Introducing M.A.K. Halliday

M.A.K. Halliday (1925–2018) was the founder of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and, undoubtedly, one of the most influential linguists of his time, credited with changing the way that language and linguisticshave beentaught. SFL, as an appliable theory that approaches language as social semiotic, is the study of the relationship between language and its functions in social settings. Moreover, SFL conceives of language as a resource for making meaning and organizes language systemically as a huge network of interrelated choices of meaning. This book is an introduction to the life and seminal works of Halliday. Targeting both SFL and non-SFL scholars, this book introduces Halliday’s life and work in simple terms, expounds his theoretical conceptions, illustrates how his theories have been applied to various areas of linguistics and offers additional readings for researchers who want to explore this area further. Divided into six sections covering Hallidayan connections, theory and architecture of language, Hallidayan conceptions of language, systems and the modes of meaning, and applications of SFL, this accessible introduction is a key resource for researchers and students within the fields of linguistics and applied linguistics.

Foreword List of Figures List of Tables Abbreviations and symbols Acknowledgements Introduction Section 1 The Hallidayan connections Section 2 Towards an appliable theory of language Section 3 The architecture of language Section 4 The Hallidayan conceptions of language Section 5 Systems and the modes of meaning Section 6 Applications of Systemic Functional Linguistics References Appendix: M.A.K. Halliday’s publications Index

Bo Wang is a lecturer at the School of Translation Studies, Jinan University, China. His research interests include Systemic Functional Linguistics, translation studies, discourse analysis and language description. He is co-author of Lao She’s Teahouse and Its Two English Translations (Routledge, 2020). Yuanyi Ma is a lecturerat the School of International Cooperation, Guangdong Polytechnic of Science and Technology, China. Her research interests include Systemic Functional Linguistics, translation studies, discourse analysis and educational linguistics. She is co-author of Translating Tagore’s Stray Birds into Chinese (Routledge, 2021).