ABSTRACT

Language functions used to build sentence perspective, cohesion and coherence are not selected at random. This notion that all forms of behaviour can be described as serving a function is an old one. The Roman philosopher Cicero declared that language was also function-oriented behaviour and served three major functions: ad docendum, ad delectandum, ad movendum. An interesting micro-study by Nord shows the importance of this area of linguistics to translation by relating the language functions to book titles and newspaper headings in several European languages. Each language function will have a corresponding language dimension: logical for the informative, aesthetic for the expressive, dialogic for the operative type and to each text function will corresponds a global text type. One of the main proponents of the text as a multifunctional object was Halliday, whose work is summarized in Eggins and Bell from a purely linguistic point of view and in Hatim and Mason from a translation point of view.