The Purpose Of Fawcett's "Some Proposals" (1974)

Fawcett (2010: 161-2):

The purpose of "Some proposals" was to present the set of revisions to the concepts of "Categories" that I considered at the time (1974) to be required, in order to constitute a 'systemic syntax' that would complement Halliday's revolutionary proposal that the system networks of TRANSITIVITY, MOOD and THEME should be regarded as choices between meanings (as described in Section 4.3 of Chapter 4). As Butler wrote in 1985:

Halliday's most recent proposals [...] make it clear that the functional component networks are to be regarded as semantic, but we are given very little idea of what the lexicogrammar [i.e., the level of form] might now consist of [my emphasis] (Butler 1985:94).

"Some proposals" was a first attempt to fill this gap, and it probably reached its widest readership through Butler's generally approving summaries of its contents — first in Butler (1979), and then in Butler (1985:94-102). He makes the key point when he states, "[Fawcett's] approach to the recognition of syntactic categories is dictated by his commitment to the centrality of semantics" (Butler 1985:94). In this approach, then, a large part of the description of a text should be in terms of the semantic features that have been chosen in generating it (e.g., in the way described in Section 7.8 of Chapter 7).

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, the stated purpose of Fawcett's "Some proposals" was to present a set of revisions to Halliday's first theory, Scale and Category Grammar, despite the fact that it had been replaced by a new theory, Systemic Functional Grammar.

[2] As Halliday (1985: xiv) explained, the notion of syntax is inconsistent with the assumptions and mode of inquiry of SFL Theory, for reasons previously cited on this blog.

[3] To be clear, this refers to Halliday's second theory, Systemic Functional Grammar, not his first, Scale and Category Grammar. In the earliest form of Systemic Functional Grammar, the metafunctional systems of the clause were mapped onto the grammatical rank scale of form (see [4] below). This was soon replaced by the relocation of these systems to the stratum of lexicogrammar, largely to provide a systematic account of mismatches between meaning and wording (grammatical metaphor). Because SFG is a functional grammar, the grammar is modelled in terms of its functions, and the function of the grammar is to realise meaning. 

[4] This is misleading, because it is untrue. Even in the earliest version of SFG, where the metafunctional systems were located on the stratum of semantics, Halliday was explicit about what constituted the lexicogrammar. For example, Halliday (1978: 128-9):

Fourth, we shall assume that each component of the semantic system specifies its own structures, as the ‘output, of the options in the network (so each act of choice contributes to the formation of the structure). It is the function of the lexicogrammatical stratum to map the structures one onto another so as to form a single integrated structure that represents all components simultaneously. With negligible exceptions, every operational instance of a lexicogrammatical construct in the adult language — anything that realises text — is structured as the expression of all four components. In other words, any instance of language in use ‘means, in these various ways, and shows that it does so in its grammar.

Fifth, we shall assume that the lexicogrammatical system is organised by rank (as opposed to by immediate constituent structure); each rank is the locus of structural configurations, the place where structures from the different components are mapped on to each other. The ‘rank scale' for the lexicogrammar of English is:

 [5] This misleading, because in all of Halliday's theorising, lexicogrammar is the level of wording, not form; form is a level in Fawcett's model only. For example, in the earliest model of SFG, Halliday (1978: 128) writes:

We shall start with the assumption that the semantic system is one of three strata, chat constitute the linguistic system:

Semantic (the meaning)
Lexicogrammatical (the wording, i.e. syntax, morphology and lexis)
Phonological (the sound)

[6] As demonstrated above, there was no gap to fill. In both of Halliday's theories, grammatical form is modelled as a rank scale. The reason why Fawcett argues against a rank scale, is that it is the most obvious aspect of Halliday's theory that makes his own model redundant.

[7] To be clear, as the critical examinations on this blog demonstrate, contrary to the priorities of Systemic Functional Theory, Fawcett's "commitment to the centrality of semantics" involves prioritising form over function and structure over system.

[8] This is potentially misleading. To be clear, in Systemic Functional Grammar, the metafunctional systems of the clause are located on the lexicogrammatical stratum (rather than semantics), whereas in the Cardiff Grammar they are located at the level of meaning (rather than form). That is, what the Cardiff Grammar describes in terms of semantic features, Systemic Functional Grammar describes in terms of lexicogrammatical features.