Chapter 2 reviews the state of the art of current attempts to syntacticize speech acts. These attempts are mostly based on classical speech act theory as developed by Austin and Searle in the sixties. It presents a brief overview of classic speech act theory. It identifies the issues pertaining to the relation between sentence structure and speech act type, which sets the stage for introducing the idea that speech act structure itself is part of syntax. I discuss the various stages and guises of this idea starting with Ross’s performative hypothesis and reviewing reanalyses of the idea within current syntactic theory. I then argue that all existing approaches toward the syntacticization of speech acts suffer from several weaknesses: specifically, most analyses fail to consider advances that have been made since classic speech act theory, namely the focus on the dynamic and interactional component of utterances.

Chapter 4 introduces the core of the proposal, namely the Interactional Spine Hypothesis, which provides a framework within which to analyze interactional language. The chapter begins by introducing the empirical phenomena to be addressed, namely confirmationals and response markers, and further introduces the analytical, theoretical, and methodological problems raised by these forms of interactional language. It show how the universal spine, which regulates propositional language, can be extended to incorporate the functions of interactional language, namely establishing common ground (grounding) as well as regulating turn-taking (responding). It is further shown that to understand interactional language one has to differentiate between those aspects of interaction that are regulated by grammatical means and those that come about via inferencing, which themselves are based on assumptions about the normal course of a conversation. Finally, it is shown that the study of interactional language requires a mix of methodologies in order to accommodate the role of context.

Chapter 7 concludes the monograph with a summary of the lessons learned from previous scholarship on interactional language and how the Interactional Spine Hypothesis incorporates these lessons and insights. It is shown that a formal approach toward interactional language of this type allows for the development of a typology of interactional language, something that is currently missing in the literature. Potential cognitive underpinnings of the Interactional Spine Hypothesis are discussed and introduced as a new research agenda that has the potential to shed light on the old question regarding the relation between language, thought, and communication. Finally the chapter concludes with an outlook of potential novel research avenues to pursue in light of the Interactional Spine Hypothesis. This includes logophors, genre and style, information structure, the role of intonation, and the relation between speech act and clause-types.

Chapter 5 presents a case-study of confirmationals and introduces a syntactic analysis within the framework of the Interactional Spine Hypothesis. Confirmationals are units of language which express a request for confirmation. I show that the target of confirmation can differ depending on the syntactic context. This is an instance of multi-functionality, which is best analyzed as being syntactically conditioned. As such the pattern of confirmationals within and across languages provides evidence for the interactional spine; it is the system which regulates the function and distribution of confirmationals. I discuss in detail the kind of variation we observe. That is, within and across languages, confirmationals differ as to who hasauthority over the knowledge to be confirmed, to what degree the belief to be confirmed holds, and when this belief came into existence. Moreover, we also observe that in some languages confirmationals come in full paradigms (e.g., Mandarin Chinese) whereas in others the inventory of confirmationals is much more restricted (English). I further show how confirmationals can be combined with intonational tunes to derive the complex meaning that they may have. Finally, I discuss other units of language that share some properties with confirmationals, such as evidentials.

Chapter 3 provides a review of current frameworks intended to understand interactional language. It serves as the basis to develop a grammar of interactional language Classic speech act theory, and current attempts to syntacticize it, do not take into consideration the interactional dimension, specifically the role of the addressee in constructing common ground. This chapter reviews several frameworks that take the interactional dimension into consideration. Specifically, I review dialogue-based models (conversation analysis and grounding theory), several functional grammar-based models, as well as recent formal semantic and syntactic approaches toward interactional language. The core lessons learned from these frameworks are that the unit of analysis of interactional language is a minimal conversation consisting of an initiating and a reaction move and that the construction of common ground is an interactive process. It further implies that we have to rethink the classic distinction between competence and performance. Itshows that what these frameworks are missing is a way to disentangle the various factors that contribute to the interpretation of discourse markers. Consequently, it becomes impossible to develop a typology. In contrast, formal syntactic approaches, while well equipped for cross-linguistic comparison, have not explored interactional language and consequently they lack the empirical base necessary to develop a typology. This chapter is the first attempt to survey these frameworks

Chapter 1 introduces the empirical domain (interactional language) as well as the Interactional Spine Hypothesis and broadly situates it within the state of the art. It is shown that for the calculation of utterance interpretation, propositional meaning is not sufficient. Rather it is important to take the speaker’s intention into consideration as well as the addressee’s knowledge state. This sets the stage for the development of the interactional spine throughout the monograph.

This chapter focuses on the lexicogrammatical systems of IMPERATIVE MOOD and INDICATIVE MOOD in the Australian language, Pitjantjatjara, in relation to the discourse-semantic systems of NEGOTIATION, SPEECH FUNCTION, ENGAGEMENT and GRADUATION and the phonological system of TONE. It treats co-selections of features in MOOD and TONE as instantial couplings (Martin 2008) that realise variations in speech function. This discourse-semantic orientation departs from the treatment in Halliday (1967), Halliday & Greaves (2008) and Rose (2001, 2008) of tone/mood relations in terms of grammatical delicacy. Options in NEGOTIATION and SPEECH FUNCTION are illustrated with a series of exchanges that exemplify the coupling of MOOD and TONE selections. Imperative and indicative mood systems are then described in detail and exemplified with mood/tone couplings, including options for metaphors of mood. The chapter concludes by outlining grammatical and phonological realisations of ENGAGEMENT and GRADUATION, including the lexicogrammatical system of MODAL ASSESSMENT.

In this chapter, we take paradigmatic reasoning as point of departure and describe axial relations for interpersonal clause systems in Brazilian Portuguese. We reason axially about MOOD types first in relation to discourse-semantic systems and then by agnating clause structures. Our description is text-based and privileges the view from above as it investigates how exchanges are enacted in language through the discourse-semantic systems of NEGOTIATION, SPEECH FUNCTION and ENGAGEMENT – which in turn are realised by MOOD and ASSESSMENT in the grammar. A corpus based on a range of text types forms the basis of the study. The core of interpersonal grammar comprises the functions of Predicator, Finite and Subject realising MOOD – responsible for dialogic interaction and negotiation. Positioner is the function realising ASSESSMENT – the grammatical system responsible for assessing the roles of speaker and listener, thus managing their voices in the negotiation of moves.

This chapter provides a description of the basic interpersonal clause system in Khorchin Mongolian – i.e., MOOD. The categories in the traditional description of Khorchin Mongolian clause grammar are mostly defined notionally and are not grammatically motivated. In contrast, the description in this chapter motivates the clause classes in the MOOD system in terms of their structural configurations based on unmonitored conversational data. The functions of Predicator, Positioner, Interrogator and Inquirer are used to distinguish the general types of [indicative] and [imperative] and the more delicate systems they make available. The MOOD systems are then characterised in relation to their functions in exchanges in terms of the structural configurations that realise options in NEGOTIATION in discourse semantics. The description in this chapter makes significant contributions to (i) the unified description of Khorchin Mongolian clause types and structures, and (ii) the characterisation of grammatical patterns in terms of discourse semantics.

This chapter adds to the growing literature on the interpersonal metafunction by describing and analysing British Sign Language (BSL) from a systemic functional perspective. Whereas other chapters in this volume use the spoken and written modalities to communicate meaning, BSL operates principally in the visual-spatial modality. Nonetheless, various parallels can be drawn with other languages that have been described and analysed in SFL terms. This chapter provides a brief overview of the basics of BSL expression, focusing on the hands, upper body and space in front of a signer to give non-signing readers an insight into the basics of signed communication. Through discussions on the distinction between the planes of expression and content in BSL – and the associated difficulties when attempting to identify the distribution of semiotic labour between these planes – the interpersonal systems of MOOD, POLARITY and MODALITY are exemplified via lexicogrammatical analyses of two dialogic BSL interactions, including argumentation for a Predicator function in BSL. A full interpersonal analysis of the interactions is also presented, alongside proposals of future studies within the interpersonal metafunction and broader, more applied concerns.