Speech Functions Interpersonal Metafunction
respond to an Offer and a Command. This consideration of O’Donnell’s 1999 dynamic model of exchange thus can be observed in the following reworked table.
Table 7: Halliday’s 1994 Speech Functions Theory Modified with Consideration of O’Donnell’s 1999 Dynamic Model of Exchange
Theory Speech Functions Initiation
Response Expected
Discretionary
Question Answer
Disclaimer When will she go there?
Tomorrow. I’m not sure
Statement She will go there tomorrow.
Offer Acknowledgement Contradiction
Shall I come to dinner tonight? Yeah. No.
Command Come here for dinner tonight
The description of each speech functions are presented as follows. 1 Question
The Question is the speech function which intersects the speech role of demanding and the exchange commodity of information. It is selected when the
speaker requires certain information from the hearer. This information can be in the form of polarity or content. For example, the Question “When will you be
ready?” shows that the speaker requires the information in the form of content as indicated by the WH-question ‘when’. In its mood realization, the Question is
typically realized by the Interrogative mood.
2 Statement The Statement is the speech function which signifies the giving of
information. It functions to introduce a new complete proposition in the initiating move. By selecting a Statement, it is expected that the hearer who receive the
information to acquire a certain state of belief, a new knowledge to be acknowledged or contradicted. The Statement contrasts with the Question, Offer,
and Command in that it does not require a response. In most cases, though, a Statement which is followed by a new exchange is actually being responded by an
Acknowledgement implicitly unless the new exchange is completely unrelated to the proposition conveyed by the Statement. The unmarked mood realization of the
Statement is instantiated by the Declarative.
3 Offer The Offer is the speech function which accompanies the giving of
goods--services. Unlike the other speech functions, the Offer is typically explicitly referring to the speaker himself as the voluntary performer of carrying
out the services for the hearer. For this reason, the change of state which follows is mostly on the speaker, although by the decision made by the hearer. The Offer
is not associated with certain mood realization and can be realized by most mood types including the Interrogative, the Declarative and the Imperative. Therefore, it
does not demonstrate any markedness in mood realization.
4 Command The Command is the equivalent of the Question in the exchange
commodity of goods--services. It serves to demand goods--services from the hearer, as opposed to the Offer which assigns the speaker himself to provide the
goods--services. The Command basically implies authoritativeness of the speaker, causing this speech function to represent power or control. In other cases,
however, the Command is also often selected in informal exchanges between close friends which may nullify the authoritativeness accompanying the
Command. This speech function is also known to have varied grammatical realizations even within its unmarked mood realization, the Imperative, such as
the addition of Let’s which implies the involvement of the speaker in doing the goods--services, or the addition of ‘please’ which soften the authoritative
impression perceived from the Command.
5 Answer The Answer is the expected response of the Question. It functions to
provide the information required by the Question. This providing of information is basically the same function as conveyed by the Statement, only that the Answer
can be considered as being more meaningful and effective as it gives information by the demand of the speaker, and as much as is required. Similar to the
Statement, the Answer is also realized by the Declarative in its unmarked mood realization.
6 Acknowledgement Acknowledgement represents the expected response to a Statement, an
Offer, and a Command. This speech function is selected to convey agreement to the preceding speech function. In Halliday’s 1994 speech function theory, the
Acknowledgement only responds to a Statement, while the expected responses to the Offer and Command are called Acceptance and Undertaking respectively.
However, considering that the three responding speech functions have similar
speech roles and characteristics, the Acknowledgement may substitute the Acceptance and Undertaking, as in O’Donnell’s 1999 theory in which the
equivalent of the Acknowledgement, the support, may respond to either the completed proposition or proposal. The unmarked mood realization of the
Acknowledgement is represented by the elliptical Declarative consisting of only Mood Adjunct such as ‘yes’, ‘okay’, ‘sure’, etc.
7 Contradiction Contrary to the Acknowledgement, Contradiction provides an
alternative response for the participant to disagree with the previous speaker’s proposition. For the same reason as the Acknowledgement which substitutes the
Acceptance and Undertaking, the Contradiction here also covers the speech functions of Rejection and Refusal from Halliday’s 1994 original speech
function theory as the discretionary responses to the Offer and Command. Unlike the Acknowledgement, though, Contradiction tends to be selected explicitly. The
Contradiction is also typically realized by the elliptical Declarative consisting of Mood Adjunct such as ‘no’, ‘nope’, ‘neither’, ‘not nearly’, etc.
8 Disclaimer The participant of an exchange has an option not to give an expected
response to a Question, an Offer, or a Command, when he for some reason does not have the ability or willingness to do so. This option is conveyed by the
Disclaimer. This speech function is originally the discretionary response to a Question Halliday, 1994, but it can actually also respond to an Offer, a
Command, and although rarely, a Statement. Similar to the other speech functions of the responding move, the Disclaimer is also typically realized by the
Declarative. Some examples of the Disclaimer are “I don’t know”, “I’m not sure”, “I can’t tell you that”, “I don’t have the authority to answer your question”, etc.
9 Salutory Speech Function While the previous speech functions can be categorized as the
Negotiatory speech functions O’Donnell, 1999, alternatively, there is also the Salutory speech function which does not convey any proposition or proposals, but
serves a phatic function by maintaining the social relationship between the speakers and the hearers. This speech function includes greeting, leave-taking,
thanking, or drawing one’s attention. It is realized by a Minor Clause without any mood elements such as “Hi”, “Hello”, “Good morning”, “Bye”, “Thanks”, etc..