System in Systemic Functional Linguistics - A System-based Theory of Language - Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen

System in Systemic Functional Linguistics - A System-based Theory of Language - Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen

Conclusion

System in Systemic Functional Linguistics - A System-based Theory of Language - Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen

Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen [+-]
University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 160 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. He is currently Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics at University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, in the School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Guest Professor at Beijing Science and Technology University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. Before this, he was Chair Professor, Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor in the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. Professor Matthiessen has worked in areas as diverse as language typology, linguistics and computing, grammatical descriptions of various languages, grammar and discourse, healthcare communication studies, functional grammar for English-language teachers, text analysis and translation, multisemiotic studies, and the evolution of language. He has supervised over 40 research students.

Description

Each chapter of this book has its own summary, and, to a certain extent, the chapters can be read independently of one another (hence the many cross references). Instead of summarizing the book here, touching on the presentation in the previous chapters on the distinct but related senses of ‘system’ identified in Chapter 1, here I take a step back and try to contextualize, or even recontextualize, ‘system’ in the light of the previous chapters but with additional perspectives that are possible to adopt only at this point.  I begin by viewing axiality, i.e. axial order (paradigmatic vs. syntagmatic) trinocularly. I then suggest an analogy between the distinction between paradigmatic and syntagmatic order and David Bohm’s distinction between implicate and explicate order. Finally, I return to the view of ‘system’ in an ordered typology of systems operating in different phenomenal realms, again noting the connection between SFL and different manifestations of systems thinking – as one possible preamble to future research.

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Citation

Matthiessen, Christian. Conclusion. System in Systemic Functional Linguistics - A System-based Theory of Language. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 252-262 Dec 2023. ISBN 9781781799024. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=42518. Date accessed: 10 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.42518. Dec 2023

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