Grammar: Functional Approaches

The term ‘functional’ or ‘functionalist’ has been applied to any approach to grammar that puts the primary emphasis on explanation in terms of factors outside the formal structure of language. The four most significant functional approaches can be characterized in terms of the types of functional explanations that are put forward, and the position taken vis-à-vis formalist explanations of grammar. More recently, a dynamic, usage-based approach to the functionalist analysis of grammar has been developed.