Functional Approaches to Language

Functionalism, as characterized by Allen, (2007:254) "holds that linguistic structures can only be understood and explained with reference to the semantic and communicative functions of language, whose primary function is to be a vehicle for social interaction among human beings." Since the 1970s, inspired by the work of Jespersen, Bolinger, Dik, Halliday, and Chafe, functionalism has been attached to a variety of movements and models making major contributions to linguistic theory and to various subfields within linguistics, such as syntax, discourse, language acquisition, cognitive linguistics, typology, and documentary linguistics. Further, functional approaches have had a major impact outside linguistics in fields such as psychology and education, both in terms of theory and application. The main goal of functionalist approaches is to clarify the dynamic relationship between form and function (Thompson 2003:53). Functionalist perspectives have gained more ground over the past decades with more linguists resorting to functional explanations to account for linguistic structure. The authors in this volume present the current state of functional approaches to linguistic inquiry expanding our knowledge of language and linguistics. * Highlights functionalism as the new trend in linguistics

Functionalism, as characterized by Allen, (2007:254) "holds that linguistic structures can only be understood and explained with reference to the semantic and communicative functions of language, whose primary function is to be a vehicle for social interaction among human beings." Since the 1970s, inspired by the work of Jespersen, Bolinger, Dik, Halliday, and Chafe, functionalism has been attached to a variety of movements and models making major contributions to linguistic theory and to various subfields within linguistics, such as syntax, discourse, language acquisition, cognitive linguistics, typology, and documentary linguistics. Further, functional approaches have had a major impact outside linguistics in fields such as psychology and education, both in terms of theory and application. The main goal of functionalist approaches is to clarify the dynamic relationship between form and function (Thompson 2003:53). Functionalist perspectives have gained more ground over the past decades with more linguists resorting to functional explanations to account for linguistic structure. The authors in this volume present the current state of functional approaches to linguistic inquiry expanding our knowledge of language and linguistics.

Since the 1970s functionalism has been attached to a variety of movements and models making major contributions to linguistic theory. Over the past decades it has gained more ground, and we now have a substantial body of literature from various perspectives making a positive impact on the field of linguistics. This collection of papers brings leading scholars in this area together to provide recognition to the impact of functionalism on current linguistic theory highlighting its nature as a leading force within linguistics and beyond and defining its current and future directions. On the intellectual roots of functionalism in linguistics / T. Givón Functional explanation and its uses / Esa Itkonen Structure and function : a niche-constructional approach / Peter Harder Toward a thought-based linguistics / Wallace Chafe Changing language / Michael P. Kaschak and Morton Ann Gernsbacher An outline of discourse grammar / Bernd Heine, Gunther Kaltenböck, Tania Kuteva and Haiping Long Towards an experimental functional linguistics : production / Lise Menn, Cecily Jill Duffield, and Bhuvana Narasimhan. Biographical note: Shannon T. Bischoff, Indiana University-Purdue University, USA; Carmen Jany, California State University, USA