ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how a text relates to, and in some sense is derived from, the context in which it is produced. Tenor is concerned with the relationships set up between the protagonists in the discourse situation. These can be of two types: linguistic and social. From the linguistic point of view, this will depend on the type of speech act taking place: questioner, replier, informer, or even doubter, advisor, and so on. The social roles involved will be determined by the relative social positions of the participants in the discourse in terms in the social situation in which they find themselves. Mode is the function that is concerned with the means or channels of communication. In its simplest form this means written or oral discourse. Some see the systemic functional model as a sort of Russian doll, with grammatical function at the centre surrounded by the three metafunctions; these in turn are surrounded by the semiotic functions of register.
