Seventh volume of the definitive Collected Works of M.A.K. Halliday series, documenting the work of the groundbreaking linguist. For nearly half a century, Professor M.A.K. Halliday has been enriching the discipline of linguistics with his keen insights into the social semiotic phenomenon we call language. This ten-volume series presents the seminal works of Professor Halliday. 'Getting under the skin of a language' is an intriguing new work appearing in the seventh volume in the Collected Works of Professor M.A.K. Halliday's, Studies in English Language. Topics covered in the papers from the section on 'Theoretical foundations' include transitivity, theme-rheme, mood and modality in English. Other sections include papers on English intonation and grammar, including discussion of word order in English and the complex structures typical of informal spontaneous conversation. The grammatical analyses of English also serve to demonstrate the application of linguistics to language teaching.

Author Biography

Professor M.A.K. Halliday is Professor Emeritus, University of Sydney. Jonathan J. Webster is Acting Head, Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics, and Associate Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong.