Between saying and doing: VERBAL ACTION and MATERIAL ACTION as contextual parameters

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21165/gel.v20i2.3462

Keywords:

Context, Verbal action, Field of action, Material action, Contextual paradigm

Abstract

Aiming at enabling detailed, empirically testable and comparable contextual analyses and drawing on the principles of Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper presents paradigmatic descriptions of two contextual systems of the field parameter: VERBAL ACTION and MATERIAL ACTION. Based on Hasan's (1999, 2014, 2020) work, we first locate such systems in terms of the global dimensions of stratification, instantiation and metafunction; then, we expound the options of each system and their interrelationships; next, we discuss how one may describe realizational principles restricted to intermediate degrees on the instantiation scale; this is followed by an exemplification of how subsystems may be used to describe contexts of situation and thereby enable contextual generalizations; finally, we discuss how our approach relates to Matthiessen’s topological model of field, indicating convergences, divergences and complementarities.

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Author Biography

Theodoro C. Farhat, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil

Departamento de Letras Clássicas e Vernáculas, Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo.

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Published

2024-04-05

How to Cite

Farhat, T. C., & Gonçalves-Segundo, P. R. (2024). Between saying and doing: VERBAL ACTION and MATERIAL ACTION as contextual parameters. Revista Do GEL, 20(2), 149–177. https://doi.org/10.21165/gel.v20i2.3462