Research Article
Discourse Features of the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah:
A Functional and Speech Act Analysis
Alebiosu Afolabi Tajudeen*
Issue:
Volume 12, Issue 1, March 2026
Pages:
1-7
Received:
10 December 2025
Accepted:
23 December 2025
Published:
4 February 2026
Abstract: This study investigates the discourse features of the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah through an integrated application of Halliday’s Functional Model of Language and Austin’s Speech Act Theory. By analysing the treaty as a diplomatic and religious historical text, the research demonstrates how linguistic choices facilitated negotiation, conflict management, and the establishment of mutual recognition between the Muslim and Quraysh delegations. Halliday’s seven functions of language reveal how the treaty’s discourse simultaneously fulfils instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, representational, heuristic, and imaginative roles in shaping the communicative environment of the agreement. Austin’s speech act framework further uncovers the illocutionary forces embedded in the treaty, including commissives, directives, declaratives, and assertives that advanced peace-making objectives. The synthesis of both frameworks shows that the treaty’s language is not merely descriptive but performative, strategically mobilised to secure peace and manage face concerns within a sensitive socio-religious context. Findings show that the treaty’s linguistic structure was strategically constructed to promote conciliation, minimise conflict, and affirm legitimacy. The study contributes to Islamic discourse analysis by highlighting the centrality of language in early Islamic diplomatic practice and offering insights for contemporary peace linguistics and intercultural communication.
Abstract: This study investigates the discourse features of the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah through an integrated application of Halliday’s Functional Model of Language and Austin’s Speech Act Theory. By analysing the treaty as a diplomatic and religious historical text, the research demonstrates how linguistic choices facilitated negotiation, conflict management,...
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Research Article
An Investigation into the Motivating Factors Underlying Similarities and Differences in the Transitivity Systems, Configurations, and Realizations of English and Myanmar
Lai Yee Win*
Issue:
Volume 12, Issue 1, March 2026
Pages:
8-22
Received:
21 November 2025
Accepted:
9 December 2025
Published:
19 March 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.cls.20261201.12
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Abstract: Lai Yee Win (2021) examined the transitivity systems of English and Myanmar using Halliday’s transitivity theory and He’s (2022) model of the Chinese transitivity system. This study, grounded in the Systemic Functional perspective, aimed to aid English and Myanmar language learners by exploring the meaning potential of both languages to facilitate effective mutual communication. The research highlights how cognition, thinking, and cultural influences shape the unique features of English and Myanmar transitivity systems. For English, its distinctive characteristics stem from Roman culture, analytic thinking, and cognitive principles like subject salience and figure-to-background cognition. In contrast, Myanmar’s unique features are rooted in Buddhist culture, holistic and spatial thinking, and cognitive patterns like background-to-figure cognition and the natural sequence principle. These cognitive, cultural, and thinking modes contribute to the differences in the configuration and realization of transitivity elements between the two languages. The study underscores the importance of understanding these influences to bridge linguistic and cultural gaps, enhance language learning, and promote smoother communication. By exploring the motivations behind the similarities and differences in English and Myanmar transitivity systems, this research provides valuable insights into the interplay of language, cognition, and culture. It also paves the way for further comparative studies of Myanmar and other languages, deepening the understanding of linguistic systems across cultural contexts.
Abstract: Lai Yee Win (2021) examined the transitivity systems of English and Myanmar using Halliday’s transitivity theory and He’s (2022) model of the Chinese transitivity system. This study, grounded in the Systemic Functional perspective, aimed to aid English and Myanmar language learners by exploring the meaning potential of both languages to facilitate ...
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