ABSTRACT
Language is not a thing; it is not an entity. It is what takes place when someone communicates with one or more other people. And indeed the language that is produced, the text, depends very much on the time and place in which it is produced. But once the text has been produced it forms part of the context, so the text modifies the context which has produced it. This means that there is a constant two-way process of mutual creation and modification between texts and their contexts. Moreover, the metafunctions of text are directly related to the semiotic functions of register. Field is the ongoing activity of which the text is a part and includes the content of the text. When a solicitor reads the will of a deceased person to his potential legatees, they hear a text which is rendered orally.
