strands of grammar operate simultaneously. They concern: (i) the Kirkwood Halliday
interpersonal exchange between speaker and listener, and writer and reader; (ii) 13 April 1925
representation of our outer and inner worlds; and (iii) the wording of these meanings Leeds, Yorkshire,
into cohesive spoken and written texts, from within the clause up to whole texts.[6] England
Notably, the grammar embraces intonation in spoken language.[7][8] Halliday's Died 15 April 2018
seminal Introduction to Functional Grammar (first edition, 1985) spawned a new (aged 93)
research discipline and related pedagogical approaches. By far the most progress has Sydney
been made on English, but the international growth of communities of SFL scholars Residence Australia
[9][10]
has led to the adaptation of Halliday's advances to some other languages.
Nationality English
Known for Systemic functional
linguistics

Contents Spouse(s) Ruqaiya Hasan

Biography
Scientific career

Linguistic theory and description Fields Linguistics

Studies of grammar Influences Vilém Mathesius
Fundamental categories (Prague school) Wang
Grammar as systemic Li, J.R. Firth, Benjamin
Grammar as functional
Lee Whorf
Language in society
Influenced Ruqaiya Hasan,
Studies in child language development C.M.I.M. Matthiessen,
Selected works J.R. Martin, Norman
See also Fairclough
External links
References
Sources and external links
Biography
Halliday was born and raised in England. His parents nurtured his fascination for language: his mother, Winifred, had studied French,
and his father, Wilfred, was a dialectologist, a dialect poet, and an English teacher with a love for grammar and Elizabethan
drama.[11] In 1942, Halliday volunteered for the national services' foreign language training course. He was selected to study Chinese
on the strength of his success in being able to differentiate tones. After 18 months' training, he spent a year in India working with the
Chinese Intelligence Unit doing counter-intelligence work. In 1945 he was brought back to London to teach Chinese.[12] He took a
BA honours degree in modern Chinese language and literature (Mandarin) through the University of London—an external degree for
which he studied in China. He then lived for three years in China, where he studied under Luo Changpei at Peking University and
under Wang Li at Lingnan University,[13] before returning to take a PhD in Chinese linguistics at Cambridge under the supervision of
Gustav Hallam and then J.R. Firth.[14] Having taught languages for 13 years, he changed his field of specialisation to linguistics,[15]
and developed systemic functional linguistics, including systemic functional grammar, elaborating on the foundations laid by his
British teacher J.R. Firth and a group of European linguists of the early 20th century, the Prague school. His seminal paper on this
model was published in 1961.[16]

Halliday's first academic position was as assistant lecturer in Chinese, at Cambridge University, from 1954 to 1958. In 1958 he
moved to Edinburgh, where he was lecturer in general linguistics until 1960, and reader from 1960 to 1963. From 1963 to 1965 he
was the director of the Communication Research Center at University College, London. During 1964, he was also Linguistic Society
of America Professor, at Indiana University. From 1965 to 1971 he was professor of linguistics at UCL. In 1972–73 he was a fellow
at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences, Stanford, and in 1973–74 professor of linguistics at the University of
Illinois. In 1974 he briefly moved back to Britain to be professor of language and linguistics at Essex University
. In 1976 he moved to
Australia as foundation professor of linguistics at theUniversity of Sydney, where he remained until he retired in 1987.[17]

Halliday worked in multiple areas of linguistics, both theoretical and applied, and was especially concerned with applying the
understanding of the basic principles of language to the theory and practices of education.[18] In 1987 he was awarded the status of
Emeritus Professor of the University of Sydney and Macquarie University, Sydney. He has honorary doctorates from University of
Birmingham (1987), York University (1988), the University of Athens (1995), Macquarie University (1996), and Lingnan University
(1999).[19]

He died in Sydney of natural causes on 15 April 2018. He was 93 years old.

Linguistic theory and description

Halliday's grammatical theory and descriptions gained wide recognition after publication of the first edition of his book An
Introduction to Functional Grammar in 1985. A second edition was published in 1994, and then a third, in which he collaborated
with Christian Matthiessen, in 2004. A fourth edition was published in 2014. Halliday's conception of grammar – or
"lexicogrammar", a term he coined to argue that lexis and grammar are part of the same phenomenon – is based on a more general
theory of language as a social semiotic resource, or "meaning potential" (see Systemic functional linguistics). Halliday follows
Hjelmslev and Firth in distinguishing theoretical from descriptive categories in linguistics.[20] He argues that "theoretical categories,
and their inter-relations, construe an abstract model of language ... they are interlocking and mutally defining.[20] The theoretical
architecture derives from work on the description of natural discourse, and as such 'no very clear line is drawn between '(theoretical)
linguistics' and 'applied linguistics'".[21] So the theory "is continually evolving as it is brought to bear on solving problems of a
research or practical nature".[20] Halliday contrasts theoretical categories with descriptive categories, defined as "categories set up in
the description of particular languages".[20] His descriptive work has focused on English and Mandarin.

Halliday argues against some claims about language associated with the generative tradition. Language, he argues, "cannot be
equated with 'the set of all grammatical sentences', whether that set is conceived of as finite or infinite".[22] He rejects the use of
formal logic in linguistic theories as "irrelevant to the understanding of language" and the use of such approaches as "disastrous for
linguistics".[23] On Chomsky specifically, he writes that "imaginary problems were created by the whole series of dichotomies that
Chomsky introduced, or took over unproblematized: not only syntax/semantics but also grammar/lexis, language/thought,
competence/performance. Once these dichotomies had been set up, the problem arose of locating and maintaining the boundaries
between them."[23]

Studies of grammar

Fundamental categories
Halliday's first major work on grammar was "Categories of the theory of grammar", in the journal Word in 1961.[24] In this paper, he
argued for four "fundamental categories" in grammar: unit, structure, class, and system. These categories are "of the highest order of
abstraction", but he defended them as necessary to "make possible a coherent account of what grammar is and of its place in
language"[25] In articulating unit, Halliday proposed the notion of a rank scale. The units of grammar form a hierarchy, a scale from
largest to smallest, which he proposed as: sentence, clause, group/phrase, word and morpheme.[26] Halliday defined structure as
"likeness between events in successivity" and as "an arrangement of elements ordered in places".[27] He rejects a view of structure as
"strings of classes, such as nominal group + verbalgroup + nominal group", describing structure instead as "configurations of
functions, where the solidarity is organic".[28]

Grammar as systemic
Halliday's early paper shows that the notion of "system" has been part of his theory from its origins. Halliday explains this
preoccupation in the following way: "It seemed to me that explanations of linguistic phenomena needed to be sought in relationships
among systems rather than among structures – in what I once called "deep paradigms" – since these were essentially where speakers
made their choices".[29] Halliday's "systemic grammar" is a semiotic account of grammar
, because of this orientation to choice. Every
linguistic act involves choice, and choices are made on many scales. Systemic grammars draw on system networks as their primary
representation tool as a consequence. For instance, a major clause must display some structure that is the formal realization of a
choice from the system of "voice", i.e. it must be either "middle" or "effective", where "effective" leads to the further choice of
"operative" (otherwise known as 'active') or "receptive" (otherwise known as "passive").

Grammar as functional
Halliday's grammar is not justsystemic, but systemic functional. He argues that the explanation of how language works "needed to be
grounded in a functional analysis, since language had evolved in the process of carrying out certain critical functions as human
beings interacted with their ... 'eco-social' environment".[29] Halliday's early grammatical descriptions of English, called "Notes on
Transitivity and Theme in English – Parts 1–3"[30] include reference to "four components in the grammar of English representing
four functions that the language as a communication system is required to carry out: the experiential, the logical, the discoursal and
the speech functional or interpersonal".[31] The "discoursal" function was renamed the "textual function".[32] In this discussion of
functions of language, Halliday draws on the work of Bühler and Malinowski. Halliday's notion of language functions, or
"metafunctions", became part of his general linguistic theory
.

Language in society
The final volume of Halliday's 10 volumes of Collected Papers is called Language in society, reflecting his theoretical and
methodological connection to language as first and foremost concerned with "acts of meaning". This volume contains many of his
early papers, in which he argues for a deep connection between language and social structure. Halliday argues that language does not
merely to reflect social structure. For instance, he writes:

... if we say that linguistic structure "reflects" social structure, we are really assigning to language a role that is too
passive ... Rather we should say that linguistic structure is the realization of social structure, actively symbolizing it in
a process of mutual creativity. Because it stands as a metaphor for society, language has the property of not only
 transmitting the social order but also maintaining and potentially modifying it. (This is undoubtedly the explanation
of the violent attitudes that under certain social conditions come to be held by one group towards the speech of
others.)[33]

Studies in child language development

In enumerating his claims about the trajectory of children's language development, Halliday eschews the metaphor of "acquisition",
in which language is considered a static product which the child takes on when sufficient exposure to natural language enables
"parameter setting". By contrast, for Halliday what the child develops is a "meaning potential". Learning language is Learning how to
[34]
mean, the name of his well-known early study of a child's language development.

Halliday (1975) identifies seven functions that language has for children in their early years. For Halliday, children are motivated to
develop language because it serves certain purposes or functions for them. The first four functions help the child to satisfy physical,
emotional and social needs. Halliday calls them instrumental, regulatory
, interactional, and personal functions.

Instrumental: This is when the child uses language to express their needs (e.g. "Want juice")
Regulatory: This is where language is used to tell others what to do (e.g. "Go away")
Interactional: Here language is used to make contact with others and form relationships (e.g. "Love you, Mummy")
Personal: This is the use of language to express feelings, opinions, and individual identity (e.g. "Me good girl")
The next three functions are heuristic, imaginative, and representational, all helping the child to come to terms with his or her
environment.

Heuristic: This is when language is used to gain knowledge about the environment (e.g. 'What is the tractor doing?')
Imaginative: Here language is used to tell stories and jokes, and to create an imaginary environment.
Representational: The use of language to convey facts and information.
According to Halliday, as the child moves into the mother tongue, these functions give way to the generalized "metafunctions" of
language. In this process, in between the two levels of the simple protolanguage system (the "expression" and "content" pairing of the
Saussure's sign), an additional level of content is inserted. Instead of one level of content, there are now two: lexicogrammar and
.[35]
semantics. The "expression" plane also now consists of two levels: phonetics and phonology

Halliday's work is sometimes seen as representing a competing viewpoint to the formalist approach of Noam Chomsky. Halliday's
stated concern is with "naturally occurring language in actual contexts of use" in a large typological range of languages. Critics of
Chomsky often characterise his work, by contrast, as focused on English with Platonic idealization, a characterization which
Chomskyans reject (seeUniversal Grammar).

Selected works
1967–68. "Notes on Transitivity and Theme inEnglish, Parts 1–3", Journal of Linguistics 3(1), 37–81; 3(2), 199–244;
4(2), 179–215.
1973. Explorations in the Functions of Languageat Google Books, London: Edward Arnold.
1975. Learning How to Meanat Google Books, London: Edward Arnold.
With C.M.I.M. Matthiessen, 2004.An Introduction to Functional Grammarat Google Books, 3d edn. London: Edward
Arnold. (4th edn. 2014)
2002. Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse at Google Books, ed. Jonathan Webster, Continuum International
Publishing.
2003. On Language and Linguisticsat Google Books, ed. Jonathan Webster, Continuum International Publishing.
2005. On Grammar at Google Books, ed. Jonathan Webster, Continuum International Publishing.
2006. The Language of Scienceat Google Books, Jonathan Webster (ed.), Continuum International Publishing.
2006. Computational and Quantitative Studiesat Google Books, ed. Jonathan Webster, Continuum International
Publishing.
With W. S. Greaves, 2008. Intonation in the Grammar of Englishat Google Books, London: Equinox.
See also
Ruqaiya Hasan
C.M.I.M. Matthiessen
J.R. Martin
Thematic equative
Cline (linguistics) which notes Halliday's concept "cline of instantiation"
Nominal group

External links
Obituary, University of Sydney, 16 April 2018
Obituary, Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Society, 16 April 2018

References
1. See Halliday, M.A.K. 2002. On Grammar, Vol. 1 in The Collected Works of M.A.K. Halliday. London: Continuum.
2. Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. "Systemic Background". In Systemic Perspectives on Discourse, Vol. 1: Selected Theoretical
Papers from the Ninth International Systemic Workshop, James D. Benson and William S. Greaves (eds). Ablex. o Vl.
3 in The Collected Works, p. 192.
3. Halliday, 1985. "Systemic Background". InSystemic Perspectives on Discourse, Vol. 1: Selected Theoretical Papers
from the Ninth International Systemic Workshop, Benson and Greaves (eds). Vol. 3 in The Collected Works, p. 193.
4. Halliday, 2002. "A Personal Perspective". InOn Grammar, Vol. 1 in The Collected Works, pp. 7, 14.
5. Halliday, 2002. "A Personal Perspective". InOn Grammar, Vol. 1 in The Collected Works, p. 6.
6. Halliday M.A.K. and Hasan R. 1976.Cohesion in English. Longman.
7. Halliday M.A.K. and Greaves W.S. 2008. Intonation in the Grammar of English, Equinox Publishing.
8. Halliday M.A.K., Hasan R. 1989.Spoken and written English. Oxford University Press.
9. Lavid J, Arus J, and Zamorano-Mansilla J. 2010.Systemic Functional Grammar of Spanish: A Contrastic Study with
English, Continuum.
10. Caffarel, A. 2006. A Systemic Functional Grammar of French, Continuum.
11. Webster, J.J. 2005. "M.A.K.: the early years, 1925–1970". In R. Hasan, C. Matthiessen, and J.J. eWbster. Continuing
Discourse on Language. London: Equinox, p. 3.
12. Webster, 2005. "M.A.K.: the early years, 1925–1970". In Hasan, Matthiessen, and W
ebster, Continuing Discourse on
Language, p. 4.
13. Halliday, 1985. "Systemic Background". InSystemic Perspectives on Discourse, Vol. 1: Selected Theoretical Papers
from the Ninth International Systemic Workshop, Benson and Greaves (eds). Vol. 3 in The Collected Works, p. 188.
14. Interview – M.A.K. Halliday, May 1986, by G. Kress, R. Hasan, and J.R. Martin(http://sfs.scnu.edu.cn/halliday/show.
aspx?id=67&cid=101) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090106130953/http://sfs.scnu.edu.cn/Halliday/show .a
spx?id=67&cid=101) 6 January 2009 at theWayback Machine.
15. Halliday, 2002. "A Personal Perspective". Vol. 1 in The Collected Works, p. 2.
16. Halliday, M.A.K. 1961. "Categories of the theory of grammar". Word, 17 (3), pp. 241–92.
17. Details of Halliday's career history from "M.A.K. Halliday" in Keith Brown and ivien
V Law (eds). 2007.Linguistics in
Britain: Personal Histories(Philological Society), 36, p. 117.
18. For example, Halliday, M.A.K. 2007. Language and Education, Vol. 9 in The Collected Works.
19. "M.A.K. Halliday", in Brown and Law (2007),Linguistics in Britain, 36, p. 117.
20. Halliday, "A Personal Perspective". InOn Grammar, Vol. 1 in The Collected Works, p. 12.
21. Halliday, 2002. "A Personal Perspective". InOn Grammar; Vol. 1 in The Collected Works, pp. 7, 14.
22. Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. Systemic Background. In "Systemic Perspectives on Discourse, V
ol. 1: Selected Theoretical
Papers" from the Ninth International Systemic Workshop, Benson and Greaves (eds); Vol. 3 in The Collected Works,
p. 192.
23. Halliday, M.A.K. 1995. "A Recent View of 'Missteps' in Linguistic Theory". InFunctions of Language2.2. Vol. 3 of The
Collected Works, p. 236.
24. Halliday, M.A.K. 1961. "Categories of the theory of grammar". Word, 17 (3), pp. 241–92.
25. Halliday, 1961 "Categories of the theory of grammar". Word 17(3); in Halliday, 2002. On Grammar, Vol. 1 in The
Collected Works, p. 41.
26. Halliday, 1961, "Categories of the theory of grammar". Word 17(3); in Halliday, 2002. On Grammar. Vol. 1 in the
Collected Works, p. 45.
27. Halliday, 1961 "Categories of the theory of grammar". Word 17(3); in Halliday, 2002. On Grammar. Vol. 1 in The
Collected Works, p. 46.
28. Halliday, M.A.K. 2005, Studies in English Language, Introduction. Vol. 7 in The Collected Works, p. xvii.
29. Halliday, M. A. K. forthcoming. "Meaning as Choice". In Fontaine, L., Bartlett, T., and O'Grady, G. Choice: Critical
Considerations in Systemic Functional Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, p. 1.
30. M.A.K. Halliday, 1967/68. Journal of Linguistics, 3.1, 1967; 3.2, 1967; 4.2, 1968. In Halliday
, 2005, Studies in English
Language, Vol. 7 in The Collected Works.
31. M.A.K. Halliday, 1968. Journal of Linguistics, 4.2, 1968; in Halliday, 2005, Studies in English Language, Vol. 7 in The
Collected Works, p. 145.
32. Halliday, M.A.K. 1970. "Functional Diversity inLanguage as seen from a Consideration of Modality and Mood in
English. Foundations of Language",International Journal of Language and Philosophy , 6, pp. 322–61; in Halliday,
2005, Studies in English Language.
33. Halliday, M.A.K. 1978. "An interpretation of the functional relationship between language and social structure", from
Uta Quastoff (ed.), Sprachstruktur – Sozialstruktur: Zure Linguistichen Theorienbildung, 3–42. Vol. 10 of The
Collected Works, 2007.
34. Halliday, M.A.K. 1975. Learning How to Mean. London: Edward Arnold.
35. Halliday, M.A.K. 2003. "On the 'architecture' of human language". InOn Language and Linguistics. Vol. 3 in The
Collected Works. London and New York: Equinox.

Sources and external links

Systemic functional linguistics
Halliday and SFL Overview
Interview of Halliday by G. Kress, R. Hasan and J. R. Martin, May 1986
Halliday's Collected Papers in 10 volumes
Michael Halliday's 2010 talk at UBCon YouTube
Halliday, M.A.K. Explorations in the Functions of Language. London: Edward Arnold, 1973.
Halliday, M.A.K., and C.M.I.M. Matthiessen.An Introduction to Functional Grammar. 3d ed. London: Arnold, 2004.

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