preselection. [theoretical] Selection of a feature before it is actually encountered; preselection takes place from one stratum to the stratum next below or from one rank to the rank next below (allowing for the possibility of rankshift). Preselection is partly similar to various feature spreading conventions, as used e.g. in Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar. => LexCart Section 1.4.

proposal. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x systemic x move rank] An offer or command, i.e. the exchange of goods-&-services. => IFG p. 71. => LexCart Section 5.1.2.1.

proposition. [descriptive: semantics x interpersonal x systemic x move rank] A statement or question, i.e. the exchange of information. (Note that this use of the term differs both from its use in logic and its everyday use.) => IFG p. 70. => LexCart Section 5.1.2.1.

proposition. In logic and (formal) semantics, the logico-semantic unit expressed by a sentence capable of being assigned a truth value.

prosody. [theoretical] Term used technically in Firthian phonology, where it is opposed to phonematic unit, and taken over into systemic phonology: a phonological feature extending over more than one phonematic unit (which means that the feature is not placed segmentally); for instance, nasalization and lip rounding may be prosodic. (Prosody is roughly comparable to Harris's, 1951, long component.) One of the advantages with treating features as prosodic is that they don't have to be placed arbitrarily in phonemic structure. In systemic theory, the term prosody has been extended to grammar and semantics to refer to the interpersonal mode of syntagmatic organization (Halliday, 1979; Martin, 1992; Matthiessen, 1988, 1991).

rank (scale). [theoretical] A hierarchy of units such as [grammar:] clause - group/phrase - word - morpheme, [semantics, interpersonal:] exchange - move, or [phonology:] tone group - foot - syllable - phoneme. The rank scale determines the basic realization patterns. Functions of the units at one rank are realized by units at the rank below. For example, clause functions are realized by groups/phrases and group functions are realized by words. In non-systemic work, the term level is sometimes used. (The term rank was used in a different sense in Jespersen's writings.) => IFG Ch. 1; p. 25; 158-9. => LexCart Section 1.2.1, 2.2.

rankshift. [theoretical] [French: d鰬ac頤e rang] The semogenic process whereby a unit of one rank is moved down the rank scale to serve as if it were a unit of a lower rank as an element within another unit.

realization, realization. [theoretical] Term in linguistics in general for a symbolic relationship between content and expression; also expression, coding, etc.. Realization and mutation have been contrasted (cf. Gleason, 1965) as basic principles underlying grammatical theories. Systemic grammar is realizational whereas transformational grammar is mutational. => IFG p. 37. => LexCart Section 1.4.

realization operator. [theoretical] Together with one or more operands, a realization operator makes up a realization statement. Realization operators include Insert, Conflate, Expand, and Order. See realization statement. => LexCart Section 1. 4.

realization statement. [theoretical] A specification of a structure fragment, such as the presence of a function or its ordering in relation to another function, stated as a re-expression of a systemic feature or a combination of features. A realization statement consists of one realization operator and one or more operands. For example, the statement (Conflate Subject Agent) consists of the conflation operator Conflate and the operands Subject and Agent, which are grammatical functions.

=> LexCart Section 1.4.

recoverable. [descriptive: semantics x textual x systemic] With respect to a referent in a text: it is recoverable to the addressee if he/she can identify it (elsewhere in the text or in the context, including both immediate and general context). The term identifiable is often used in the same sense. => LexCart Section 7.3.5.1.

register. [theoretical] A variety of language determined by a particular set of values of the context; it is determined by what the speaker is doing socially. (Cf. register in music.) The principle controlling variables are field [of discourse] (type of social action), tenor [of relationship between speaker and listener] (role relationships), and mode (symbolic organization). The notion of register is a generalization of the traditional notion of genre; it is also akin to the Prague school notion of functional dialect. Registers can be identified at different degrees of delicacy or specificity. For example, we can identify a particular register as written instruction in how to prepare food - a recipe in a cookery book - or, more delicately, as written instruction for an American public in how to prepare Thai food. In Martin's (e.g. 1992), the term register is used in a different sense to refer to field, tenor and mode within context: see Matthiessen (1993) for a comparison with Halliday & Hasan's model. (Outside systemic linguistics, the term register is also used in several other senses.) => LexCart Section 1.6.4.

Residue. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x structural x clause rank] Modal function in the interpretation of the clause as representation. The part of the clause that does not constitute the Mood, i.e. the Predicator, complements, and (non-modal) adjuncts. The earlier term was Proposition. Residue is different from Predicate in the logical / traditional Subject ^ Predicate analysis in a number of respects. For instance, it only includes the Predicator part of the verbal group, not the Finite. Further, it is a rhetorical notion, not a logical one; it is the part of the clause often elided in dialogic exchanges (as in, Mood: He'll Residue: be here tomorrow. - No, Mood: he won't Residue: --). => IFG Section 4.3, p. 78-. => LexCart Section 5.1.1.1.

Rhetorical Structure Theory. Theory of text organization developed within the Penman project. It interprets text as being organized relationally. A rhetorical relation is typically asymmetric, relating two spans of text, a nucleus and a satellite. The spans of texts related rhetorically may have internal organization. A rhetorical relation is defined in terms of the conditions for using it and its intended effect on the addressee. Rhetorical relations correspond partly to conjunctive relations. => LexCart Section 1.8.2.

right dislocation. Transformational term for examples such as he's a real genius, your brother. It corresponds to theme substitution (Halliday, 1967/8). => LexCart Section 6.2.1.5.

Role. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Circumstantial role in the transitivity structure of the clause, of the elaborating subtype. The "guise" a participant serves in when taking part in the Process or the "product" resulting from taking part in the Process. For example:

Cut the ducks [Role: product:] into portions.