Why Functional Discourse Grammar is not, and could not be, a Discourse Grammar

Abstract

This article begins by tracing the debate within Functional Grammar (FG), to whichJ osé Gómez Soliño was a contributor, on the role of discourse in that model. That debate ultimately gave rise to Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG) as a grammar of the Discourse Act. Discourse Acts group into Moves, but attempts to circumscribe the Move grammatically have not been successful, and FDG has focused on phenomena that occur within the Discourse Act and between Discourse Acts. Reviving Dik’s model of verbal interaction, the article goes on to interpret FDG as a tool for the realization of the speaker’s and hearer’s communicative strategies as they seek a certain meeting of minds through the use of language. The article concludes by asserting that FDG is not a grammar of discourse, nor could it be.