Professor Michael Alexander Kirkwood (M.A.K.) Halliday, 1925–2018, founding father of Systemic Functional Linguistics

Abstract

‘A mighty tree has fallen in the forest’ aptly captures the gigantic stature of the man who founded the discipline of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The poetic line by Maya Angelou was quoted by the Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ASFLA, n.d.) when it set up an online site for tributes to Professor Michael Alexander Kirkwood (M. A.K.) Halliday. It is no accident that the ‘Linguist who changed the way languages are taught’ and who extended the work of ‘Charles Darwin and Karl Marx by drawing the study of language and meaning further into the natural and social sciences’ (Cahill, 2018) inspired accolades long after his passing on 15 April 2018. This additional ‘in memoriam piece’ will further honour the life and the legacy of MAKH, as we affectionately refer to him. The following brief professional biography summarizes what can be found in print and online (see Christie, 2018; Davidse, 2018; Steiner, 2018). Halliday was born on 13 April 1925 and his fascination with language may be attributed to his parents, both language teachers, and his early career as a British national army serviceman. His father (Wilfred) was an English teacher while his mother (Winifred) taught French. Halliday trained intensively in Chinese for 18 months in 1942. He taught Chinese during World War II to both the British army servicemen and their families. From 1945 to 1947, he continued teaching Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Concurrently, he also studied Russian. Halliday obtained his BA in Modern Chinese (Language & Literature) from the University of London. He then received a scholarship to read two years of postgraduate studies in Chinese which he pursued initially at Peking University, and later at Lingnan University (now known as Sun Yat-Sen University) in Guangzhou when his research topic moved from historical Chinese studies to the study of modern Chinese dialects. In 1950, Halliday returned to England to pursue his doctorate in Chinese studies at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Gustav Haloun, Professor of Chinese. Unfortunately, he had to seek a new supervisor when Professor Haloun passed away. Halliday had come into contact with J.R. Firth during his School of Oriental and African Studies teaching days and wanted to work under the latter’s supervision for his PhD. Firth remained his external supervisor until Halliday completed his doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. Firth was to remain a major influence impacting his thinking and his work. In 1958, Halliday assumed the position of lecturer in general linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, and this proved to be the turning point where his work, which originally focused on his experience teaching and translating Mandarin Chinese, moved to a focus on English linguistics and English language teaching. The Department of English Language & General Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh was known for their close theory–practice nexus into researching and teaching linguistics, and it was here that Halliday encountered sociolinguists like Bernstein who shaped the later ASIAN ENGLISHES 2019, VOL. 21, NO. 3, 324–328 https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2019.1608720