Misrepresenting Conflation

Martin, Matthiessen & Painter (2010: 169):

2.1.3 Conflation of multivariate structure and univariate structure

Blogger Comments:

This misrepresents conflation, because it misunderstands structure. It is elements of structures that can be conflated, not structures. This is because a structure consists of the relationships between elements. Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 451):

Note that, although it is the functions that are labelled, the structure actually consists of the relationships among them.

and relationships of different metafunctions cannot be conflated. For example, the relationship of the Subject to the Adjunct in the clause they were defeated by the referee cannot be conflated with the relationship of the Medium to the Agent.