In:The Interpersonal Level in Functional Discourse Grammar
Edited by Monielly Serafim, Matthias Mittendorfer and Kees Hengeveld
[Studies in Language Companion Series 241] 2027
► pp. 20–67
The Interpersonal Level in Functional Discourse Grammar
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the organization of the Interpersonal Level in Functional
Discourse Grammar (FDG). The Interpersonal Level in FDG captures the actional aspects of utterances to the extent that
these are formally encoded, including, among many other aspects, rhetorical relations, illocutionary force, speaker
attitude, and definiteness and specificity. The chapter pays special attention to the changes proposed as regards the
architecture of the Interpersonal Level since its first full presentation in Hengeveld & Mackenzie (2008)
Keywords: Functional Discourse Grammar, discourse, pragmatics, layered structure
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The layered structure of the Interpersonal Level
- 3.The Discourse Segment
- 3.1General characterization
- 3.2The head
- 4.The Move
- 4.1General characterization
- 4.2The head
- 4.3Modifiers
- 4.4Operators
- 5.The Discourse Act
- 5.1General characterization
- 5.2The head
- 5.3Modifiers
- 5.4Operators
- 6.The Illocution
- 6.1General characterization
- 6.2Heads
- 6.3Modifiers
- 6.4Operators
- 7.The Speech Participants
- 7.1General characterization
- 7.2The head
- 7.3Modifiers
- 7.4Operators
- 8.The Communicated Content
- 8.1General characterization
- 8.2The head
- 8.2.1Introduction
- 8.2.2Pragmatic functions
- 8.2.2.1Focus
- 8.2.2.2Topic
- 8.2.2.3Contrast
- 8.2.2.4Background
- 8.2.3Types of sentences
- 8.2.3.1Introduction
- 8.2.3.2Categorical sentences
- 8.2.3.3Thetic sentences
- 8.2.3.4Presentative sentences
- 8.3Modifiers
- 8.4Operators
- 9.The Comment and the Subacts
- 9.1The Comment
- 9.1.1General characterization
- 9.1.2The head
- 9.1.3Modifiers
- 9.1.4Operators
- 9.2The Subacts
- 9.2.1Introduction
- 9.2.2Ascription
- 9.2.2.1General characterization
- 9.2.2.2The head
- 9.2.2.3Modifiers
- 9.2.2.4Operators
- 9.2.3Reference
- 9.2.3.1General characterization
- 9.2.3.2The head
- 9.2.3.3Modifiers
- 9.2.3.4Operators
- 9.1The Comment
- 10.The Interpersonal Property
- 10.1General characterization
- 10.2The head
- 10.3Modifiers
- 10.4Operators
- 11.Conclusion
- Author queries
Acknowledgments Notes References
References (48)
Bross, Fabian. 2020. “Encoding
Different Types of Topics and Foci in German Sign Language. A Cartographic Approach to Sign Language
Syntax.” Glossa: a journal of general
linguistics 5(1): 108.
Butler, Christopher S. 2008. “Interpersonal
Meaning in the Noun Phrase.” In The Noun Phrase in
Functional Discourse Grammar, edited by Jan Rijkhoff and Daniel García Velasco, 221–261. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
1997. The Theory of
Functional Grammar. Part I: The Structure of the Clause, 2nd, revised
edition. Edited by Kees Hengeveld. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Fang, Hongmei & Hengeveld, Kees. 2022. “Sentence-Final
Particles in Mandarin.” Studia
Linguistica 76(3): 873–913.
Faust, Norma. 1973. Lecciones
para el aprendizaje del idioma Shipibo-Conibo. Lima, Peru: Summer Institute of Linguistics and Yarinacocha: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.
Favaro, Marco. This
volume. “Reassessing modal particles and their role within Discourse Acts: An
FDG perspective.” In The Interpersonal Level in
Functional Discourse Grammar, edited by Monielly Serafim, Matthias Mittendorfer and Kees Hengeveld, ###–###. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Giomi, Riccardo. 2021. “The
Place of Interpersonal Lexemes in Linguistic Theory, with Special Reference to Functional Discourse
Grammar.” Corpus
Pragmatics 5: 187–222.
Giomi, Riccardo & Van Olmen, Daniel & van Oers, Denise. This
volume. “Insults as a Sentence Type: A Cross-Linguistic
Perspective.” In The Interpersonal Level in
Functional Discourse Grammar, edited by Monielly Serafim, Matthias Mittendorfer and Kees Hengeveld, ###–###. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Groot, Casper de & Limburg, Machiel. 1986. Pronominal
Elements: Diachrony, Typology, and Formalization in Functional Grammar. Working Papers in Functional
Grammar 12.
Hannay, Mike. 1991. “Pragmatic
Function Assignment and Word Order Variation in a Functional Grammar of
English.” Journal of
Pragmatics 16: 131–155.
Hengeveld, Kees. this
volume. “The Focalizing Copula in Colombian
Spanish.” In The Interpersonal Level in Functional
Discourse Grammar, edited by Monielly Serafim, Matthias Mittendorfer and Kees Hengeveld, ###–###. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Hengeveld, Kees & Fischer, Rafael. in
prep. A Grammar of A’ingae.
Hengeveld, Kees & Iatridou, Sabine & Roelofsen, Floris. 2023. “Quexistentials
and Focus.” Linguistic
Inquiry 54(3), 571–624.
Hengeveld, Kees & Keizer, Evelien. 2011. “Non-Straightforward
Communication.” Journal of
Pragmatics 43(7): 1962–1976.
. 2025. “General
Principles of Linearization in Functional Discourse
Grammar.” In Linearization in Functional Discourse
Grammar, edited by Elnora Ten Wolde, Riccardo Giomi and Kees Hengeveld, 43–84. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Hengeveld, Kees & Keizer, Evelien & Giomi, Riccardo. in
prep. The Oxford Reference Guide to Functional Discourse
Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hengeveld, Kees & Mackenzie, J. Lachlan. 2008. Functional
Discourse Grammar: A typologically-based theory of language
structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hsieh, Fuhui & Huang, Shuanfan. 2006. “The
Pragmatics of Case Marking in Saisiyat.” Oceanic
Linguistics 45.1: 91–109.
Keizer, Evelien. 2014. “Context
and Cognition in Functional Discourse Grammar: What, Where and
Why?” Pragmatics 24(2): 399–423.
. this
volume. “I hereby propose: a modified analysis of
performatives in FDG.” In The Interpersonal Level in
Functional Discourse Grammar, edited by Monielly Serafim, Matthias Mittendorfer and Kees Hengeveld, ###–###. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Kojadinović, Zlatan. 2022. “Variation
in the Prosody of Illocutionary Adverbs.” Open
Linguistics 8: 593–617.
Lambrecht, Knud. 1994. Information
Structure and Sentence Form: Topic, Focus, and the Mental Representations of Discourse
Referents. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mackenzie, J. Lachlan. 2019a. “The
syntax of an emotional expletive in
English.” In Emotion in
Discourse, edited by J. Lachlan Mackenzie and Laura Alba-Juez, 55–86. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. 2019b. “The
Functional Discourse Grammar Approach to
Syntax.” In Current Approaches to Syntax: A
Comparative Handbook, edited by András Kertész, Edith Moravcsik and Csilla Rákosi, 291–316. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Mittendorfer, Matthias. 2025. A
Functional Approach to the Prosody of Information Packaging. PhD
Dissertation, University of Vienna.
Onea, Edgar. 2022. “Specificity
and Questions of Specification.” In Determiners and
Quantifiers, edited by Chiara Gianollo, Klaus von Heusinger, and Maria Napoli, 130–185. Leiden: Brill.
Rizzi, Luigi. 1997. “The
Fine Structure of the Left Periphery.” In Elements of
Grammar. Handbook in Generative Syntax, edited by Liliane Haegeman, 281–337. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Sadock, Jerrold M. & Zwicky, Arnold M. 1985. “Speech
Act Distinctions in Syntax.” In Language Typology and
Syntactic Description Vol. I: Clause Structure, edited by Timothy Shopen, 155–196. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Seki, Lucy. 2000. Gramática
do Kamaiurá: Língua Tupi-Guarani do Alto
Xingu. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Serafim, Monielly. 2022. “A
Functional Discourse Grammar Account of Proper Names in Portuguese.” Journal of
Portuguese
Linguistics 21(2): 1–31.
Smit, Niels. 2007. “Information
Packaging in Functional Discourse Grammar.” ALFA: Revista de
Linguística 51(2): 91–118.
. 2010. FYI:
Theory and typology of information packaging. PhD
Dissertation, University of Amsterdam.
Ten Wolde, Elnora. this
volume. “Clause Linking and Information Structure: A FDG Analysis of English
Purpose and Result Adverbial Clauses.” In The
Interpersonal Level in Functional Discourse Grammar, edited
by Monielly Serafim, Matthias Mittendorfer and Kees Hengeveld, ###–###. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
