Abstract:
This paper uses Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) theory as a basis for extracting semantic features of documents. We focus on the pronominal and determination system and the role it plays in constructing interpersonal distance. By using a hierarchical system model that represents the author’s language choices, it is possible to construct a rich and informative feature representation. Using these systemic features, we report clear separation between registers with different interpersonal distance.