"This marvelous volume, with its kaleidoscopic approach to linguistic research, "constantly turning language round and around" as Halliday puts it, presents an extraordinarily imaginative picture of language and its relationships to science, society, and consciousness. Even the earliest papers, which excited me as I first got to know his work, still offer stimulating ideas for contemporary readers." -Sydney M. Lamb, Emeritus Professor, Rice University, Texas.

This third volume in the Collected Works of M. A. K. Halliday series includes papers that explore different aspects of language from a systemic functional perspective. The papers are organized into three sections: the place of linguistics as a discipline; linguistics and language; and language as social semiotic. In addition, there is a new work from Professor Halliday, entitled 'On the "architecture" of human language', in which he focuses on the assumptions or working hypotheses that enabled him to explore important questions about this massive semiotic power called 'language'.

Professor M. A. K. Halliday (b. 1925) was Foundation Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney until his retirement and has taught as a Visiting Professor around the world. As a self-styled 'generalist' he has published in many branches of linguistics.

Jonathan J. Webster is Head of the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics at the City University of Hong Kong.