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Article published In:
Language, Context and Text
Vol. 5:1 (2023) ► pp.16–48

Structure markers

A subjacency duplex analysis

| The University of Sydney , Australia
ORCID logo | Australian Catholic University , Australia

In this paper we revisit the association of types of structure with modes of meaning in systemic functional linguistics (SFL). Focusing mainly on nominal group grammar, we argue that the association of experiential structure with non-recursive systems realised by multivariate structures and logical structure with recursive systems realised by univariate structures needs to be relaxed – in recognition of dependency structures consisting of two elements in a head/dependent relation. We refer to such structures as subjacency duplexes and explore their potential for the analysis of what are often dismissed in SFL as structure markers – adpositions, linkers and binders in particular.

Keywords: subjacency duplex, types of structure, structure marker, logical metafunction, recursion, nominal groups
Article outline
  • 1.Structure markers
  • 2.Experiential labelling
  • 3.Types of structure
  • 4.Recursion revisited
  • 5.Adpositions
  • 6.Linkers
  • 7.Types of system
  • 8.Subjacency duplex structure
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 26 May 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/langct.22007.mar
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