The anatomy of a systemic choice∗
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TL;DR
This paper presents a framework for expressing how choices are made in systemic grammars, and represents the grammar as a combination of systemic syntactic description and explicit choice processes, called “choice experts.”
Abstract
Abstract This paper presents a framework for expressing how choices are made in systemic grammars. Formalizing the description of choice processes enriches descriptions of the syntax and semantics of languages, and it contributes to constructive models of language use. There are applications in education and computation. The framework represents the grammar as a combination of systemic syntactic description and explicit choice processes, called “choice experts.” Choice experts communicate across the boundary of the grammar to its environment, exploring an external intention to communicate. The environment's answers lead to choices and thereby to creation of sentences and other units, tending to satisfy the intention to communicate. The experts’ communicative framework includes an extension to the systemic notion of a function, in the direction of a more explicit semantics. Choice expert processes are presented in two notations, one informal and the other formal. The informal notation yields a grammar‐guided conversation in English between the grammar and its environment, while the formal notation yields complete accounts of what the grammar produces given a particular circumstance and intent. Notes The work presented here would not have been possible without the active participation of Christian Matthiessen and Michael A. K. Halliday. It is part of an ongoing research project in computer text generation supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research contract No. F49620–79‐C‐0181. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the author and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research of the U.S. Government.