Problems With The System Of External Addition

Martin & Rose (2007: 124):

In sum, options for external addition include adding, subtracting and alternation, set out in Figure 4.1.

 

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To be clear, the problems with the authors' rebranding of Halliday's grammatical system of extension as a discourse semantic system of addition can be made explicit by comparing it with the systemic categories it misunderstands; Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 471):

It can be seen that Figure 4.1 only models 3 of the 6 categories of extension:

1. additive: positive (rebranded as 'add'),
2. additive: negative (misunderstood as 'subtract'), and
3. alternation.

The authors' misunderstanding of negative addition as 'subtract' creates the further logical inconsistency of 'subtract' being construed as a subtype of 'additive'.

It will be seen in a later post that Martin & Rose misconstrue the 3 omitted categories of extension:

1. addition: adversative,
2. variation: replacive, and
3. variation: subtractive

as subtypes of comparison, which in SFL theory, is a subtype of enhancement, not extension.

A further theoretical disadvantage of misunderstanding these expansion relations and rebranding them as discourse semantics is that it creates an incongruent relation between grammar and discourse semantics even in the absence of grammatical metaphor.