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In:Expanding Horizons in Systemic Functional Linguistics: Interdisciplinary applications, multimodality, and theoretical advances
Edited by Claudia E. Stoian and Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen
[Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics 80] 2027
► pp. 214–234

Chapter 10
Tense in basketball podcasts

A systemic functional perspective on counterfactual conditionals

ORCiD logo with link | Universidad Complutense de Madrid
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter examines ongoing language change in American English by analyzing past perfect counterfactual conditionals from a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) perspective. It focuses on the increasing use of the non-standard if I would have construction in conversational registers, specifically basketball podcasts. Adopting a trinocular approach, the study treats this development as a registerial feature and demonstrates how SFL accounts for the interaction between lexicogrammatical choices, discourse environments and social context. The chapter also contributes to the accessibility of SFL by providing a clear, detailed account of the English verbal group, with particular attention to past perfect counterfactuals. As a result, the analysis is intended to be accessible to a broad readership, both within and beyond SFL-oriented research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Corpus and methodology
  • 3.The English verbal group
    • 3.1General considerations
    • 3.2The verbal group in English past perfect counterfactual conditionals
  • 4.Research background on counterfactuals
  • 5.Modalized past (if.would have) counterfactuals in COCA and BNC
  • 6.Past perfect counterfactuals: The case of basketball podcasts in AmE
  • 7.Conclusion and future directions
  • Notes
  • References
References (41)
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