Wednesday, 31 May 2017

An Exchange Of Information

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 135):
But if you say something to me with the aim of getting me to tell you something, as in ‘is it Tuesday?’ or ‘when did you last see your father?’, what is being demanded is information: language is the end as well as the means, and the only answer expected is a verbal one. This is an exchange of information.