An Introduction to Functional Grammar

by Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen and M.A.K. Halliday

Book Overview

In this extensively revised third edition, Halliday and Matthiessen retain the organization and topical coverage of the earlier editions, while incorporating a considerable amount of new material. They give greater emphasis to the systemic perspective, in which grammaticalization is understood in the context of an overall model of language. Their description of grammar is grounded in a comprehensive theory, but it is a theory which evolves in the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0340761679
• ISBN13: 9780340761670
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Hodder Education Publishers
• Length: 700 Pages
• Weight: 2.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 9.4" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

A Good Intro

An accessible introduction to systemic functional linguistics. My linguistics professor calls this book "the Bible." :)

A grammar that's about Meaning

Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar, now in its revised and improved Second Edition, is the best book you can read if you want to understand how English grammar is a resource for making meaning. Most formal grammar is just about syntax -- how words get put together grammatically, with no consideration of how people use language to communicate a meaning. This book has been the basis for many of the most successful applications of linguistics to education, language teaching, and studies of culture, communication, mass media, politics, etc. It's a book to read, use, and keep.