Hallidayan (adj.)

Characteristic of, or a follower of, the linguistic principles of the British LINGUIST, M(ichael) A(lexander) K(irkwood) Halliday (b. 1925). Much of Halliday’s early thinking can be traced back to the teaching of J. R. Firth, and his approach is accordingly often called ‘neo-FIRTHIAN’. His original conception of LANGUAGE, SCALE-AND-CATEGORY GRAMMAR, was published in article form in 1961: this contained a MODEL of language organization in terms of LEVELS OF SUBSTANCE, FORM (GRAMMAR and LEXIS) and CONTEXT, and a theoretical model of grammar in terms of three SCALES (of RANK, EXPONENCE and DELICACY) and four CATEGORIES (of UNIT, CLASS, STRUCTURE and SYSTEM). The central role of the last two has led to an alternative label for this approach – ‘system-structure theory’. In the 1970s, the notion of ‘system’ became the central construct in an alternative model known as ‘systemic’ grammar: here, grammar is seen as a network of interrelated systems of classes; ENTRY conditions define the choices which can be made from within each system, and these choices become increasingly specific (‘delicate’) as the analysis proceeds. The application of Hallidayan ideas has been widespread, e.g. in TEXT analysis, STYLISTICS and language ACQUISITION.