Negotiation: Meaning Beyond The Clause

Ngo, Hood, Martin, Painter, Smith & Zappavigna (2022: 15):

In terms of meaning beyond the clause NEGOTIATION allows us to relate moves in conversation, including moves comprising several clauses (as in the following request and compliance sequence):

(42)

Tell us why you left the parking lot.

⇓⇑

- I had just got in my car, got my phone and as I was doing that some guy was sitting there and there was cars behind him and he was like [mimics man’s gesture and expression] like waving me out.

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, NEGOTIATION "allows us" linguists to group moves in conversation — in terms of initiation and response.

As previously noted, NEGOTIATION is Martin's rebranding of Halliday's SPEECH FUNCTION. The system and types of response are provided in Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 136-7):

Importantly, there is no interpersonal meaning 'beyond the clause' in this constructed example. That is, the interpersonal meaning of the initiating move, a command, realised by a clause, does not extend beyond into the responding move, an undertaking, realised by a clause complex. Any meaning 'beyond the clause' is realised by the textual system of cohesion.