The basic principle is, as stated above, that an element is defined in terms of its function in expressing meaning. This has two important consequences for describing languages.
The first is the principle that every element in a given class of unit serves a different function in that unit. Sometimes, as in the case of the different types of modifier in an English nominal group, the differences between the functions of elements appear to be very slight — but they are always there.¹⁸ Sometimes, when an element serves one of several functions (three at least in the case of the head of a nominal group), a more general — but still functional — label such as "head" must be used.
¹⁸ If there is no differences at all between the function served by two units, as with scrumptious and delicious in (That was) a superbly scrumptious, dead delicious sweet, they should be treated as two co-ordinated units that fill the same element.
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[1] On the one hand, from the perspective of SFL Theory, this confuses unit with element. An element doesn't serve different functions, because an element is the function served by a unit.
On the other hand, from the perspective of SFL Theory, this principle fails to deal with units such as the following clause, in which the element 'Location' features three times, and the element 'Adjunct' appears four times:
[2] To be clear, from the perspective of SFL Theory, Fawcett's "different types of modifier" confuses two distinct types of structural relations: univariate with multivariate. A univariate structure is the iteration of the same functional relationship, modification, whereas it is a multivariate structure where each element has a distinct function within the whole. Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 390):
We refer to this kind of structure as a univariate structure, one which is generated as an iteration of the same functional relationship (cf. Halliday, 1965, 1979): α is modified by β, which is modified by γ, which is ... . By contrast, the type of structure exemplified by Deictic + Numerative + Epithet + Classifier + Thing we call a multivariate structure: a configuration of elements each having a distinct function with respect to the whole.
[3] Again, from the perspective of SFL Theory, this confuses unit with element. An element doesn't serve different functions, because an element is the function served by a unit.
[4] Trivially, unlike the Cardiff Grammar, SFL Theory does distinguish between the two wordings
- a superbly scrumptious, dead delicious sweet, and
- a superbly scrumptious and dead delicious sweet (co-ordination):
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