On The Contributions Of Grammatical Metaphor Theory To Hallidayan Views On The Philosophy Of Language

In modern times, all sensible philosophers of language or schools of philosophy of language have to answer these three key propositions of philosophy of language: the relations among language,mind and reality, the relations between meaning and reference as well as the relations between language and truth. M. A. K. Halliday, the founder and chief representative of the systemic functional linguistics (SFL), based on sociology as a position of departure, also answered these three key propositions, and thus put forward his distinctive views on the philosophy of language (Hallidayan Views on Philosophy of Language called properly). What followed naturally was that the systemic-functional linguistics (SFL) was put on a more solid foundation of philosophy, as well as given a sound theoretical framework. What's more, the school of SFL on the whole succeeded in ranking as one of the leading schools of linguistic theory, and gained increasing popularity among circles of scholarship.The theory of grammatical metaphor, which was put forward and developed by M. A. K. Halliday from the 1980s on, explored some core subject matters in the systemic-functional linguistic theory. Especially, grammatical metaphor theory is used to construe the metaphorical relations between language and reality, and whereby it explores the way that lexicogrammar construes,deconstrues and reconstrues human experience and becomes the source of meaning creation called meaning potential. In other words, the theory of grammatical metaphor is not only part of the systemic-functional linguistic theory itself, but also delves into the relations between language and reality as one key proposition of philosophy of language, carrying with it strong philosophical implications. Thus, it is a safe conclusion that the theory of grammatical metaphor functions as explanations of many kinds of linguistic phenomena, as well as reflections of certain views on the philosophy of language, or something of fundamental mechanisms beyond linguistic systems themselves. So we argue that Halliday put forward and developed the theory of grammatical metaphor, whereby his views on the philosophy of language were finally sorted out and came into being.Considering what Halliday's theory of grammatical metaphor holds in theoretical and practical significance, this thesis is to explore the contributions of grammatical metaphor theory to the construction of Hallidayn views on the philosophy of language. To be more specific, the explorational process itself is conducted by means of exploring the specific roles of the theory in Halliday's answering of those three key propositions.