The meanings of both spoken and
written language serve real purposes
in our daily lives (Halliday
1975). We usually do not speak
without wanting to accomplish
something useful. For example, we
might want to influence others’
behavior (“Would you turn that
down, please?”), express our
feelings (“I hate loud music”), or
convey information (“Habitual
listening to loud music is a danger
to one’s hearing”). Similarly, with
written messages we can influence
behavior (NO SMOKING), express
feelings (IxNY), and inform (Boston
24 mi) while serving such added
purposes as communicating across
distances or preserving a message
as a record or a reminder.