Functions of Language in Two Frameworks

摘要

This paper is the first in a pair of papers that compare two particular accounts:Rhetorical Structure Theory and Systemic Linguistics. Rhetorical Structure Theory, initially formulated in 1983, describes texts in terms of functionally-defined relations that hold between parts. Systemic Linguistics is a much more comprehensive view of language initiated in the early 1960s. Where the two approaches are comparable, systemic linguistics describe text in terms of categories of processes which the texts perform. The paper focus on correlating the relations used in rhetorical structure theory with the categories of function found in systemic linguistics. The correlation employs descriptions of speakers' intentions in an essential way. A surprisingly strong correlation results.