Blurb:

In SFL, the semantics of a language calls for as much attention as its lexicogrammar: in fact, meaning and wording are two sides of the same coin; the description of both is equally central to understanding ‘how language works’ (Halliday, McIntosh and Strevens, 1964) – which has been Halliday’s agenda since the beginning of his engagement with linguistics. But what actually led SFL into the exploration of semantics as a legitimate domain for description was not these theoretical considerations, per se; rather, like other aspects of the evolution of SFL, interest in semantics too arose in attempts to resolve certain problems in the course of research during the 1960s. This chapter presents one perspective on the course of this development, specifically with respect to semantic networks as a resource for the analysis of meaning.