Table of contents

Topic 1 Context, text and language 2

Topic 2 Grammatical classes 8

Topic 3 Transitivity: types of process 13

Topic 4 Transitivity: Participants in Processes 19

Topic 5 Transitivity: Circumstances 23

Topic 6 The Nominal group 25

Topic 7 Interpersonal meaning 29

Topic 8 Interpersonal meaning: Form and Function 32

Topic 9 Interpersonal meaning: expressing opinion 35

Topic 10 The Textual Metafunction: Theme and Rheme 37

Topic 11 The Textual Metafunction: Thematic Progression 42

Topic 12 Pulling it all together 44

Study Guide

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Topic 1: Context, text and language

In this topic we will be looking at

i. the influence of the context on language

ii. the functions of language in context

iii. register (also called genre)

Read textbook:

p-2 to 6

B

1. Context of Situation All language events occur within a context, i.e. within some environment. There are two kinds of

context, the second related to the first:

i. context of culture;

ii. context of situation;

A context of situation is the immediate environment in which a text is constructed. This context

of situation itself is enacted within another context - the cultural context. The context of a

culture, in fact, is host to numerous contexts of situation. In other words, numerous situations

are constructed via language within any given culture. Nevertheless, according to Halliday, it is

possible to describe any context of situation of a text in terms of 3 factors each of which varies

according to: Field: what is going on? Tenor: who is involved in the doing? Mode: how

language is involved in the doing.

Field of discourse: What is being done:

The Field of discourse refers to what is happening, to the nature of the social action that is taking place: what it is that the participants are engaged in, in which the language figures as some essential component?1.

We can talk about the contextual variable Field in terms of:

the domain of experience: the kind of activity that is taking place, e.g. specialised or mundane (non-specialised);

purpose: what is to be achieved in experiential terms;

Tenor of discourse: Who is doing it:

The Tenor of discourse refers to who is taking part, to the nature of the

1 Halliday, M.A.K. (1985/89) Language, Context and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social Semiotic perspective. Victoria: Deakin University Press, in 1985/ London: Oxford University Press 1989.

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participants, their statuses and roles; what kinds of role relationship obtain among the participants, including permanent and temporary relationships in which they are involved?2

According to Hasan3, the social identities and relationships of participants tend to fall into

categories according to:

o the degree of institutionalisation of the role:

public (institutionalised) - the communally recognised and ascribed social identities and

relationships; these may included the agentive roles, i.e. those defined by the nature of

the social activity itself, e.g. teacher-pupil; buyer-seller etc

personal (non-institutionalised) - those individuated roles which are based on personal

attributes.

o degree of status / authority - whether or not the social roles and relationships are hierarchic or

equal.

Two further aspects of Tenor are:

o the extent of the social distance between/among interactants. This depends on the

amount of contact between participants in an interaction - whether, how often and in what

roles they have previously interacted.

o the attitude of the speaker or writer towards what is being undertaken: positive, negative or neutral.

Mode of discourse: The role of language in the doing:

The Mode of discourse refers to what part the language is playing, what it is that the participants are expecting the language to do for them in that situation: the symbolic organisation of the text, including the channel (is it spoken or written or some combination of the two?), and also the rhetorical mode, what is being achieved by the text in terms of such categories as persuasive, expository, didactic, and the like.4

This contextual parameter is concerned with the symbolic organisation of the text - its function in

relation to Field and Tenor. Mode of discourse may be described in terms of three abstractions:

i) language role: whether language is

ancillary to the task in hand simply facilitating the non-linguistic activity;

constitutive, bringing about the social activity

ii) medium used, whether the text is spoken or written;

iii) channel - whether the text is graphic or phonic.

These last two abstractions - medium and channel - are closely related but need to be

distinguished to avoid confusion. For example, with the development of technology we can record

spoken messages and transcribe them in writing so that the spoken medium may be represented

2 ibid 3 Hasan, Ruqaiya (1978) Text in the Systemic Functional model. In Current Trends in Text Linguistics edited by W U

Dressler. Berlin: W de Gruyter. 4 Halliday loc.cit.

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in the graphic channel (rather than the phonic).

The three abstractions are, of course not unrelated to one another. For example, certain roles of

language are more likely to occur in the spoken as opposed to the written medium and in the

phonic as opposed to the graphic channel. So when language is most ancillary, the medium is

most likely to be spoken and the channel phonic.

A further aspect of Mode concerns the purpose of the text, as the above quote from Halliday

suggests5: “what is being achieved by the text in terms of such categories as persuasive,

expository, didactic, and the like.”

Using these descriptive categories we can describe the context of situation of any text. For

example, consider the following text fragment which is part of a conversation between a mother

and her 3½ year old son while they are having lunch:

Halliday hypothesises that these three contextual variables – Field, Tenor and Mode - are the

most relevant categories for describing the context of situation of a text because they broadly

determine the kinds of meanings that are expressed in any text. This means that any text is able

to be described in terms of particular values of each of these variables.

1.1 Context and Register Halliday's proposal is that any instance of language-in-use - any text operative within a context of

situation - will be describable in terms of these 3 variables; it will be describable in terms of some

configuration of particular values of each of the contextual variables. Hasan6 terms this

configuration of particular values of Field, Tenor and Mode the contextual configuration. The

particular values - the configuration of Field, Tenor and Mode choices - are construed by the kinds

of meanings being expressed in the text. Variation in the contextual configuration will correlate with

variation in the variety of language, that is, with register. A register is therefore a configuration of

worded-meanings that is "typically associated with a particular situational configuration of field,

5 J.R. Martin (e.g. 1992 English Text. Amsterdam: John Benjamin) identifies purpose with genre and locates it within the context of culture. 6 loc. cit.

Stephen [? ] (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Mother I can't hear what you said because you filled your mouth full of peanut butter sandwich ..

It's hard talking to you when you've got your mouth full, isn't it? It's a bit rough I think

Field: domain of experience: mundane; purpose: to socialise the child with regard to social conventions for discursive interaction (talking); Tenor: mother & child: status and authority unequal: mother higher status and authority responsible for socialising the child; social distance is minimal; the mother’s attitude towards the child’s action is negative. Mode: spoken text aimed at persuading the child to desist in his behaviour; the talk constitutes the social activity. The interactants access the text through phonic means.

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tenor and mode."7

2. The functions of language

The system of language has evolved in order to enable us to do many things, e.g.

to share information

to enquire

to express attitudes

to entertain,

to argue

to get our needs met.

to reflect,

to construct ideas,

to order our experience

to make sense of the world

Halliday considers that these functions can be grouped into three “bundles”. These bundles of

functions he calls metafunctions:

bundle 1 = the ideational metafunction because it is concerned with how we represent our

experiences of the phenomena around us and inside us and also how we relate those

experiences;

bundle 2 = the interpersonal metafunction because it is concerned with how we express

who we are in relation to others, as well as how we express our attitudes and judgements;

bundle 3 = the textual metafunction because it is concerned with language itself: how we

express our experiences, relationships, attitudes and judgements so as to make these

meanings cohesive and coherent in terms of the what we want our language to do.

Figure 1.1 represents the relationship between context (in terms of the contextual variables we

are using to talk about the context) and text, including the 3 strata (meaning, wording,

sounding/writing) and the 3 metafunctions (ideational, interpersonal and textual).

7

loc. cit.

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Figure 1.1: Language, Text and Context

2.1 Language to talk about language

All subjects involve the use of technical terms, some to a greater degree than others (consider

the technical language of the physical sciences, for example). The same is true in studying

linguistics; in order to use the tools of linguistics to analyse the way speakers and writers create

their texts, we need a specialised descriptive vocabulary – a metalanguage (language about

language). In this Study Guide, technical terms will be italicised and defined when they are first

introduced. You are encouraged to use the metalinguistic terms so that they will become

increasing familiar in your mouth!

Read p 6 to 8

Book

3. Register / Genre

The kinds of meanings we want to make via language is very much a product of the cultural

context. As a significant aspect of our culture, the language system acts to produce and

reproduce the culture in the available registers or genres. For example, what may be broadly

classified as the academic genres with which you are familiar simply do not exist in pre-literate

ideational

interpersonal

textual

meaning

wording

sounding

/writing FIELD MODE

CONTEXT OF

SITUATION TENOR

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cultures, e.g. the Trobriand Islander culture which the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski8 was

studying when he coined the terms context of situation9 and context of culture. In simple terms,

a register or genre10 is the name we give to a text type which typically occurs within a

particular context of situation. Thus for example, if we want to give someone instructions for

doing something, we do so using a text belonging to the genre Procedure. Of course the words

will vary depending on what it is that we want done. Nevertheless, there will be a significant

proportion of meanings that all Procedural texts share. These shared meanings will identify

particular structural elements (stages) which have to be present if the text is to be recognised as

belonging to the text type Procedure.

Complete the Activity 1 tasks in your Portfolio

8 Malinowski, B. 1923 The problem of meaning in primitive languages. Supplement 1 in Ogden, C. & Richards, I. The Meaning of Meaning. London: Kegan Paul. Pp296-336

Malinowski, B.1935 Coral Gardens and their Magic, Volume 2. London: Allen & Unwin. 9 Since Malinowski’s introduction of the concept, a number of scholars have sought to describe the attributes of the context of situation in relation to language. However, it is only with Halliday’s description of context in terms of Field, Tenor and Mode, that we have a theoretically motivated description. See Halliday, M.A.K. 1985 Language Context and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social Semiotic Perspective. Geelong: Deakin University Press. Chapter 1 for an overview of the development of the concept of context of situation. 10 Following Halliday and Hasan, the terms genre and register are used interchangeably here.

Read p 8 to 14

Book

Study Guide

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Topic 2: Grammatical classes

Verbs

A simple sentence is one where there is one main happening or event. Simple sentences are

called CLAUSES. The main event is usually some kind of happening or a state of being and is

typically expressed by a verb. In the following clauses the verb (happening or state of being) is

highlighted.

1. The students attend classes on Wednesdays.

2. Student attendance at tutorials is compulsory.

3. Politicians debated the issues into the night.

4. There has been much debate about the causes of the recent bushfires.

Verbs & tense (finite verbs)

Since verbs express events/happenings or states and these occur in time, an indication of the

time the event occurred is usually given within the verbal group. This indication may be in the

form of a tense inflection on the end of the verb, for example, V+ed and V+en generally indicate

past tense as in clauses 3 and 4. Sometimes the time frame may indicate that an event not only

occurred in the past but is still going on (as in 4) and this requires additional words before the

verb. A word before the verb is also required to indicate that an event will occur in the future

(will, shall).

Verbs & possibility/necessity

An event may be expressed as a possibility or a necessity and this is done by inserting such

expressions as would, may, might, can, could, (possibility) should, must, ought to, has to etc.

(necessity). These expressions are called MODALS.

A useful rule of thumb for recognising whether a word is a verb is to test whether the word can

carry a tense inflection to indicate time or whether a modal of possibility (or necessity) may be

inserted before it.

Complete Activity 2 (a) in the Portfolio

More complex sentences may contain a large number of clauses; however, in written language,

these must be linked together in a cohesive way. In the following text, the verbs are highlighted

and the word that links clauses within sentences - the conjunctions - are underlined. Notice

that these within-sentence conjunctions always occur at the beginning of clauses.

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Complete Activity 2 (b)

In addition to expressions of time, possibility or necessity, a verb may be preceded by a word

that indicates a number of things about the verb, e.g. appearance, state of completion, success,

etc etc, These words modify the verb.

In the following table examples are given of verbal groups which contain some modification of

the event; the word expressing the event – the lexical verb (which always occurs last in the

verbal group) - is highlighted in bold and the words that modify the verb are shown in italics.

appearance seems to know, appears to find

completion start/begin to think, keep thinking, end up thinking, stop thinking,

success try/attempt to work, managed to write, failed to come, unable to work, learn to swim

condition hasten to write, happen to arrive, hesitated to speak, ventured to suggest

cause make (him) go, force (her) to read,

Complete Activity 2 (c)

Unrestricted verbs

Sometimes a verb is not restricted in terms of some time or some expression of possibility or

necessity, but is unrestricted. The form of such verbs is often of the kind: to + verb or verb+ing.

These unrestricted (NON-FINITE) verbs are highlighted in the following text:

Complete Activity 2 (d)

The Eagle and the Arrow

An Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt

that it was wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down to the earth, with its life-blood pouring

out of it. Looking down upon the Arrow with which it had been pierced, it saw that the shaft of

the Arrow had been feathered with one of its own plumes. "Alas!" it cried, as it died, "We often

give our enemies the means for our own destruction."

A lot of young people do much less physical activity than previous generations, so they are

not expending energy. In the past, children could do little if they stayed indoors so there

was a disincentive, but that has changed with the advent of first television, and then video

games, computers, the internet and so on. Many children also are spending a lot of time in

after-school lessons and coaching, as academic pressure on teenagers increases.

Furthermore, the living conditions for many Australian children have changed. More now

live in apartments and high-density residential areas and new homes have a bigger footprint

on their blocks, leaving little room for backyard cricket and footy games. More families have

multiple cars, and children simply walk less.

(adapted from http://media.uow.edu.au/opinions/op6.html

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Summary of verb forms

verb forms e.g.

restricted (tense) =Finite present continuous “be” + V+ing

He is walking

They are walking

simple present

V+(e)s; V+0;

He walks

They walk

past: i) complete V+ed He walked

ii) ongoing relevance

“have”+V+ed He has walked

future will/shall/ “be”+going to+V

He will walk; he is going to walk

possibility would, could, may, might, etc He might walk

necessity must, should, etc He should walk

other modification try/seem to+V. etc He tried to walk

Unrestricted = non-finite V+ing; He went home, walking slowly

to+V He has no right to walk there.

Nouns

As well as the verb, a clause may contain one or more participants involved with the verb.

Participants are usually (but not always) nouns, or noun groups referring to:

the thing or person responsible for the event (expressed by the verb), and

the thing or person receiving or benefiting from the event.

In the following sentences the noun groups expressing these participants are underlined (verbs

are bolded).

The students attended classes on Wednesdays.

Student attendance at tutorials is compulsory.

Politicians debated the issues into the night.

There has been much debate about the causes of the recent bushfires.

Nouns are the words used to name people, places, things and concepts. They may be concrete

or abstract; specific or general, and non-specialised or technical.

Type of noun example

abstract, often referring to some event happiness, reconciliation, expectation

general, referring to whole areas of understanding

issue, fact, problem, question, matter, idea

technical, referring to phenomena in general terms

semiotics, phonology, phonetics, semantics

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Abstract nouns in particular are often difficult to recognise because they may name what is in

fact an event e.g. debate. In this particular case, the word can be used either as a noun or as a

verb (this is not always the case). However, nouns can be described, so that one way of

recognising a noun is to ask yourself the question: Can this word be described? In other words,

can it be:

pointed out and/or owned ,e.g. the debate; the members’ debate;

counted, e.g. much debate;

evaluated, e.g. fierce debate; or

classified, e.g. parliamentary debate

This is a reasonably foolproof way of recognising a noun and, indeed, it is one of the main

reasons for turning events (verbs) into nouns.

Complete Activity 2 (e)

Pronouns:

These are words that can stand in the place of a noun which has been specified (usually)

previously in the text. The pronouns in English refer to:

speaker I, we, me, us, my, mine, our, ours

hearer you, your, yours

some other person or thing he, she, it, they, him, her, their, them, his, hers, its, theirs

a generalised person one, one’s

Complete Activity 2 (f)

Prepositional Phrases and adverbial groups

Another very important group of words which may occur in a clause are the phrases and groups

which refer to the circumstances surrounding the event. These phrases and groups generally

specify (among other things) where, how, why, what like, what about or when the event is being

performed. In the following clauses the phrase is shown in small capitals.

The students attended classes ON WEDNESDAYS.

Students’ attendance AT TUTORIALS is compulsory.

Politicians debated the issues INTO THE NIGHT.

There has been much debate ABOUT THE CAUSES OF THE RECENT BUSHFIRES.

The phrases identified above are called prepositional phrases because they begin with a

preposition. This preposition is then followed by a noun or noun group, e.g.

Study Guide

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AT TUTORIALS ON WEDNESDAYS INTO THE NIGHT

preposition noun preposition noun preposition noun group

As suggested by the analysis of the prepositional phrases above, a preposition is a word that

indicates a relation between the noun (or pronoun) it precedes and some other word. The

relation may be one of:

meaning Example

time at 6 0’clock; (away) from the edge; in 3 weeks; until midnight; during the week;

location to the beach; on (top of) the shelf; at the shops; in the house; among the trees

cause/purpose because of the rain; for dangerous driving; from exposure;

manner/means by train; with a hammer

accompaniment with(out) his dog;

matter about the causes (of the recent bushfires)

concession despite the rain

(A house) of cards

As previously mentioned, a prepositional phrase usually expresses some circumstance

associated with an event. Another class of words that modify the verb are adverbs, e.g.

tomorrow, later (expresses time;

hastily, grudgingly (manner);

together, apart (accompaniment);

in, out (location) etc.

Adverbs can be modified (limited), e.g. a little later and so we can talk about adverbial groups

rather than simply adverbs.

Complete Activity 2 (g)

Complete Activities 2 (h-i)

Read p 25 to 30

Book

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Topic 3: Transitivity: types of process

A functional grammar builds on and extends the categories of traditional grammar. The result is

that, in a functional grammar, we have two layers of terminology:

i) class labels – these are the categories of forms (nouns, verbs, adjectives etc)

ii) functional labels.

Why do we need these two layers of terms? Because the same form – e.g. nominal (noun)

group - functions differently in different environments. The functional labels show us the work

that the grammatical forms are doing in any particular structure, e.g.

The lion chased the tourist

Nominal group Verbal group Nominal group

Within the context of the clause, nominal groups have different roles depending on where they

are in relation to the verb. In the example, the lion functions as the “do-er” of the action (Actor)

and the tourist is the “done to” (the Goal).

It is not only nominal (noun) groups that may have a different role depending on how they relate

to the verb. Consider another example: prepositional phrases usually express a Circumstance

but in the example,

My mother gave a present to me on my birthday

Nominal group Verbal group Nominal group Prep. phrase Prep.phrase

the prepositional phrase “to me” expresses not a Circumstance but a Beneficiary.

3.0 Interpreting and representing experience: the ideational metafunction The metafunction (meanings) through which we express our experiences – naming things and

processes in our world – Halliday calls the experiential metafunction. But in addition to naming

the things and events in the world around us and inside us we also relate them. The

metafunction through which we do this is the logical metafunction. The two metafunctions

– logical and experiential – are so closely related that Halliday puts them together as the

components of the ideational metafunction. The two components – experiential and logical -

each have different structures, so they are considered separately. However, here we cover only

the ways in which experiential meanings are expressed.

Whenever we talk about our experiences, we mention i) what was done, ii) who did it

to/for whom, and iii) (optionally) where, when, why or how etc the doing was done. The

technical terms in systemic functional grammar for these categories are:

experience Technical terms

i) what was done (i.e. the event or state) Process

ii) who/what did it to/for whom Participant

iii) where, when, why or how etc the doing was done Circumstance

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3.1 Processes

The processes (events) in which we participate are many and varied but it is possible to

categorise them. How can we do this? In linguistics, what we need to do in order to categorise

processes is to consider how the language itself organises them into categories. We do this by

looking at language patterns and trying to discover any co-patterning, i.e. any ways in which

language use varies when a particular feature of language occurs. For example, consider the

following:

i) They are walking quickly.

ii) The children are watching a movie.

iii) She loves icecream.

iv) He says it’s going to rain.

v) This is a beautiful flower.

In each of these examples, the verbal group that expresses the process (event or state) is

underlined. If we examine these processes, we see that in i) and ii) the tense used to express

the current time of the event is the present continuous (verb+ing). By contrast, in iii)-v) the

simple present tense is used. The form of the present tense that typically occurs with processes

is one of the criteria Halliday uses to distinguish types of processes. We may distinguish, first of

all, two types according to the typical present tense form criterion (present continuous tense v.

simple present tense):

1. “action” type processes as exemplified by i) and ii); and

2. “other” types

The processes in each category now need to be distinguished using some other criterion. We

can distinguish between the processes in category 1 (“action”) on the basis of the kind of

participant that can be involved as the doer. Basically, anyone or anything can do various

“actions” but there are a small number of actions that can be done only by living things, e.g.

watch, listen, sleep, laugh. These types of processes are called Behavioural processes. On the

other hand, those action-type processes that do not require a conscious do-er are called

Material processes, e.g. come, sail, fall.

other-type

process

material

process

action-type

other-type

action-type

behavioural

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Material processes may be identified by using as probes either of two questions:

1. Who did it?

2. What happened?

Furthermore, the doing or happening may be intentional or non-intentional (e.g. fall).

Behavioural processes include, as well as those listed above, physiological processes

such as: cry, laugh, sing, smile, yawn, breathe, cough, sleep etc. They are sometimes followed

by what is called a cognate object, e.g. sing a song, sigh a sad sigh.

The processes in category 2 (“other”) can also be distinguished using the criterion of a

living thing as the main participant. Processes like love and say require that the “lover” and

“sayer” be a living thing, indeed, not only living but a conscious being – human or animal.

The processes in category 2 which require a conscious participant – processes like love

and say – can be distinguished by asking ourselves: what kind of conscious participant can be

say-er? Only human participants (except for metaphor) can participate in these Verbal

processes whereas any conscious being can be a participant in Mental processes. This latter

type – Mental - may be sub-classified as expressing a cognitive process – think, know,

remember etc, a process of reaction –want, like etc, or a perceptual process – see, hear, feel

etc:

A further type of process within the “other” category is that expressed by the verbs “to

be” and “to have”. These, however, do not have the requirement of a living and/or conscious

participant: anything can “be” or “have”. The verbs “to be” and “to have” (both of which have

many synonyms) are used to:

a) relate two things in terms of identity, e.g. The departmental head is Mrs Lee. Here, the

verb identifies a thing in terms of some identifying feature.

b) relate a thing and its attribute, e.g. This flower is beautiful. Here the verb links or relates a

thing with its attribute;

c) note the existence of something (verb “to be” only), e.g. There is plenty of food.

The verb “to be/have” in a) and b) is called a Relational process, and that in c) is called an

Existential process. In other words, the verb “to be/have” is used in English to express

relationships (a-b), possession, and the verb “to be” is used to express existence – c). Before

reaction

material

behavioural

action-type

other-type

process

mental

verbal

cognition

perception

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discussing relational processes, consider existential processes.

Existential there is often confused with circumstantial there. To distinguish them consider the

following: existential there is phonologically reduced whereas circumstantial there is not. In

addition, existential there usually occurs at or near the beginning of the clause but

circumstantial there may occur anywhere.

existential there circumstantial there

clause position early in the clause anywhere in the clause

phonologically reduced full value

example There is someone at the door. Is anybody there?

Summary of process types

Process

present tense

Participant type

Can project another clause?

i) They are walking quickly. Material continuous unrestricted No

ii) The children are watching a movie.

Behavioural continuous living No

iii) She loves icecream. Mental simple conscious Yes

iv) He says it’s going to rain. Verbal simple human Yes

v) This is a beautiful flower. Relational simple unrestricted No

3.2 The tense test for determining process type:

The fact that a particular present tense form and a particular type of participant characterizes

each category is not to deny that we can use another present tense form or another type of

participant with each category of process. We can and do say things like They walk quickly, i.e.

using the simple present tense instead of the present continuous. But note that if we do so, we

have added a new element of meaning: that of usuality or habituality (timelessness). We might

also have said or heard something like My watch says it’s 10 o’clock - where we have a non-

living non-human sayer. Here, we have a metaphorical extension of the process.

3.3 Coda: phrasal verbs:

Sometimes a verb is followed by a preposition or an adverb and it is difficult to tell whether the

preposition is part of the verb (forming a phrasal verb) or is expressing a circumstance of the

verb. Halliday11 (1994: 207) points out that phrasal verbs may consist of

verb + adverb e.g. look out; (meaning unearth, retrieve) or

verb + preposition, e.g. look for; (meaning seek) or

verb + adverb + preposition, e.g. look out for (meaning watch for)

A phrasal verb is a single process, not a process+circumstance. To test whether a verb +

adverb/preposition is a phrasal verb or if a group or phrase is separate from the verb, test as in

11 Halliday, M.A.K. 1994 Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold

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the following:

It was a needle that I was looking for; √

(not: It was for a needle that I was looking) х

It was a boat that I was looking out for. √

(not: It was out for a boat that I was looking) х

It was a book that I looked out for him; √

(not: It was out a book that I looked) х

3.4 Relational Processes: processes of being

The two types of Relational processes - attributive and identifying – each type have 3 sub-

categories:

intensive

attributive circumstantial

possessive

Relational

intensive

identifying circumstantial

possessive

The Attribute itself may be: i) a quality (intensive), ii) a circumstance or iii) a possession, e.g.

(the Attribute is highlighted in the following examples.)

Attributive e.g.

quality The house is beautiful.

circumstance The house is on the hill.

possession I have a house

Identifying relational processes may also be intensive, circumstantial or possessive. In these

clauses the relational process identifies a thing in terms of, for example, it’s unique role

(intensive), it’s time/location/reason etc (circumstantial) or it’s owner, e.g.

Identifying e.g.

intensive My brother is the eldest in the family

circumstantial Today is the 4th.

possession The book is mine.

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Notice that we can reverse the order of the Thing identified and its identifying feature, e.g. The

eldest in the family is my brother. This reversibility is a characteristic of Identifying relational

process clauses. Of course, when we change the order, there are consequences, e.g. the

clause is no longer active but has become passive. However, we need to replace the verb with

one of its synonyms to show this fact, e.g. The eldest in the family is represented by my brother.

The verb “to be” has many synonyms, some of which are listed below

Describing (Attributive) relational verbs

be: become, turn (into), grow (into); remain, stay (as), keep, seem, appear, qualify as, turn out, end up (as), look (like), sound (like), feel, taste, smell,

concern, last, weigh, cost

has, belong to,

Identifying relational verbs

play, act as, function as, serve as, mean, indicate, imply, suggest, show, equal, add up to, make, include, represent, constitute, form, exemplify, illustrate, express, signify, realise, spell, stand for, become,

take up, follow, span

own, involve, contain, comprise, consist of, provide

Network of process types

material

doing

behavioural

process

mental

other verbal

existential

relational attributive

identifying

Complete the Activity 3 tasks in your Portfolio

Read Chapter 3

Book

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19

Topic 4: Transitivity: Participants in Processes

4.1 Material Processes

Material processes may be identified by using as probes either of two questions:

3. Who did it?

4. What happened?

The do-er in a Material process is called the Actor. In addition there may be other participants

in a Material process:

the person or object affected by the action – the Goal;

the object involved but not affected by the action – the Range;

the person benefiting from the action – the Beneficiary.

Not all of these roles have to be present in a clause as the following examples show:

Actor Process Goal Range Beneficiary Circumstance

After he had climbed the hill

the boy ate hungrily.

His mother had prepared the food for him that morning

4.2 Behavioural Processes

The main participant in a Behavioural process is called the Behaver. A second participant is

usually a Range.

Behaver Process Range Circumstance

The women sang a sad song

and the audience wept quietly

4.3 Mental Processes

The main participant in a mental process is called the Senser. It is the Senser who knows,

loves, perceives etc. The second participant - that which is sensed - is called the Phenomenon,

except where what is thought, felt, sensed etc is expressed by a ranking clause, e.g. We

decided to go home. In this case, the second ranking clause is not a participant in the Mental

process clause but is related to it by the logical relation of projection. Only mental and verbal

processes can project another clause.

clause 1 clause 2

Senser Process Phenomenon

We cherish our liberty

and enjoy being free

Note we can reverse the order of Senser and Phenomenon by choosing a synonymous verb,

e.g.

Senser Process Phenomenon

I like icecream.

Phenomenon Process Senser

icecream pleases me.

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4.4 Verbal processes

In a verbal process the main participant is called the Sayer; what the Sayer says is called the

Verbiage, and the person spoken to (the addressee) is called the Receiver:

Very often, we quote the words that someone spoke (direct speech), or we reformulate what

they said (indirect speech). In such cases, the saying (what was said) is often in the form of a

clause. When the saying is in the form of a clause, it cannot be considered a constituent of the

verbal process clause (i.e. Verbiage); rather it is related to the clause containing the verbal

process by the logical relationship of projection, i.e. the verbal process projects the second

clause that expresses the saying (either directly or indirectly).

Clause 1 Clause 2 ( the saying)

Sayer Process

They announced that an inquiry would be held

He commented, “My client cannot be blamed for the weather”

4.5 Existential processes

The main participant in an existential process is the Existent, i.e. the participant whose

existence is represented. The clause initial “there” is simply a placeholder in the Transitivity

analysis and has no experiential function.

There is someone at the door

Pro: existential Existent Circumstance

4.6 Participants in Relational processes

i) Attributive relational processes: these link a Thing with its attribute. The Thing

described is called the Carrier and the description is called the Attribute which may be

intensive (a quality), a circumstance (place, reason, time, manner etc), or a possession

e.g.

The house is beautiful. intensive

The house is on the hill. circumstance

I have a house possessive

Carrier Pro: relational: Attributive Attribute

In Relational Attributive processes in which the Attribute is a circumstance, the Attribute may

come first in the clause, e.g.

On the mantelpiece was an envelope

Attribute Pro: relational: Attributive Carrier circumstance

Sayer Process Verbiage Receiver

They shouted “Hooray!”

He said something to me

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ii) Identifying Relational Processes: these link a Thing with its identifying feature. There are

2 sets of labels for Thing and identifying feature: a) Identified and Idenifier; and b) Token

and Value.

a. Identified and Identifier. Consider the question: Who is Tom? In this clause, Tom is

identified as the Thing whose identifying feature (an Identifier) is sought. The answer would

be something like:

Tom is the eldest

Identified Pro: Relational: Identifying Identifier

If the question was instead: Who is the eldest? Then it is the eldest which serves as the

Identified and the name sought would be the Identifier.

Tom is the eldest

Identifier Pro: Relational: Identifying Identified

As a general rule of thumb, the best way to sort out Identified and Identifier is to label any

participant that has already been mentioned as the Identified, e.g. I am going to Mt

Kosciusko. It’s the highest mountain in Australia.

It ‘s the highest mountain in Australia.

Identified Pro: Relational: Identifying Identifier

b.Token and Value. These represent another way of labeling a Thing and its identifying

feature. Token always comes first if the clause is in the active voice. How do we know if a

relational process clause is in the active or passive voice. This is the problem and to solve it

what we need to do is to substitute a synonym of the verb “to be” (or “have”) in order to work

it out. In the clause Tom is the eldest we can substitute the synonymous verb represent

Tom represents the eldest

Token Pro: Relational: Identifying Value

If we reversed this clause The eldest is Tom then we would see that the reversed clause is

in the passive voice:

The eldest is represented by Tom

Value Pro: Relational: Identifying Token

You may use either or both sets of labels for Identifying relational processes.

4.7 Clauses functioning as Participants

Although participants in clauses are usually expressed by nominal groups, they may be

expressed by whole clauses. Consider example i):

i) What I read in my text book has given me an idea (The main verb is highlighted)

The Actor in this Material process clause is underlined; it is not a nominal group but a clause.

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22

[[What I read in my text book]] has given me an idea

Actor Pro: Material Beneficiary Goal

In ii) below, both the Identified and the Identifier are realised by clauses; and in iii) the Carrier of

the Attribute is realised by a clause:

ii) [[What you see]] is [[what you get]].

iii) [[Understanding functional grammar]] is really useful.

Because these underlined clauses are acting as constituents of clauses, they are behaving, not

as clauses, but as if they were nominal (noun) groups. For this reason we say that they are

down-ranked or embedded clauses and we enclose them with double square brackets.

[[Understanding functional grammar]] is really useful

Carrier Pro: Attributive Attribute

4.8 Summary of process types and associated participant functions

The types of processes and participants are summarised in the following network (note that

some participant functions - e.g. Range – can occur in a variety of process types)

material

doing

behavioural

process mental

other verbal

existential

relational attributive

identifying

Complete the Activity 4 tasks in your Portfolio

[[What you see]] is [[what you get]].

Token / Identified Pro: Identifying Value /Identifier

Read Chapter 3

Book

Actor Goal Beneficiary Range

Behaver Range

Senser Phenomenon

Sayer Verbiage Receiver Target

Existent

Carrier Attribute

Identified Identifier / Token Value

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Topic 5: Transitivity: Circumstances

In addition to analysing our world in terms of the ways of being, acting, behaving, sensing and

saying we participate in, we may also specify any circumstances involved in these processes.

The kinds of Circumstances fall under the following headings (probes are given to help

determine the kind of circumstance):

Circumstance type

probe example

Manner

Means

Quality

comparison

How? What with?

How?

What…like?

Mend it with glue;

Left the room in a temper;

Shut the door gently.

Extent in:

space

time

How far?

How long?

Walk (for) 10 miles;

Stay (for) an hour

Location in:

space

time

Where?

When?

Study at uni;

Go home at 6 o’clock

Cause

reason

purpose

behalf

Why? How?

What for?

Who for?

Stay home because of the storm;

Go home for lunch;

Be quiet for my sake.

Contingency

condition

concession

default

under what conditions?

Proceed quickly in the event of fire;

Succeed despite an illness;

In the absence of any evidence the case was dismissed.

accompaniment And who / what else? Jim came with John / Jim came as well as John

role what as? He came as Henry VIII

angle according to who? To Mary, it seemed too difficult.

matter what about? I’m worried about her health

Consider the Circumstances associated with the processes in the following clauses:

Actor Process Goal Beneficiary Circumstance

the boy ate hungrily (=manner).

His mother had prepared the food for him that morning (=time)

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For convenience, the Circumstances in the above examples occur at the end of the clause. This

is the unmarked state of affairs. Circumstances are mobile and may occur anywhere in the

clause, e.g.

Complete the Activity 5 tasks in your Portfolio

Behaver Process Range Circumstance

The women sang a sad song at the concert (=location)

the audience wept quietly (=manner)

Senser Process Phenomenon Circumstance

Cherish things for your family’s sake (=reason)

enjoy life wholeheartedly (=manner)

don’t worry about anything (=matter)

Sayer Process Verbiage Circumstance

They shouted “Hooray!” at the top of their voices (=manner)

He said something under his breath (=manner)

Process Existent Circumstance

There is someone at the door (=location)

Carrier Process Attribute Circumstance

The house is beautiful. in the evening light (=time)

I have a house near the sea (=location)

Identified Process Identifier Circumstance

My brother is the eldest in the family despite his size (=concession)

Today is the 4th according to the calendar (=angle)

The book is mine as a result of the vote (=reason)

Circumstance Identified Process Identifier

Despite his size (=concession) my brother is the eldest in the family

According to the calendar (=angle) today is the 4th

As a result of the vote (=reason) the book is mine

Read Chapter 3

Book

Study Guide

25

Topic 6: The Nominal group

A nominal group is also known as a noun group or noun phrase, e.g.

Snakes have to look after themselves

Nominal groups function within the clause to express participants – who/what is involved in an

event - and, occasionally, circumstances surrounding an event. In the clause above, the

nominal groups express participants – who/what look after who/what. They both consist of only

one word expressing the thing (snakes; themselves). The first nominal group (Snakes) is a

word that belongs to the word class: noun; the second nominal group (themselves) belongs to

the class: pronoun.

Nominal groups expressed by nouns can be expanded to give much information about

the noun. In an expanded nominal group, the noun is usually the Head word and the additional

information describes the noun in some way. For example, if we wanted to identify the noun,

e.g. snake by pointing out which particular snake we were referring to, we could use a word like

these, those, my, his, or the and we would put this pointing word before the noun. These

pointing words are technically called deictics, e.g.

We could add further information about the Thing - snakes - by specifying how many there are,

e.g. these two snakes

The words which tell how many are called Numeratives. Numeratives can be cardinal

(two) or ordinal (second). They can also be precise (two) or vague (some, a few).

With the addition of a specification of number, our nominal group consists of 3 words.

We can expand this nominal group even further by describing some qualities of the Thing, e.g.

These two slithery snakes. This describing word is technically known as Epithet:

We might want to specify what kind of snakes we are referring to; we do this by adding a word

which classifies the Thing, e.g.

these two slithery tiger snakes

Deictic Numerative Epithet Classifier Thing

We can have more than one Epithet, e.g.

these two slithery slimy tiger snakes

Deictic Numerative Epithet1 Epithet2 Classifier Thing

but they have to be next to one another before the Classifier.

The Epithet can be subjective, expressing the speaker’s attitude towards the Thing, or it may

these snakes

Deictic Thing

these two snakes

Deictic Numerative Thing

these two slithery snakes

Deictic Numerative Epithet Thing

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26

be more factual and objective, expressing evaluative or other descriptive information about the

Thing.

The Epithet and Classifier are sometimes difficult to distinguish. A good test is to see

whether we can add an Intensifier such as very or really. Intensifiers can only come before

Epithets, not before Classifiers. In other words, only Epithets can be intensified, e.g.

Furthermore, Epithets can accept degrees of comparison (slimier/slimiest) whereas Classifiers

cannot.

The Deictics, Numeratives, Epithets and Classifiers are called pre-modifiers, i.e. they

occur before the Thing that they are specifying. We can also give more information about the

Thing after it occurs, i.e. we can post-modify it, e.g.

These two very slithery slimy tiger snakes in the our neigbour’s garden

Notice that the post-modifying element functions to qualify the Thing in this particular nominal

group in terms of its location.

In this nominal group, the Qualifier is a prepositional phrase. As with prepositional

phrases in general, this phrase begins with a preposition - in - which is followed by a nominal

group - our neighbour’s garden. So within the nominal group – these two slithery slimy tiger

snakes in our neighbour’s garden – we have a nominal group embedded in the Qualifying

element. This is a case of the nesting phenomenon (nb: Russian dolls) that occurs so

frequently in language.

Qualifiers may also express entire events (clauses), e.g.

These two slithery slimy tiger snakes that live in the our neigbour’s garden

Whether phrases or clauses, Qualifiers are part of the nominal group and so we say they are

embedded within the nominal group.

Modification (pre- or post- ) gives us information about the Thing. The more Epithets and

Classifiers there are, the more uniquely we specify which Thing we mean. The most precise

these two slithery slimy tiger snakes in the our neigbour’s garden

Deictic Num Epithet 1 Epithet 2 Classifier Thing Qualifier

Pre-modifier Post-modifier

these two slithery slimy tiger snakes that live in the our

neigbour’s garden

Deictic Num Epithet 1 Epithet 2 Classifier Thing Qualifier

Pre-modifier Post-modifier

These two very slithery slimy tiger snakes…

These two slithery very slimy tiger snakes…

These two slithery slimy very tiger snakes…

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27

information is usually to be found in the post-modifier.

Functions and word classes in the nominal group

What are the word classes that can act in each kind of function – Deictic, Numerative, Epithet

and Classifier?

Deictics determine whether or not the Thing is specific. So another term that is used to refer

to these is Determiner.

Demonstrative pronouns: The appropriate usage depends on proximity, i.e. the distance

between the speaker and the person/object/wording referred to.

The interrogative pronouns which can function as a non-specific deictic are:

personal, e.g. whose

non-personal, e.g. what

neutral, e.g. which

Note that two Deictics may occur, e.g. The same argument

Numerative

The item functioning as Numerative may be an exact or inexact quantity of the Thing. In addition

an exact or an inexact quantity can be ordered (ordinal) or not (i.e. cardinal).

two chapters; the preceding chapter; many chapters

Which quantifier we use depends not only on the quantity (how many) we wish to specify but

also on the kind of Thing that occurs as Head, i.e. a countable or an uncountable noun. We

use certain quantifiers with countable nouns and other quantifiers with uncountable nouns. In

the examples below, eggs represents countable Things, and water represents uncountable

specific non-specific

definite article, e.g.

the snake;

indefinite article, e.g.

a snake

demonstrative pronouns,

e.g. this / that snake;

these /those snakes

no determiner at all, e.g.

snakes

possessive pronouns, e.g.

his snake

interrogative pronouns, e.g.

what snake

near far

singular this that

plural these those

exact inexact

cardinal two, ten many, much

ordinal second, tenth preceding, subsequent

Whose pen is this? What bird is that? Which book did you read?

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Things.

Epithets and Classifiers

Adjectives occur as Epithets and Classifiers. In addition, a verb may be used to describe or

classify,

Epithet Classifier Thing

happy children

ugly painting

fast electric train

hot summer days

rising sun

bleeding nose

lost cause

Adjectives as Epithets and Classifiers occur in a particular order - from subjective qualities

(speaker/writer’s attitude/opinion) to more objective qualities, e.g.

Subjective attitude Objective properties

Epithet1 Epithet2 Epithet3 Epithet4 Epithet5 Epithet6 Classifier1 Classifier2 Thing

small attractive well-worn twisted black ebony African walking stick

Complete the Activity 6 tasks in your Portfolio:

Read pp.65-69

Book

Countable things

• many • both eggs • other

Uncountable things

• much • a little water • less

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29

Topic 7: Interpersonal meaning

In addition to using language to express our experience of the world, we also use language

to interact with others in particular ways;

to express our attitude towards what we are talking or writing about;

to express our evaluation of what we are talking or writing about.

7.1 Interacting via language

When we interact via language, we exchange something. What we exchange (i.e. the

commodity) is

1. goods or services, or 2. information, e.g.

commodity

Mother now Stephen, do you want a sandwich for lunch goods/services

Stephen yes (I want a sandwich) information

and (I want) some passionfruit goods/services

Mother Where is the passionfruit? information

Furthermore, our role in the exchange may be that of demanding or giving one of these

commodities (goods/ services or information):e.g.

role commodity

Mother now Stephen, do you want a sandwich for lunch Giving goods/services

Stephen yes (I want a sandwich) Giving information

and (I want) some passionfruit Demanding goods/services

Mother Where is the passionfruit? Demanding information

The terms we use to label each of these “acts” of meaning are:

role

Commodity

give demand

Goods&services offer command

Information statement question

“act”

Mother now Stephen, do you want a sandwich for lunch offer

Stephen yes (I want a sandwich) statement

and (I want) some passionfruit command

Mother Where is the passionfruit? question

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Each move in an exchange (offer; question; statement; command) happens over a single

clause. Just two grammatical features of the clause carry the burden of expressing this

interpersonal meaning. These two grammatical features are known as Subject and Finite. They

are the principal bearers of interpersonal meaning in English because they are the two features

which we use to make our propositions arguable, e.g.

Mother: Who spilt coffee on the mat?

The Subject (expressed by a nominal group) and the Finite (an auxiliary verb expressing tense

– the time an event occurred - or modality) make up the Mood structure of the clause

If a clause contains two nominal groups (such as in the above clauses), how do we know which

nominal group is the Subject? The first nominal group is usually Subject but this is not an

infallible test, e.g. The coffee Bernard must have split on the mat (not the wine).

The coffee Bernard must have split on the mat

Subject Finite

Mood

The best way to determine which nominal group is Subject is to add a question tag to the clause

because the Subject (and Finite) always turn up in the tag.

The coffee Bernard must have split on the mat, mustn’t he?

S F F S

The Finite element expressing tense or modality is so-called because:

it is the element that ties the event to a time thus making it finite, or

it encodes the speaker’s/writer’s opinion in terms of probability, obligation/necessity,

willingness, ability or permission.

Did you? Finite Subject

Stephen I didn’t Subject Finite

Mother You did! Subject Finite

Stephen I didn’t Subject Finite

Bernard did Subject Finite

Bernard I didn’t Subject Finite

Stephen did. Subject Finite

Did you spill coffee on the mat?

Finite Subject

Mood

Bernard must have done it

Subject Finite

Mood

time

modality

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31

Clauses vary in their Mood structure and it is the presence and ordering of the two functions –

Subject and Finite – that determine the Mood, e.g.

He will open the door

S F

Mood

differs from Will he open the door

F S

Mood

and

Open the door

Both Subject and Finite are present in the first two clauses but absent in the third. In the first

and second however, the order of Subject and Finite is different: Subject occurs before the

Finite in 1 and this is the usual order in declarative clauses. In the second clause, Subject

comes after the Finite and this is usually the case in clauses that are interrogative in form.

Finally, Subject and Finite are absent in 3 and this is the usual case in imperative clauses.

7.2 The Finite element

Expressing time: Often, the temporal (time) Finite is not easy to identify because it is fused

with the lexical verb, e.g. He opened the door. The past tense marking on the lexical verb is

what expresses the time in this declarative clause. We can prove that the Finite is the past

tense if we add a question tag – He opened the door, didn’t he? - or if we change the

declarative Mood to the interrogative form, e.g. Did he open the door?

He opened the door, didn’t he?

S F F S

English tense marking on verbs varies and sometimes the form of the verb changes to indicate

past-ness, e.g. He spoke for a long time. Since we cannot separate the tense marker from the

lexical verb we simply mark a part of the lexical verb to indicate the Finite, as in the example

above.

The reason for showing the Finite in this way when it is fused with the lexical verb is that

Subject and Finite tend to stick together so it is a good idea to put the two elements next to one

another.

Complete the Activity 7 tasks in your Portfolio

Read pp.73-75

Book

Study Guide

32

Topic 8: Interpersonal meaning: Form and Function

8.1 Residue

The rest of the clause outside of the Mood block involves meanings that are not to be argued

about (if they were to be argued about, we would put them in the Mood block). This part of the

clause is called simply the Residue. We can label the components of the Residue as follows:

Predicator - the rest of the verbal group including the lexical verb; it is the basis of the

predication (validation) of the rest of the clause;

Complement – the nominal group that completes the argument begun in the Mood;

Adjunct – adverbial group, prepositional phrase or nominal group that acts as a

Circumstance in the experiential structure of the clause.

There can be more than one Complement and Adjunct; on the other hand neither may occur.

However, there can be only one Predicator and it must always occur (unless presupposed by

ellipsis).

In interrogative clauses, what may be interrogated is the identity of the Subject

(who.what), the Complement (what/whom), the Predicator (what…do) or the Adjunct (when,

where, why, how, who/what with etc), e.g.

interrogating the identity of an Adjunct: Where is the passionfruit?

interrogating the identity of an Adjunct: When will he come?

interrogating the identity of the Complement: What did you spill?

An example of Subject interrogation is given below. Some further analyses are also given to

illustrate how to do it.

Did you spill coffee on the mat

Finite Subject Pred Compl Adjunct

Mood Residue

Where is the passionfruit?

Adjunct P F Subject

Residue Mood

When will he come?

Adjunct F S Predicator

Resi- Mood -due

What did you spill?

Complement F S Predicator

Resi- Mood -due

Bernard must have done it

Subject Finite Predicator C

Mood Residue

The coffee Bernard must have split on the mat

C Subject Finite Pred. Adjunct

Resi- Mood -due

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Exceptions: i) A certain type of interrogative clause has the order Subject followed by Finite,

e.g. Who has spilled the coffee? In this question, it is the identity of the Subject that is being

sought by “who” so the order of the Mood elements is S ^ F

ii) some declarative clauses may also reverse the order S ^ F, e.g.

On the mantelpiece was an envelope

Adjunct P F S

Residue Mood

iii) an imperative clause may contain one of the Mood functions if:

a) the clause is negative, e.g. b) the clause emphasises the doing of event e.g.

c) The clause emphasises who is to do something, e.g.

8.2 Form and Function

There is not a one-to-one relationship between form and function, though typically:

a command is expressed by the imperative form;

a statement is expressed by a declarative form;

a question is expressed by an interrogative form.

Bernard certainly did spill coffee on the mat

S Mood Adj F P C Adjunct

Mood Residue

Who spilled the coffee?

S F P Complement

Mood Residue

Don’t spill the coffee

F P Complement

Mood Residue

Do sit down.

F P Adj

M Residue

You sit down.

S P Adj

M Residue

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Mood form Mood structure

Speech function

example

Declarative S ^ F statement He will open the door

Interrogative: polar F ^ S

question

Will he open the door?

WH-=Adjunct WH=Complement WH=Adjunct

F ^ S When will he open the door? What will he open? Why will he open the door? etc

WH=S S ^ F Who will open the door?

Imperative - unmarked 0

command

Open the door

marked i) Fneg Don’t open the door

Fpos Do open the door

marked ii) S You open the door

Speakers may vary the forms they use to express the different speech functions for various

reasons, e.g. Would you mind closing the door?

Would you mind closing the door?

F S P Compl

Mood Residue

form = interrogative

function = command

The form of this clause is interrogative (F occurs before S) but its speech function is that of

command (getting someone to do something). The interrogative form is also a very common

form when we want to give some goods or service (i.e. make an offer), e.g. Would you like a

sandwich?

Would you like a sandwich?

F S P C

Mood Residue

form = interrogative

function =

offer

Complete the Activity 8 tasks in your Portfolio

Read Chapter 4

Book

Study Guide

35

Topic 9: Interpersonal meaning: expressing opinion

There are various ways of expressing our opinion as speakers or writers. We often do this via

the Finite, expressing our estimate of such matters as the probability of an event’s occurrence,

or its necessity etc., for example,

Bernard must have spilled the coffee on the mat

expresses our certainty about the event. However, we can also use other ways to express such

opinions by using a Mood Adjunct which adjusts our meaning, e.g.

Bernard certainly did spill coffee on the mat.

The modal meanings and some possible forms of expression are summarised below.

Modal meanings and forms of expression

Modal meanings

forms of expression

Finite Modal Adjunct

probability might, must, may, would, could,

certainly, probably, possibly

usuality usually, sometimes, always, never

inclination shall, will willingly, gladly

obligation can, could must, should, ought to, have to, need to

definitely, absolutely,

time yet, still, already, soon,

typicality generally, regularly, occasionally

obviousness Of course, surely, obviously,

clearly

intensity just, simply, only, even, actually

These Mood Adjuncts are a part of the Mood block (the functional elements of the Mood

structure of the clause) e.g.

Bernard certainly did spill coffee on the mat

S Mood Adj F

Mood

9.1 Expressing our evaluation

One of the principal ways of doing this is via the words we select as Epithet in the nominal

group. For example,

we positively (or negatively) judge a person as: intelligent (or stupid); brave (or cowardly),

truthful (or untruthful), good (or evil) etc.

We also evaluate objects, processes and states of affairs in the same way, i.e. via

Epithets in the nominal group, e.g. a balanced decision, a dull speech.

We amplify or intensify the force of our propositions

Study Guide

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o by choosing particular words, e.g. stroll or shuffle (rather than simply walk);

o or by premodifying an Epithet, e.g. it was very (really; bloody) beautiful.

Another way of evaluating our propositions is by inserting a comment such as (un)fortunately,

luckily etc. These are called Comment Adjuncts and form a part of the Mood block.

Comment adjuncts

frankly, honestly, seriously, apparently, presumably, hopefully, understandably, (un)wisely, foolishly, surprisingly, mistakenly, regrettably, on the whole, broadly speaking, undoubtedly, no doubt,

He can’t usually hear on the telephone unfortunately

S F Mood Adj P Adjunct (circ) Comment Adj

Residue

M o o d

Complete the Activity 9 tasks in your Portfolio

Read Chapter 5

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Topic 10: The Textual Metafunction: Theme and Rheme

The Textual metafunction is the text-forming component of the semantic system. It operates on

interpersonal and experiential meanings and weaves them into coherent text. One of the ways

in which coherent text is created is by deciding what to put first in clauses and sentences. What

comes first is called Theme.

What comes first in a clause is significant. Consider the following clauses:

1. Next morning they had to make their own breakfast.

2. They had to make their own breakfast next morning.

3. Their own breakfast they had to make next morning.

When we analyse the transitivity structure of these 3 clauses we see that a different element

comes first in each clause:

Table 10.1

Next morning they had to make their own breakfast

Circ:time Actor Pro: Mat. Goal

Adjunctcirc Subject F Pred Complement

They had to make their own breakfast next morning

Actor Pro: Mat. Goal Circ: time

Subject F Pred Complement Adjunctcirc

Their own breakfast they had to make next morning

Goal Actor Pro: Mat. Circ: time

Complement Subject F Pred Adjunctcirc

The transitivity and Mood analyses of these clauses (Table 10.2) reveals that each has the

same experiential and interpersonal meaning but each begins with a different experiential and

interpersonal function. Since the first part of a clause is called the Theme then each of these

clauses has a different Theme (the rest of the clause after Theme is called the Rheme.)

Table10. 2

Next morning they had to make their own breakfast

Circ:time Actor Pro: Mat. Goal

Adjunctcirc Subject F Pred Complement

Theme Rheme

They had to make their own breakfast next morning

Actor Pro: Mat. Goal Circ: time

Subject F Pred Complement Adjunctcirc

Theme Rheme

Their own breakfast they had to make next morning

Goal Actor Pro: Mat. Circ: time

Complement Subject F Pred Adjunctcirc

Theme Rheme

Speakers (or writers) of English begin their message with what concerns them most at that point in

their act of communication. What concerns them most forms the point of departure for their

Transitivity

Mood

Transitivity

Mood

Transitivity

Mood

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message – the Theme. The rest of the message – the Rheme - develops this point of departure.

What element do speakers of English typically choose as the point of departure of their

message (i.e. the Theme)? The unmarked (or typical) Theme depends on the Mood of the

clause – whether it is declarative, interrogative or imperative, because the Theme of a clause

typically indicates its speech function. Therefore, if the clause is:

Table 10.3

declarative unmarked Theme is the Subject They made breakfast.

Subj F P C

Theme Rheme

interrogative – polar unmarked Theme is Finite ^ Subj. Did they make breakfast?

F S P C

Theme Rheme

Interrogative – non-polar unmarked Theme is WH-

What did they make?

C F S P

Theme Rheme

Imperative: positive

unmarked (non-emphatic) unmarked Theme is Predicator Make breakfast!

P C

Theme Rheme

10.1 Marked Theme:

When speakers/writers select as Theme any element other than:

Subject as Theme in declarative clauses;

Finite+Subject as Theme in polar interrogative clauses;

WH- as Theme in non-polar interrogative clauses;

Predicator as Theme in imperative clauses12

then that other element constitutes a marked Theme. The declarative clauses in Table 10.4

contain marked Themes because an element other than Subject has been Thematised:

Table 10. 4

Next morning they had to make their own breakfast

Adjunctcirc Subj F Pred Complement

Theme: marked Rheme

Their own breakfast they had to make next morning

Complement Subj F Pred Adjunctcirc

Theme: marked Rheme

12 Except negative imperatives, where the negative is attached to the Finite element. Thus, in Don’t spill the coffee, the unmarked Theme is Fneg+Predicator: Don’t spill

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10.2 The extent of Theme

How do we know how much of the first part of a clause is Theme? In order to determine the

extent of the thematic elements of a clause, we must consider the system of transitivity which

expresses experiential meaning. Thus, according to Halliday (1985:56) Theme includes all

elements up to and including the first element that has a function in transitivity structure

as a participant, process, circumstance or range. Halliday identifies this transitivity function

as Topical Theme. Which of these transitivity functions - participant, process, circumstance or

range - is typically (unmarkedly) mapped onto the element Theme? Halliday (1968) specifies the

way in which transitivity and theme are related via the mediating role of mood structure:

Thematic prominence is .. related to transitivity, but through the modal structure rather than

directly, since initial position in the clause also operates to signal speech function. In

interrogatives and imperatives the theme is defined modally: it is a request for information

(structurally, the WH- or polarity-carrying element), or a request for action (structurally, the

process together with appropriate features of polarity and person). In the declarative the

unmarked theme is the subject and this, in unmarked voice, is the `doer'; in other words the

subject tends to be the most `active' participant present: causer, or affected, or beneficiary,

or range. Thus thematic prominence tends to be assigned to the more `central' among the

clause elements, the participants which occupy the active roles in transitivity (p.214)

10.3 Multiple Themes

A number of elements which have no function in transitivity may come first in the clause, for

example, Well actually perhaps you ought to look under the table

Table 10.5

Well actually perhaps you ought to look under the table

(these have noTransitivity function) Actor Pro: Mat. Circ: loc: space

AdjunctMood AdjunctModal S F P Adjunctcirc

textual interpersonal interpersonal Topical

Theme Rheme

In this example, Theme extends up to and includes the transitivity participant function of Actor

expressed by you. The non-Topical Thematic elements are labelled in terms of their meta-

functional origins - Textual or Interpersonal.

10.3.1 Textual Themes function as indicators of the discourse status of the message, by

i) cohesively or structurally linking to previous messages, i.e. cohesive conjunctives or

structural conjunctions, e.g. therefore, because, if, etc. (Note that when structural

conjunctions occur, they always come first in the clause. See the table at the end of this

document for a list of structural conjunctions.)

ii) picking up or continuing a previous (section of the) discourse, i.e. continuatives, e.g. yes,

well, right, OK etc. (see the table at the end of this document for a list of typical

continuatives).

10.3.2 Interpersonal Themes indicate the interactional relation in the ongoing discourse. The

items that function as Interpersonal Theme are those that are associated with the expression of:

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a) speech function (e.g. thematic Finite in polar interrogatives);

b) the speaker's assessment / evaluation etc IF these come first (thematic modals);

c) the speaker's evaluations (thematic attitudinals) IF these come first;

d) the speaker's call for an addressee's attention or engagement in the interaction (thematic

vocative) IF this come first.

Thus, the three kinds of meaning - interpersonal, experiential, and textual - may be present in the

segment that plays the role of Theme, echoing the kinds of meaning found in the message as a

whole.

Table 10.6

Theme analysis of a text fragment Theme

textual interpersonal topical

marked unmarked

13 C I better plant two mandarin pips I

14 M but you might not get mandarins from it but you

15 C why? why

16 M because when you plant seeds from mandarins or oranges

because when

you

17 sometimes you get very strange fruit sometimes you

18 or sometimes you don't get much fruit at all

or sometimes you

19 so you have to plant a tree that's been grafted - that's been stuck on

so you

20 they're special trees that they make by sticking one tree to another tree

they

21 C how do they stick it? How

22 M well I think they cut it in a special way well I think they

23 they cut them in a special way they

24 and they put them together and they

25 and then they bind stuff around the outside

and then they

26 to hold them together

27 'til they grow together .. ‘til they

In this text fragment, there are no marked Themes. There are, however, multiple themes in some

clauses - textual Themes linking clauses and speaker turns conjunctively or continuatively (well). In

addition, there are a number of interpersonal Themes expressing frequency (sometimes) and

opinion (I think). The Topical Themes in the declarative clauses refer to one of the speakers (I/you),

to people in general (you) or to some unspecified third party (they). (Notice that the latter two types

of Topical Theme all occur within the clauses which express the mother’s explanations.)

10.4 Theme in the clause complex.

In clause complexes (sentences which contain more than one ranking clause) there may be a

choice in the ordering of the clauses so that the decision to put a particular clause first is significant.

The significance is that the first clause in the clause complex is thematised. This is the case in

clause 16 above: the speaker has chosen clause 16 as Theme in the clause complex; she could

have chosen another clause to be Theme, e.g.

because sometimes you get very strange fruit when you plant seeds from mandarins or

oranges. or

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sometimes you don't get much fruit at all when you plant seeds from mandarins or

oranges.

Table 10.7: structural conjunctions occurring between clauses

meaning conjunction

addition and, but, nor, besides, without, while, whereas

variation or, except that, if not…then, besides, other than

apposition that is (i.e.), which, who,

clarification at least

place as far as, wherever,

time now, then, while, whenever, before, until, after, since, as soon as

manner so, as, as if, by, like, as if

cause so, for, thus, because, in order to, in case, as a result of, (so as) to,

condition then, otherwise, though, if, as long as, unless, although, despite, without, in the event of

Note that, as usual, there is not a one to one relation between meaning (function)

and form

The non-structural conjunctions such as however can occur anywhere in the clause.

They do not have to occur thematically.

Table 10.8: typical continuatives

now, of course, well, anyway, surely, after all, still, already, yes, no, OK, alright

Note: some of these forms (e.g. still, already) may have another function

Complete the Activity 10 tasks in your Portfolio

Read Chapter 6

Book

Study Guide

42

Topic 11: The Textual Metafunction: Thematic Progression

Theme is crucially involved in the organisation and construction of text. The choice of themes of

individual messages in a text is not a matter of chance, i.e. it is not random and without structural

connection to the text as a whole (Danes 1974). Rather, the choice of themes is patterned,

connecting one part of a text with the other parts. This text connexity is represented by thematic

progression, i.e. the way in which Themes flow in patterns throughout a text. Three main patterns

of thematic progression (TP) are identified:

i) Simple linear TP, a pattern of progression in which there is a linear thematisation of

rhemes, that is, each rheme becomes the theme of the next utterance. This is the most

basic, elementary TP.

ii) TP with continuous theme: the same theme appears in a series of clauses but each is

linked to a different rheme.

iii) TP with derived themes: the particular clause themes are derived from a "hypertheme" e.g.

the theme of a paragraph.

These 3 basic types of TP may be used in various combinations in any one text. Figure 1 shows

these 3 patterns.

1) T1 R1 2) T1 R1 3) T

T2 R2 T2 R2 T1 R1

T2 R2

T3 R3 T3 R3 T3 R3

Figure 11.1: 3 patterns of Thematic Progression

Table 11.1 illustrates thematic progression pattern 2

Table 11.1

Theme

textual interpersonal Topical TP

15 C why? Why

16 M because when you plant seeds

from mandarins or oranges

because

when

you T R

17 sometimes you get very strange

fruit

sometimes you T R

18 or sometimes you don't get much

fruit at all

or sometimes you T R

19 so you have to plant a tree that's

been grafted - that's been stuck on

so you T R

11.1 Theme and text structure

Fries (1981) has applied the notion of thematic progression to the analysis of extended discourse.

Fries argues that thematic progression correlates with the structure of a text. In addition, he points

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out that we need to examine the content of the Themes because thematic content tends to

correlate with a text's method of development. In other words, texts having a particular type of

generic structure are likely to have a particular type of thematic progression; and where there is a

common semantic thread running through the thematic content of the component sentences of a

text, this thematic content will be perceived as the text's method of development.

For example, in argumentative or expository discourse where complex ideas are

expanded in successive sentences, thematic progression is likely to involve a rheme to theme

pattern (pattern 1) as the theme of each successive sentence follows logically from what has

gone before in the rheme of the prior sentence. By contrast, the structure of narratives demands

that characters, spatial and temporal settings etc. be introduced and events recounted. For this

reason, thematic progression is likely to be a complex combination of the three patterns, with

the various elements of the text’s structure correlating with a particular TP pattern. In such texts

the thematic content correlates with the method of development in that the information

contained in the themes of, for example, the element realising the narrative's setting, is likely to

refer to the narrative characters, location and time.

11.2 Information focus

The beginning of our messages is the Theme. The point of our messages is the information we

want our hearer to regard as New or, at least, newsworthy. Whereabouts in a message is New

information located? Typically (in the unmarked case) at the end of our message.

In spoken language, new information is expressed by making some part of the message

prominent by phonological means, i.e. we indicate which part of a message is to be heard as

containing New information by varying the tone we use when saying it.

In written language, new information is presented at or towards the end of the clause so

to identify the new information in written language, look towards the end of the clause. Then say

the clause to yourself and listen to where you intonation changes.

Are Theme and New information always in separate parts of the message? Because

New information is expressed phonologically, we can put it anywhere. But if we put it in some

place other than the end of the clause, then it is marked. This is the case in the following clause

(boldface type indicates phonological prominence): In the morning is Mum coming home.

Theme and Information focus make sense when we examine

whole texts or stretches of text.

Complete the Activity 11 tasks in your Portfolio

In the morning Mum is coming home

Transitivity Circ: time Actor Pro:Mat Circ: space

Mood Adjunct Subj F Pred. Adjunct

Theme Theme (marked) Rheme

Information New (marked) Given

Read pp142ff

Book

Study Guide

44

Topic 12: Pulling it all together

The reason for doing a lexico-grammatical analysis of a text is not simply to make your life

difficult! We analyse the clauses that express the meanings of a text in order to be able to justify

our interpretation of a text using the features of the text that our analyses have revealed.

Now that you have a degree of mastery of the three analyses of the grammar that expresses

the three kinds of meaning – experiential, interpersonal and textual – you can now discuss the

text in terms of the contextual features – Field, Tenor and Mode. Recall that these are the

contextual variables that are expressed by experiential, interpersonal and textual meanings

which in turn are expressed by Transitivity, Mood and Theme.

At this point, you should be able to make better sense of Figure 1: Language, Text and Context

In Topic 1. Turn back to Topic 1 and read it carefully again.

12.1 Discussing the Field of discourse of the text

Summarise and interpret the experiential grammatical features: e.g. consider the following

questions as a guide:

o What kinds of processes occur most frequently? What does this suggest about the

text?

o Who or what (character) occurs most frequently in the different main Participant roles,

e.g. as Actor, Behaver, Senser, Sayer, Carrier, etc

o Who or what (character) occurs most frequently in the other Participant roles, e.g. as

Goal, etc

o What kinds of Attributes occur (if any)? Who or what carries these Attributes?

o Who or what is Identified and Identifier (if any)?

o What kinds of Circumstances occur most frequently? Why might this be the case?

12.2 Discussing the Tenor of discourse of the text

Summarise and interpret the grammatical features of Mood: e.g. consider the following

questions as a guide:

What is the predominant Mood form in the text? What does this suggest about the

relationships the text constructs?

What is the predominant speech function? Do mood forms and speech functions match?

If not, what does this suggest?

Is there any pattern in terms of the entity (nominal group) functioning as Subject?

Is there any pattern in the Finite, e.g. in terms of tense (if so which tense?) or modality (if

so what kind of meaning is expressed by modal Finites)?

Are there any mood or modal adjuncts? If so, what kind of meanings do they express?

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Do they reinforce the meanings expressed by any modal Finites? What is the

significance of the presence or absence of these?

12.3 Discussing the Mode of discourse of the text

Summarise and interpret the textual grammatical features: e.g. consider the following questions

as a guide:

Are Themes predominantly marked or unmarked? If there are any marked Themes, what

kind of meanings do these express?

Do multiple Themes occur? If so, what kind and why might this be the case? If not, why

might this be the case?

Is there a predominant thematic progression pattern? If so, what is it? If not, why might

this be the case?

If there are any changes in a pattern of thematic progression, does this correlate with

anything in the text, e.g. stages of generic structure.

If a particular type of grammatical feature occurs frequently then this is a lexico-

grammatical pattern in the text.

Complete the Activity 12 tasks in your Portfolio

Read Chapters 8 & 9

Book