Exploring
Functional Grammar
______________________________________
A course book by
Maxine Lipson
2nd edition
Foreword by Series Editor i
Preface 1
Ch. 1: General Information 2
Ch. 2: Review Test 2
Ch. 3: Functional Grammar: Principles and Important Aspects 5
3.1 Why Functional Grammar 5
3.2 Fundamental Concepts 7
3.3 Context of Culture and Context of Situation 10
Keys and Further Reading 13
Ch. 4: The Rank System: Words, Groups and Clauses 15
4.1 The Rank Scale 16
4.2 Embedding 18
Keys and Further Reading 21
Ch. 5: Tenor: MOOD SYSTEM and Interaction in the Clause 23
5.1 Interpersonal Meanings and the Clause as Exchange 24
5.2 Mood Elements 26
5.3 Modality 31
5.3.1 Modalization and Modulation 32
5.3.2 Orientation of Modality 34
5.3.3 Value 37
5.4 Grammatical Metaphor: Interpersonal Metaphors 38
5.4.1 Metaphors of Modality 39
5.4.2 Metaphors of Mood 40
Keys and Further Reading 42
Ch. 6: Field: TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM and Representing the World 45
6.1 Material Processes 46 6.2 Mental Processes 51 6.3 Verbal Processes 54 6.4 Behavioral Processes 56 6.5 Relational Processes 57 6.6 Existential Processes 62
6.7 Projecting Propositions/Proposals and Verbal Group Complexes 63
6.8 Causality 70
6.9 Summary and Exercises 72
Keys and Further Reading 73
Ch. 7: Grammatical Metaphor: Ideational Metaphors 78
7.1 Ideational Metaphor and Process Types 78
7.2 Ideational Metaphor and Nominalization 80
Keys and Further Reading 83
Ch. 8: APPRAISAL SYSTEMS 86
8.1 Attitude: Affect, Judgement, and Appreciation 86
8.2 Attendant APPRAISAL SYSTEMS: Graduation and Engagement 94
8.3 Summary and Exercises 100
Keys 105
Ch. 9: Mode: THEME/RHEME SYSTEM and the Realization of Textual Meanings 110
9.1 The Role of Language, the Channel of Communication, and Medium 110
9.2.3 Thematic Progression and Thematic Drift 124
9.3 Non-Structural Cohesive Devices 125
Keys and Further Reading 130
Appendix A: List of Common Attributive and Identifying Relational Processes 133
Appendix B: Example of a Functional Grammar Test 134
Bibliography and Acknowledgements 137
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Preface
The purpose of this course-book, which is the fundamental reading text for the course Exploring
Functional Grammar, is to explore and apply the principles and techniques of Functional Grammar
(FG) and the Systemic Functional approach to language in order to increase the EFL student's awareness of how the English language system works to construct meanings appropriate for their cultural and situational context. The course is part of a three-year syllabus in which grammar is considered more than just applying rules in isolated sentences. As Candlin argues, “grammar is a purposeful, constructive and above all social enterprise” (in Butt et al. 2000: vi).
The course-book aims to explore further the complex theory of Functional Grammar, yet make it accessible and meaningful to the intermediate EFL learner; attempts have been made to provide explanations and definitions of terminology in simple language that is reader-friendly for intermediate EFL students. Concepts and theories are illustrated by means of analyzing authentic texts (e.g. ads, headlines, short conversations, advertisements, etc. from up-to-date sources). In this way, the student becomes aware of the link between grammar and meaning. As F. Christie and L. Unsworth (2000: 2) point out,
“language study should focus on meaning and on the ways people exercise choices in order to make meaning”… the focus is on “how people use language to make
meanings with each other”.
In his preface to Introducing Functional Grammar, Michael Halliday himself defines his aim as constructing “a grammar for purposes of text analysis; one that would make it possible to say sensible and useful things about any test, spoken or written, in modern English” (1994: xv). It is to be kept in mind that Exploring Functional Grammar, therefore, is not only a collection of theoretical notions and explanations, but a source of illustrative examples and tasks (with keys) to help students apply the analytical tools of Functional Grammar, in the hope of their becoming better readers, writers and speakers of English.
The basic reference for the notions presented herein is Michael Halliday , An Introduction to
Functional Grammar 1994. Throughout the course-book, there are pages assigned from the books Introducing Functional Grammar by Geoff Thompson and Using Functional Grammar by David Butt
et al., both references extremely helpful and enlightening for teachers and students of Functional Grammar. Other references found to be valuable resources in the preparation of this handbook are Gerot and Wignell (1994) and Eggins (1994). The FG model of analysis is a vital aspect of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL); a full study of SFL, however, is beyond the scope of the undergraduate language program.
In closing, it is important to remember the importance for university EFL students who are aiming at the acquisition of professional levels of language use to study grammar in a broader framework. As I wrote in a recent article:
The study of grammar must be embedded in a broader framework of language and context if students are to understand first and foremost just what a language is and how it functions both to construct 'reality' and to construct subjectivity/intersubjectivity…
This [functional] approach would therefore help future graduates acquire not only professional levels of language use in particular areas of specialization, but also a greater knowledge and appreciation of how language works, so as to be able to operate in the international job market more effectively and intelligently”.(Lipson, M. 2002: 372- 373)
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In this second edition, I have tried to improve the organization of the chapters and clarify a few ambiguities pointed out by students and colleagues, as well as provide an example of a FG test and further reading for those students wishing to deepen their understanding of FG. The keys to the tasks are provided at the end of each chapter, immediately before Further Reading.
Maxine Lipson
CHAPTER 1
General Information
To achieve the best results from this course-book, it is necessary to have proper study skills and the desire to learn. How can you develop the proper study skills? First of all, after you read a chapter do all the tasks and check your answers with the Key. You should do them more than once until you get them all right. Write down what you think are the Key points presented in the chapter in the Notes page provided for you at the end of the chapter and write questions for class as well. Consult these Notes pages frequently during the course and immediately before beginning a new chapter. Most importantly, before going on to a new chapter, read the previous one again.
Besides doing the tasks in this handbook, you should reflect on language use and ask yourselves questions regarding the language you use everyday, whether reading, speaking, listening or writing. Try to apply what is presented here outside classroom.
For further information regarding the course of Lingua Inglese II, students are advised to read the
complete program for Lingua Inglese 2 in the guide for students which can be found on the web
site of the Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere http://www.facli.unibo.it and to consult the web site of the English Language Studies Program (ELSP) (link is on the homepage of the Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere http://www.facli.unibo.it ).
CHAPTER
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Review Test
Since being able to proceed with Exploring Functional Grammar presupposes the successful completion of the first year course-book, Functional Grammar: An Introduction for the
EFL Student, students are advised to review the theory and concepts treated in that course-book and
complete the following review test (an answer Key to these exercises follows). REVIEW TEST
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1.Which of the following statements is NOT part of the notions of Functional Grammar? A) There are three levels of meanings mapped onto the same clause.
B) Functional Grammar considers the role of grammar in constructing meaning. C) A text emerges from a context of situation in a context of culture.
D) Language and texts are independent of social and cultural processes. 2. How many morphemes are in each of the following words?
• Unfriendly Books Kicked Motherhood
3. Analyze the following sentences by identifying clauses and groups (Nominal Groups, Verbal Groups, Adverbial Groups, Prep. Phrases etc.):
• According to staff, the changes were made too quickly. • He opened the door and strode into the hall.
• Columbus may not have discovered America, but his accomplishments brought the medieval world into a new era.
4. Identify the independent and dependent clauses and relationships of interdependency (hypotaxis and parataxis) in the following clause complexes.
• He bought the book before he went home. • He said he might go to the party.
• She's great fun, but her husband is rather dull.
5. Identify the parts of the following nominal groups: (i.e. the Thing, Deictics, Numeratives, Epithets, Classifiers)
• Two thousand tired factory workers went on strike last week. • She is a working mother.
• He bought a little charming rural cottage
6. In the statement, “He loves football.”, the participant 'He' is A) Senser B) Phenomenon C) Target D) Goal
7. In “I made a dress for Maria”, the Process is
A) material B) behavioral C) relational D) existential 8. In, “He's the only one without a ticket”, the Process is
A) material B) relational - attributive C) relational - identifying D) existential
9. “He walked in (1) and demanded (2) a vodka.”, the Processes are: A) both material C) material (1) and mental (2) B) material (1) and verbal (2) D) behavioral (1) and mental (2)
10. In “She should be able to arrive in time”, the Mood Block consists of: A) She should C) She should be able to
B) She should be D) She should be able to arrive
11. Identify the type of circumstance in, “They attempted to continue their conversation despite the noise”.
A) Manner B) Accompaniment C) Cause D) Contingency
12. The Modal Operator ‘may’ in the statement, “John may be in the library”, expresses: A) obligation B) certainty C) usuality D) inclination
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13. In the following clause, “All students who are attending this course must pass the oral test.”, the words “who are attending this course” is an example of a/an
A. elliptical clause C. independent clause B. embedded clause D. dependent clause
14. In which of the following is there an example of embedding? A. Write your surname on the sheet
B. Write your surname and sign the sheet C. Write your mother's surname on the sheet D. Write the surname of your mother on the sheet 15. In Functional Grammar, Tenor refers to
A) The nature of the exchange C) Graphology B) What is going on D) Phonology
16. The Modal Adjunct ‘gladly’ in the statement “I’ll gladly help you” expresses: A) obligation B) willingness C) probability D) necessity
17. What is the Topical Theme in “The doctor will see you now.”?
A) The doctor will B) The doctor will see C) The doctor D) The
18. The underlined clause in the following statement, “I didn't go to class this morning because I slept late”, is an example of a/an
A) independent clause B) dependent clause C) embedded clause
19. Identify the type of circumstance in, “The old cat hadn't eaten for days”. A) Cause B) Location: time C) Extent: time D) Manner
20. The statement, “I said I would go”, is an example of a
A) quoted locution B) quoted idea C) reported locution D) reported idea
KEY
1) D
2. un/friendly = 3; book/s = 2; kick/ed = 2; mother/hood = 2
3.Analyze the following sentences by identifying clauses, groups, and phrases:
a. According to the staff/ the changes /were made /too quickly.- one clause: PP, NG , VG, AG b. He /opened/ the door // and / strode /into the hall. 2 clauses paratactically linked. Clause 1:
NG, VG, NG; coordinating conjunction; clause 2: ellipsis of NG , VG, PP
c. Columbus/ may not have discovered /America,/ / but/ his accomplishments/ brought /the medieval world /into a new era. 2 clauses: NG, VG, NG, CONJ G, NG, VG, NG, PP 4. Identify the independent and dependent clauses and relationships of interdependency (hypotaxis and parataxis) in the following clause complexes.
a. He bought the book before he went home.- Ind-dep (hypotaxis) b. He said he might go to the party.- Ind-dep (projection - hypotaxis) c. She's great fun, but her husband is rather dull.- 2 indep (parat.)
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5. Identify the parts of the following nominal groups: (i.e. the Thing, Deictics, Numeratives, Epithets, Classifiers)
a. Two thousand/ tired/ factory /workers. Numerative, Epithet, Classifier, Classifier, Thing b. a /working/ mother. Non Specific Deictic, Classifier, Thing
c. a /little /charming/ rural cottage. Non Specific Deictic, Epithet, Epithet, Classifier, Thing
6. A 7. A 8. C 9. B 10. A 11. D 12. B 13. B 14. D 15. A 16. B 17. C 18. A 19. C 20. C
Keys to tasks in the following chapters are at the end of each chapter.
CHAPTER 3
A Review of Functional Grammar: Principles and Important
Aspects
How we formulate and construct a statement about the world is underpinned by ideological premises. Even formations taken for granted are full of ideological premises (Stuart Hall 1995: 18).
Language is a resource for making meanings…. (Michael Halliday, 1994: xxvi ).
This course is based on the Hallidayan concept that language is a social semiotic which construes our social reality through lexico-grammatical structures, which are, according to Halliday, resources of a culture for making meaning (1984: 15). These lessons aim at exploring the analytic tools provided by Functional Grammar which help one to understand the relationships between the context of situation in which a text is produced, the meanings activated by this context and the language in which and by which these meanings are realized.
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The first question a student of language might ask her/himself is “What is important or relevant about the study of language?” The next question might be “ What does the functional approach to language analysis give you that the traditional one, or formal grammar, doesn’t?” The particular relevance of Functional Grammar to language study, and to one's education in general, is that Functional Grammar is fundamentally concerned with how we use language, how we structure language for use or for a specific function or functions, how language is organized to make meanings. Traditional grammar describes the grammar of standard English by comparing it with Latin. As such it is prescriptive (Halliday 1985: 5). It teaches parts of speech and correct usage and focuses on rules for producing correct sentences. Formal grammar describes language as a set of rules which allow or disallow certain sentence structures. In contrast, Functional Grammar is concerned with how structures construct meaning and describes language in actual use and focuses on texts and their contexts.
The particular relevance of Functional Grammar (henceforth FG) to the teaching of language and for education in general is best expressed by Francis Christie (Halliday and Hasan 1985/1989: v):
How language is taught reflects “questions regarding the nature of language as an aspect of human experience, and about language as a resource of fundamental importance in the building of human experience”. Language is not to be seen as something neutral, it is not a part of experience, “but intimately involved in the manner in which we construct and organize experience…. it is never neutral, but deeply implicated in building meaning.”
Thus, as language learners and language teachers we cannot dissociate language from meaning. Functional Grammar rests on the notion of language as a social semiotic, and the “conception of experience or reality as socially built and constantly subject to processes of transformation.
Functional Grammar, thus, considers language as a social semiotic, but what is meant when we say, “Language is a social-semiotic”. In Halliday's words:
Language arises in the life of the individual through an ongoing exchange of meanings with significant others. A child creates, first his child tongue, then his mother tongue, in interaction with that little coterie of people who constitute his meaning group. In this sense, language is a product of the social process. (Halliday 1978: 1)
Halliday (1985/89: 4-5), explains the meaning of 'social' in the term 'social-semiotic':
Social in the sense of the social system, which I take to be synonymous with the culture, So when I say ‘social-semiotic’ I am referring to the definition of a social system, or a culture, as a system of meanings. But I also intend a more specific interpretation of the word ‘social’ to indicate that we are concerned particularly with the relationships between language and social structure, considering the social structure as one aspect of the social system.
The perspective on language adopted by Functional Grammar is primarily a social one which relates language to a social system, to culture, and to a particular aspect of human experience, namely that of social structure. However, the relationship between language and reality is complex. How one’s perception of reality, values, and perspectives are mapped onto language is also complex. This is the specific concern of Functional Grammar and of this course-book.
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3.2 Fundamental Concepts
To begin to answer the questions posed by Functional Grammar (How do we use language for meaning?, for example), to be able to talk about language itself and how ideology is mapped onto it, special terminology – metalanguage - is provided by SFL and FG. Halliday's approach to grammar considers the role of linguistic items in a text in relation to their function in construing meaning. For this reason, the interpretation and labelling of linguistic items are functionally based. The purpose of functional labelling in Halliday's words, “is to provide a means of interpreting grammatical structure, in such a way as to relate any given instance to the system of the language as a whole” (1994: 29). Many of the Functional labels and metalanguage has already been taught in the course Introducing
Functional Grammar A.A. 2002-03 (see Freddi, 2004: slides 12 – 17): lexico-grammar, context of
culture, context of situation, clause complex, Participant, Goal, Classifier, Epithet, etc. Other terms and labels will be introduced in this course-book. But first, since this approach focuses on texts in their contexts (cultural and situational), an understanding of the relationships between language and culture and ideology should be reviewed.
LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND IDEOLOGY
• Language:
There is a variety of definitions of language, culture and ideology. Language can be considered a code from the perspective of semiotics. In semiotics, signs and symbols representing objects and also mental concepts acquire meaning through conventions and use. Signs are organized into a code – a system with rules of operation with the aim of communication of ideas. Codes are governed by rules which are consented to by all members of the community using that code. This means that “the study of codes frequently emphasizes the social dimension of communication” (Fiske 1990: 64). Language, therefore, is considered a code from this perspective (Fiske: 1990)1.
Halliday prefers to consider semiotics as the ”study of meaning in its most general sense”, rather than as the study of signs (Halliday in Halliday and Hasan 1985/89: 4). When speaking about language, he says: “Each language has its own semantic code, although languages that share a common culture tend to have codes that are closely related.” (1984: xxx our emphasis). The relationship between a code and its culture is very complex and, as Halliday points out: “Only the grammatical system as a whole represents the semantic code of a language.” (1984: xxxi). As you recall, Halliday defines language, as a ‘social semiotic’; this implies that a ‘community’ of speakers shares knowledge about the language system, meanings, and situations. Language, then, can be considered, from a FG perspective, a “multilevelled system in which speakers and writers make lexico-grammatical choices motivated by the meanings appropriate to a given context, and then express these lexico-grammatical choices in sounds or writing”. (Butt et al. 2000: 11).
• Culture:
1 In Fiske 1990. Chapters 3 and 4 are interesting: chapter 3 for a brief discussion of Pierce and Saussure and chapter 4 for a summary of various kinds of codes
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We use the word ‘culture’ often without really defining it: youth culture, popular culture, cultural background, intercultural communication etc. Fiske, in Television Culture (1987), calls culture the most ‘slippery’ concept of all. Rather than define what culture is, he says what culture consists of: “culture consists of the meanings we make of our social experience and of our social relations, and therefore the sense we have of our “selves” (1987: 20).
Halliday also refers to culture as the whole of all meanings and “the total set of options” in “behavior that are available to the individual in his existence as social man.” (Halliday in Coupland and Jaworski 1997: 31). In this course, culture will be used from Halliday's and Fiske's perspective, which includes any aspect of the ideas, beliefs, or ways of behaving of a group of people which gives to them a distinctive identity and sense of social cohesion and membership.
• Ideology:
There are a number of definitions of ideology. “Ideology”, says Van Dijk (1998: 23), “is one of the most elusive notions in the social sciences”. He proposes that ideologies reflect the basic criteria that constitute the social identity and define the interests of a group. They have to do with values and a sense of membership. Since individuals belong to several groups they may have several ideologies (1998: 23-29). Stuart Hall defines the concept of ideology as “those images, concepts, and premises through which we represent, interpret, understand and 'make sense' of some aspect of social existence” (in Dines G and J.M. Humez 1995: 18 my emphasis). What is important in the study of language is that opinions, ideologies and world-views are expressed in texts through “lexical and surface structure choices …in concrete lexical items, clause and sentence structure, syntactic categories, word order, discourse intonation, graphical structures, and the organization of macrostructures…” (Van Dijk 1998:45)
THE INTERWINING OF LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND IDEOLOGY
There is an intertwining of language and ideology and culture. Stuart Hall clearly relates language to ideology in the following statement: “How we formulate and construct a statement about the world is underpinned by ideological premises” (Hall 1995: 19). The relationship between language, world view, and shared knowledge and beliefs is the premise of interactional sociolinguistics as well: Gumperz, linguist, anthropologist and founder of interactional sociolinguistics writes:
Interpretation of meaning is interactively negotiated taking into account the knowledge of the context which the interactants have at their disposal…. Negotiation of meaning means understanding of culture of interlocutors. (Di Luzio in Eerdmans, Prevignano Thibault 1997: 1-5)
From this perspective then, language is not to be considered just a ‘carrier of content’ (see Lee 1992: 79-83 for the ‘container metaphor’ of language). It is, rather, a heterogeneous form of social behaviour. As sociologist J. Fishman argues:
Language is a referent for loyalties and animosities - an indicator of social statuses and personal relationships, a marker of situations and topics as well as the social goals and the large-scale value-laden arenas of interaction that typify every speech community. There is a systematic relationship between the social environment on the one hand, and the functional organization of language on the other. (Fishman J.A. in Coupland and Jaworski 1997: 27).
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There are different ways of using the resources of a particular language that mediates different modes of interpretation. Individuals view their social world from different positions and construct their interpretations through different linguistic practices.
TEXT
A text is defined by Halliday as “language that is functional... language that is doing some job in some context, as opposed to isolated words or sentences” (Halliday in Halliday and Hasan 1985/89: 10). As pointed out in the first year course-book, text in Functional Grammar is defined as an instance of language that is playing some part in a context of situation, it is a spoken or written form of exchange, it is a social exchange of meaning (Halliday in Halliday and Hasan 1985/89: 11). It is a product of its environment - of the total environment in which it unfolds (Halliday in Halliday and Hasan 1985/89: 5).
LANGUAGE, CULTURE, IDEOLOGY AND TEXT
As seen from the above discussion of language, culture, and ideology, the mechanisms that link language and social processes and meanings are very complex and subtle. FG provides the tools to unravel the realization of meanings, the mapping of meanings onto the lexico-grammatical system of a language.
We all make lexical and grammatical choices in our daily language use. Our utterances are influenced not only by our views and perceptions (our ‘ideologies’), but also by factors in the context of situation, for example by our understanding of the culture of our interlocutors - our addressees. Other choices are made accounting to the social activity taking place - sermons, lessons, after-dinner chat, etc. Furthermore, all speakers of the same community share a knowledge of their language system and the set of unmarked (typical) forms used in certain contexts. Thus a marked form is recognized in that speech community as a way to emphasize a particular meaning.
Example: (from Lee 1992: 12)
Place: a board meeting of American businessmen and businesswomen. After Ken presents his point of view, another person comments:
1) “A problem with Ken’s argument is... 2) “The problem with Ken’s argument is …
The two statements begin exactly the same way, except for the different Deictic element. Is there a difference in meaning?
In both texts, explains Lee, the speaker comments on a problem with Ken's argument. In the first text there is no indication that anyone else sees the problem, while in the second text, the use of the definite article communicates an assumption on the part of the speaker that everyone at the meeting knows there is a problem.
One's perception of situations is mapped onto formal structure in language: lexically and grammatically. Communication, then, is often a site of contestation where participants attempt to
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impose their own modes of interpretation on others or leave space for interlocutors to negotiate meanings. (whether we are dealing with written texts or spontaneous speech). Functional Grammar addresses itself precisely to this issue: how meaning is mapped onto the lexico-grammatical system of a language (see Figure 1).
Fig.1 from D.R. Miller, ‘English Linguistics’ lecture notes: AA 2000-01
1. Language is conditioned by the context of culture and the context of situation. Every text unfolds in some context of use. (Halliday 1994: xiii)
2. In the SFL approach language is considered a social semiotic; social because it has meaning in a cultural and social context; semiotic because it is a way/mode of meaning. It is important to consider a language as simultaneously a social act.
3. Grammar is the site where ideology is embedded. Text analysis cannot be carried out seriously without analyzing grammar. Otherwise the analysis can be subjective and even trivial. A text is a semantic unit, but meanings are realized through wordings, and grammar, a theory of wordings, is the site for analysis. (Halliday 1994: xvii)
3.3 Context of Culture and Context of Situation
Language, as you know, is produced within a culture and in a situation. Culture is important in order to understand the history behind a speech event, and as seen from the above discussion, it relates to the values and norms of a speech community. Context of situation is the
particular context in which a text is produced. Halliday has defined it as “the immediate environment in which a text is actually functioning” (Halliday and Hasan 1985/1989: 46) . The context of situation consists of three variables: Field, Tenor, and Mode. This notion of the context of situation, explains Halliday, helps us understand why “certain things have been said or written on this particular occasion, and what else might have been said or written that was not”.
Three sets of meanings are activated by these variables, Field, the Tenor and the Mode respectively: that is to say, in Halliday’s words, the Field is expressed through the experiential function in the
Ideologies and Texts
TEXTS Social beliefs and value systems, world views, ideologies
SUMMARY
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semantics, the Tenor is expressed through the interpersonal function in the semantics and the Mode is expressed through the textual function in the semantics (Halliday in Halliday and Hasan 1985/89: 25).
FIELD, TENOR AND MODE:
IDEATIONAL, INTERPERSONAL AND TEXTUAL MEANINGS
As Halliday himself explains in Language in a Social Perspective (in Coupland and Jaworski 1997: 36):
The essential feature of a functional theory is not that it enables us to enumerate and classify the functions of speech acts, but that it provides a basis for explaining the nature of the language system, since the system itself reflects the functions that it has evolved to serve.
He points out that:
the notion of ‘functions of language’ is not to be equated merely with a theory of language use, but expresses the principle behind the organization of the linguistic system.
The options in the grammar of a language derive from and are relatable to three
very generalized functions of language which we have referred to as the ideational,
the interpersonal and the textual. The specific options in meaning that are characteristic of particular social context and settings are expressed through the medium of grammatical and lexical selections that trace back to one or other of these three sources.
The ideational meanings (also referred to as representational or experiential meanings) are those concerned with the encoding of our experiences in the external and in our internal world; the interpersonal set of meanings concern our social role, our personalities and feelings and forms of interaction with other participants in the communication situation; the third set, textual meanings, enables us to create a text which means that our speech is organized in a way that it makes sense in the contexts and satisfies its function as a message (Halliday in Coupland and Jaworski 1997: 36).
TASK 1. The Field is concerned with what is going or the subject matter. In the text below, what is the
subject matter? Chicago? Singapore? Singapore airlines? What lexical items suggest the Field? Chicago, a cultural city of distinguished architecture, celebrated cuisine and
legendary blues is home to a diverse mix of 3 million people. From 1 August, Singapore Airlines inaugurates the only same-plane service from Singapore to Chicago, home of the Blues. This service will operate on the new Jubilee 777ER aircraft with improved comfort in Raffles and Economy Class. Raffles Class passengers can now experience DVD quality movies for the first time in the sky! Come on board and experience inflight service even other airlines talk about. (Time Int’l magazine)
One's choices in lexis and structure are not affected just by the topic, but also by the kinds of social relationships, attitudes, social roles and discourse roles present in the situation. Tenor is associated with these features of the communication situation.
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TASK 2. What kinds of social relationships, attitudes, social roles and/or discourse roles are suggested
by the lexico-grammar in this text?
Mode, the third situational variable, refers to the means adopted for communication and the role language is playing in the interaction.
TASK 3. What do you think was the channel of communication of this text?
In conclusion, language has three metafunctions: language constructs an action, event or state in the ‘real’ world (its experiential function, or meaning); language is an exchange and assigns roles to participants (its interpersonal function, or meaning); and language is a message, having a structure and contributing to a larger textual unit (its textual function, or meaning). We can say that these 3 levels of meaning are mapped onto any same clause in its lexico-grammatical structure. What is important is to understand that in every clause, all three sets of meanings are present.
N.B. There are other meanings that, together with experiential meanings, is a sub-category of ideational meanings: logical meanings. These are the meanings realized by the logico-semantic relationships that are constructed between the clauses, “the connections between the messages” (Thompson, 1996, pg 35). See Functional Grammar: An Introduction for the EFL Student, (Maria Freddi 2004) and chapter 10 in
Introducing Functional Grammar (G. Thompson 1996)
Within the Functional Grammar perspective of language, “context and language are interdependent” (Thompson 1996: 9). Below are three figures illustrating the process of text creation.
Fig.2 from M. Lipson, ‘Exploring Functional Grammar’ lecture notes: AA 2002-03. Adapted from Butt et. al. 2000: 4
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Fig. 3 from D. R. Miller, ’English Linguistics’ lecture notes: AA 2002-03
The relations among the Situation of Context and the levels of semantics and lexico-grammar are illustrated in the table below.
Fig. 4 The Process of Text Creation – based on D. R. Miller ’English Linguistics’ lecture notes: AA 2002-03
Keys:
C ontext of Situation Sem antics (m eanings) L exicogram m ar (w ordings)
activates Is realized in + by
I Field
“W hat’s going on?”
II T enor “W ho is taking part?” III M ode “H ow are the m eanings being exchanged?” Ideational Speaker as O bserver Eperiential m eanings L ogical m eanings Interpersonal Speaker as Participant , Intruder T extual
Speaker as T ext-m aker
C lause as R epresentation T ransitivity Structure Clause Interdependency(taxis) C lause as E xchange M O O D , M O D A L IT Y , APPR A IS A L SY ST EM S C lause as M essage
T hem atic + Info Structure, gram m atical parallelism , non-structural cohesive devices,discourse structure
The process of text creation
M eanings and W ordings
W ORDINGS M EANINGS
SEM ANTICS LEXICOGRAM MAR
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TASK 1: The lexis suggests the subject matter of advertising Singapore Airlines: Singapore Airlines, same-plane service, service, new Jubilee 777ER aircraft, Economy Class, Raffles Class, passengers, in the sky, on board, inflight, airlines.
TASK 2: There is no linguistic evidence of familiarity between the writer and the reader (e.g., no vocatives indicating contact, affection, or intimacy, such as first or last names; impersonal reference to “Raffle Class passengers”). The discourse role of the writer is one of giving information (e.g.
declaratives).
TASK 3: This text is an example of a written text to be read (e.g. big NGs). The channel of communication will be discussed in greater detail in Ch. 9 of this course-book.
Further Reading
Thompson 1996, pp. 26-35 for an overview of FG and the three metafunctions; or in Thompson 2004, pp. 28-34.
Notes
Key Points
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CHAPTER 4
The Rank System: words, groups and clauses
“it takes a clause to represent experience…” (Halliday 1989: 82).
In this chapter we will address the important concepts of stratification, rank, and embedding, which were introduced in the first year course-book, Functional Grammar: an
introduction for the EFL student (Freddi 2004). However, first we should also remind ourselves
of the fundamental role of the clause in the FG model of analysis. “The clause is generally recognized to be the pivotal unit of grammatical meaning (Eggins 1994: 139). As Halliday clearly tells us (1994: 19), in a functional perspective:
Grammatical structure is explained by reference to the meaning; and there is a general principle in language whereby it is the larger units that function more directly in the realization of higher-level patterns… if we want to explore how semantic features are represented in the grammar, we look primarily at the clause.
We have said in Section 3.3 that the Context of Situation is the particular context in which a text is produced and that it consists of three variables: Field, Tenor, Mode. As you recall, the meanings activated by these variables - the experiential, interpersonal and textual meanings – are realized in the clause in/by three respective lexico-grammatical systems: the TRANSITIVITY, MOOD and THEME SYSTEMS. The basic site of the analysis of these systems is the analysis of the clause.
Eggins and Slade (1997) argue how the analysis of the clause helps us to understand many social-contextual factors regarding those participating in an exchange. “Grammatical patterns are revealed by studying the types of clause structures chosen by interactants and are displayed within each speaker’s turns… pattern choices are part of what indicates the different social roles being
played by the interactants and how such roles are constructed in our culture”. (72 my
emphasis). Students are advised to review clause types and relationships in the course-book of Lingua Inglese 1, Functional Grammar: an introduction for the EFL student (Freddi 2004).
The concept of constituency can be helpful in understanding the organization of language as a resource for making and expressing meanings, not only in terms of grammatical units. Language, in the perspective of Functional Grammar, is made up of strata in which one moves from soundings to wordings to meanings. Any piece of interaction can be considered simultaneously meaning, wording and sounding and this is called the stratification of language. “Stratification refers to the resources for wording and meaning. … The resources for wording and meaning (i.e. for constructing meaning in wording) are the resources of lexico-grammar” (Matthiessen 1995, 2). The figure below illustrates the system of stratification. The context of situation ACTIVATES the semantics which are REALIZED, or become accessible to us, in and by the lexico-grammar, which is REALIZED in and by graphology and/or phonology. As Matthiessen explains, “semantics, grammar and phonology are the linguistic subsystems of meaning, wording, and
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sounding. In grammar we study the system of wording. The lexico-grammatical level is located between semantics and phonology, whereas the semantic level relates upwards to other aspects of the cultural system of which language forms one part. The phonological level relates downwards to the phonetics of articulation”(Matthiessen 1995, 6)
Stratification
Fig.1: Stratification, based on Matthiessen 1995: 6
This figure shows that for any given level, the higher one provides the ‘environment’ for the lower level. Stratification concerns a system of abstraction and, along with rank (see Freddi, 2004: slides 36-37), defines hierarchies of increasingly comprehensive layers.
4.1 The Rank Scale
As pointed out in Freddi (2004), morphemes combine into words and words into structures and these produce meanings. This is the hierarchy of constituency, in ascending order, or what defines a scale of rank – a rank scale. As already explained, the whole functional approach is built on this concept of constituency, which Halliday defines as “this kind of layered part-whole relationship which occurs among the units… each unit consists of one or more of the next smaller...” (1994: 3). The rank scale is thus a hierarchy of grammatical units. From the smaller unit to the larger unit: from the morpheme (the minimal unit of written language), to the clause complex, the highest level for our purposes, which could of course be extended to the ‘text’. Smaller units come together to form a bigger unit in the rank scale. For instance, a word consists of one or more morphemes, a group of one or more words, a clause of one or more groups, and a clause complex of one or more clauses. As you will remember, the clause complex is a language structure that consists of at least 2 clauses that work together through some kind of interdependency (taxis) and logical relationship (see Figure 2).
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The English class is big and so it is held in a cinema.
CLAUSE CLAUSE
CLAUSE COMPLEX
Fig 2 Interdependency of clauses in a clause complex
In conclusion, the rank scale refers to levels of organization. What is important to remember is
that units may be given new locations in the system through rankshift. In this case, rankshifted items do not function as constituents of higher units. A clause, for example, may be rankshifted to serve as if it were a group, as is illustrated in the example below. You will notice that the clause “I usually attend” becomes part of the NG “The English class I usually attend”. We can say that the clause has been rankshifted.Example of rankshifting
Clause 1: I usually attend. (independent clause) Clause 2: The English class I usually attend is big.
NG
We will look more carefully at rankshifting in the section on Embedding, another word for this phenomenon. (For more on rankshift, see Matthiessen 1995: 99).
TASK 1: In the clause complex The English class is big and so it is held in a cinema, what is the
interdependency (taxis) and logical relationship between the two clauses?
TASK 2: Identify the units (morpheme, nominal group, verbal group, adverbial group and
prepositional phrase) in the following: Many people drive too fast on Italian highways.
In the following section we are going to take a closer look at groups and clauses and rankshifting in longer stretches of texts. In particular, we will be looking at the process of the embedding of nominal groups (NG) and prepositional phrases (PP). PPs should be seen as ‘minor clauses’, being more ‘clause-like’ that ‘group-like’ because they consist of a preposition and a nominal group and the preposition can be thought of as a minor verb, or Process (Halliday 1994: 213). As we will be seeing in the next section, they function as either circumstantial Adjuncts in clauses or Qualifiers in NGs (see the two examples below).
• The digital camera is on the table. (circumstantial Adjunct) • The digital camera on the table is mine. (PP as qualifier)
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4.2 Embedding
As already pointed out in Functional Grammar: an introduction for the EFL student (Freddi 2004), NGs construct grammatical ‘participants’ in the transitivity structure of clauses from the point of view of experiential meanings. In example (1) below, the NGs a novelist and song (Actor and Goal) can be expanded with single words, as illustrated in Example (2), each having its own function. In fact, the NGs in Example (2) consist of a Non-Specific Deictic, Epithet, Classifier and Thing.
The NGs novelist and song could be expanded not only with single words, but also with PPs, as shown in Example (3). In Example (3), the PP from Nice is an integral part of the entire NG and functions as its Qualifier.
Compare Examples (3) and (4). In Example (3), the PP from Nice is part of the NG an old French
novelist from Nice; thus, it is an embedded PP. In Example (4), while the PP from Nice is, again,
an embedded PP, the PP in 5 minutes, is not embedded; the PP in 5 minutes is a separate constituent of the clause functioning as circumstance of Location: Time. It is not always simple to distinguish between embedded PPs and PPs which are constituents functioning as Circumstance. TASK 3: In examples (5) and (6) below there are PPs that are parts of NGs. Which are they?
1. A novelist wrote a song.
2. An old French novelist wrote a terrible love song.
3. An old French novelist from Nice wrote a terrible love song.
4. An old French novelist from Nice wrote a terrible love song in 5 minutes.
5. On the occasion of her 40th birthday, she bought herself the ring with the biggest diamond. 6. The cat with black and red spots ran into the house.
If a PP, as in Example (3), or even a clause, is being made to function as part of a larger group, it is called an embedded PP or embedded clause. What is the relationship between embedding and the rank system? First of all, we must keep in mind how groups function in a clause as constituents in the Transitivity system: VGs form the Process, NGs are the typical grammatical participants inherently involved in the Process and AGs, PPs, and sometimes NGs to a lesser degree, form Circumstances. PPs that are embedded in NGs are at a rank below those PPs which are constituents of a clause functioning as Circumstance (again see examples of an embedded PP and a PP as a circumstantial Adjunct on page 20 ); and embedded clauses are below the rank of dependent and independent clauses. When we talk about embedded phrases, groups and clauses, it means that those phrases, groups and clauses function within the structure of the same or lower ranking unit, rather than as constituents of higher units, as ‘ranking’ units. In other words, a PP or clause can be
rankshifted to become part of a NG, as we have just seen. The NG in Example (6) above could
also be expanded with an embedded clause as in Example (7) below. 7. The cat [with black and red spots] [[that ran into the house]] is mine.
In Example (8) below, we have a clause (who answered the question) as part of a NG and also a PP (from France) as part of another NG. We will see how rankshift/embedding can contribute to construing elements in experiential meanings in different ways, and, at times, in ways that are highly complex. Compare the meanings expressed by Examples (8) and (9) below:
(N.B. Single square brackets are used to mark embedded PPs and double square brackets for embedded clauses)
8. The student [[who answered the question]] is an Erasmus student [from France]. 9. An Erasmus student [from France] answered the question.
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In Example (8) we have a participant as a Carrier in a Relational Process, while in Example (9) the participant is a Sayer. This is an illustration of how different lexico-grammatical structures express different meanings.
As you should already know, the typical embedded expansion is the ‘defining relative clause’ as
that ran into the house in Example (7) or who answered the question in Example (8).
Below are further examples of EMBEDDING:
a. The man [with blonde hair and green eyes] smiled at the photographers. - embedded PP. b. The man [[smiling at the photographers]] is a movie star. - embedded (defining relative)
non-finite clause.
c. The blonde man [[who is smiling at the photographers]] is a movie star. – embedded (defining
relative) finite clause
d. The smile [[he gave the photographers]] seemed sincere. – embedded (defining relative) finite
clause
TASK 4: Identify the grammatical Subject and Finite in the statements (a) – (d) above.
One NG can have more than one embedded PP, or clause, as illustrated by the examples (10) and (11) below:
10. The government has not yet raised taxes in the hope [of signs [of recovery [in the American economy]]].
11. The book [[that you bought at the store [next to the shoe shop [[that sells those sandals [[which you adore]]]]]]] isn’t the one [[I wanted]].
In addition to this function as post-modifier of a NG, embedded clauses can also function as
HEAD of a NG (i.e., as a nominalization, see Halliday 1994: 242 and Section 7.2 in this
course-book), as in the following examples of relational clauses:
12. [[What you see]] is [[what you get]]. (in computer jargon: Wysiwyg) 13. [[The time to leave]] is [[when people yawn]]. (Halliday 1994: 242)
14. [[What your mother has]] at the very least is [[what we call borderline personality disorder.]] (from the television series The Sopranos, 1st season (1999, episode13)
To conclude: embedding enables the “grammatical system to create new potential at lower ranks in the system by making it available from higher ranks” and allows one to construe elements of “considerable experiential complexity” (Matthiessen 1995, 100) as in Example (15).
15. The operator [of the Kazaa music-swapping service [[who is now under investigation]]] announced a part-time partnership Monday with Tiscali SpA, one of the major Internet access providers in Europe, in a deal [[that underscores their mutual benefit [from a method of exchanging songs [[that has angered record companies worldwide]]]]]. (International Herald Tribune 2002) • Tips
How can we tell if a PP is embedded in a NG or not? If it is NOT embedded, it can usually be moved.
a) There is a boy in the corner. (single clause, no embedding)
In the corner there is a boy.
b) The boy in the corner is my nephew. (single clause, with embedded PP)
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NOT The boy is my nephew in the corner.
In sentence (a) the PP is a constituent in the transitivity structure, functioning as Circumstance, and can be moved. In sentence (b) the PP is embedded in the NG and cannot be moved.
How can we tell if a clause is embedded in a NG or not? As explained in the first year course-book, punctuation is an important clue. If it is between commas, it is NOT embedded and thus it is a non-defining clause.
• The car which is in the parking lot is very expensive. (embedded, defining, clause)
• The car, which is in the parking lot, is very expensive. (non-embedded, non-defining, clause)
The relative pronouns, which, that, or who, in an embedded clause may be omitted. For example: “The book that you bought near the bookshop…” can be “The book you bought near
the bookshop…”. The relative pronoun has been omitted also in Example (d) above: The smile
[[he gave the photographers]] seemed sincere.
TASK 5: Identify embedded PP or embedded clauses in the following examples.
1. The quiet child in the corner has not said a word all day.
2. The child who is sitting in the corner has been absent for a long time. 3. He bought the book before he went home.
4. The person I talked to first was Jane.
5. People who exercise regularly are usually more healthy than those who have sedentary lifestyles.
TASK 6:
1. Which of the following is an example of embedding?
A. The book on the table is very expensive C. The new history book is very expensive B. The book, which is on the table, is expensive. D. The book is on the table
2. Identify embedded PPs and clauses and non-embedded PPs and clauses. Not all examples include embedding.
a) Clean air and effective ventilation are extremely important. Many people virtually seal themselves into their houses in the cold winter months.
b) Evidence suggests that non-smokers sharing a home with a smoker can have a 30 per cent greater risk of developing lung cancer.
c) Three million non-fatal accidents happen at home every year and nearly 6,000 people die. d) Advances in surgical techniques and in the technology used in medical equipment have been extremely beneficial.
TASK 7: Identify embedded PPs and embedded clauses in the following examples. a) A cabinet shuffle and new board appointments at RAI may help keep the peace in Mr. Berlusconi’s coalition. (International Herald Tribune, hereafter IHT January 12-13, 2002) b) Yahoo Inc. introduced a fee-based video-game service for US customers with high-speed Internet connections. (IHT September 24, 2002)
c) That the opposition would not vote in favor of the Government’s proposal didn’t surprise anyone. d) Over half of the Fortune 100 world’s largest corporations now turn to Orange for their business communication. (Orange advertisement in Time Int’l Sept. 23, 2002)
e) In airport boardrooms and galleries, the unique IBM Embedded Security Subsystem offers the user an even higher level of protection by encrypting e-mail and data. (IBM advertisement in
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Time Int’l, Sept. 23, 2002)
1. Language is a complex semiotic system composed of multiple levels/strata. The central level is grammar – lexico-grammar. The higher level is semantics (Halliday 1994: 15), the lower level is phonology.
2. Rank refers to a system of levels of organization concerning grammatical units;
3. Rankshifting is a mechanism whereby a unit of one rank is used as a constituent within another unit at the same or lower rank. (Matthiessen 1995: 21. See also 99-100 for more on Rankshift (embedding));
4. Rankshift refers to a clause or phrase that comes to function within the structure of a group (Halliday 1994: 242). Example: “The man who came to dinner was Sidney Poitier.”
Embedding can be used as an alternative term synonymous with rankshifted (Halliday 1994: 188).
5. Embedded elements can act as Postmodfier (or as Qualifier in terms of Experiential
meanings) in a NG, as in the example above, The man who came to dinner, or as Head of a NG, as in the following example: That the dinner guest was Sidney Poitier surprised everybody.
Keys
TASK 1: parataxis and enhancement
TASK 2: Many is a morpheme and a word; Many people - two words making up a nominal group;
drive – is one word making up a verbal group; too fast - adverbial group; on Italian highways -
prepositional phrase (as circumstance: Location: Space) TASK 3:
(5) On the occasion of her 40th birthday = PP as circumstance of Location: Time; with the biggest diamond = embedded PP.
(6) with black and red spots = embedded PP; into the house = PP as circumstance of Location: Place or Space.
TASK 4:
The grammatical Subject is the entire NG, which includes the embedded PP or embedded clause. (a) S = The man with blonde hair and green eyes; F = ‘ed’ (past tense of smiled)
(b) S = The man smiling at the photographers; F = is
(c) S = The blonde man who is smiling at the photographers; F = is
(d) S= The smile he gave the photographers; F = ‘ed’ (past tense of seemed) TASK 5:
1. in the corner
2. who is sitting in the corner 3. no embedding
4. I talked to first.
5. who exercise regularly and who have sedentary lifestyles. TASK6:
1. A
2. Identify embedded and non embedded PPs and clauses
SUMMARY
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a) into their houses and in the cold winter months are circumstance of Location, the first of Place, the second of Time (Extent).
b) sharing a home with a smoker – embedded non-finite clause and embedded PP; of developing lung cancer – embedded PP.
c) no embedding; at home = PP functioning as circumstance Location: Space
d) in surgical techniques, in the technology, used in medical equipment – 2 embedded PPs and embedded clause
TASK 7
a) ‘At Rai’ is embedded; ‘in Mr. Berlusconi’s coalition’ is circumstance Location: Place b) ‘for US customers’ - PP as circumstance of Behalf. It can be moved to the beginning of the
clause and can thus be considered a Circumstance, ‘with high-speed Internet connections’ - Embedded PP
c) ‘That the opposition would not vote in favor of the Government’s proposal’ - Embedded clause as Head
d) ‘of the Fortune 100 world’s largest corporations’ - Embedded PP; ‘for their business communication’ – Circumstance of purpose
e) ‘In airports boardrooms and galleries’ – circumstance Location: Place, ‘of protection’ – embedded PP
Further Reading
Thompson 1996, pp. 188-189, Sections 9.1.3 and 9.2 for adverbial and adjectival groups and prepositional phrases; or Thompson 2004, pp. 14-20 recognizing groups.
Thompson 1996, pp. 20-22, Section. 2.2 for Rank Scale; or in Thompson 2004, pp. 21-23. Thompson 1996, pg. 23 embedding; or Thompson 2004, pp. 24-25
Notes
Key Points
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CHAPTER 5
Tenor:
MOOD SYSTEMand Interaction in the Clause
Mood has evolved out of the requirement that language should serve as a means of action, a way of exchanging goods-and-services and information. (Halliday 1989: 68) By looking at the mood structure, clause by clause, we can see the way the dialogue proceeds as a series of exchanges. (Halliday 1994: 102)
Why study the MOOD SYSTEM? How does the study of the MOOD SYSTEM and Modality help us understand language use or improve our language skills? These are quite valid questions. Halliday interprets dialogue as the “expression of interpersonal relations” (1994: 68-71) and the major grammatical resource in English to construct/construe interpersonal meanings is the clause systems of MOOD. The choice of clause types in MOOD is important if we want to understand how participants construct their identity and their relations with others in interaction. Dialogue is where the role of mood in constructing identity is best illustrated; however, all texts can be analyzed for interpersonal meanings, whether written or spoken.
As Eggins and Slade illustrate in their analysis of conversation, (1997: chapter 3), this grammatical analysis can help us to relate linguistic behaviour to certain social roles and to understand the choices people make in order to position themselves and their fellow interactants . Their study shows the differences in social roles in parent-son talk through the analysis of clause type choice in the MOOD SYSTEM:
The most significant example of the unevenness of the talk is found in the choice of clause types. While the parents produce a large number of interrogative clauses, the son produces an overwhelming number of declarative clauses (making statements). (Eggins and Slade 1997: 72)
So then, different roles and role relations are expressed through MOOD choices. The authors continue:
only on the basis of accurate identification of clause selections can we move on to consider the conversational implications: what it means when different speakers choose different clause types.” (Eggins and Slade 1997: 72).
There are, as repeatedly said, many constraints on one’s linguistic behaviour arising from the context of culture and the context of situation. For example, in one culture, a particular institutional role may not give a speaker access to all linguistic choices, while in another culture, that same role might do so. Therefore, linguistic choices reveal therefore also cultural patterns. Thus, by studying MOOD we can gather what Eggins and Slade call “hard evidence of the role grammatical choices play in constructing social identities.” (113).
TASKS FOR DISCUSSION:What are some institutional roles in your country that might condition or constrain the speaker’s linguistic choices?
In what situations has your language been conditioned or constrained? What was it in that
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5.1 Interpersonal Meanings and the Clause as Exchange
Interpersonal meanings include “all that may be understood by the expression of our own personalities and personal feelings on the one hand, and forms of interaction and social interplay with other participants in the communication situation on the other hand” (Halliday 1997: 36). As you know, within the situation of context the variable that determines such meanings is the Tenor, which is concerned with the kind of exchange taking place, the ‘animate’ participants involved in the communication event and their relationships, attitudes and personalities, social and discourse roles. In the same way as certain lexico-grammatical features (in the system of Transitivity) are particularly the result of the Field, so other lexico-grammatical features (in the MOOD SYSTEM) are particularly activated by the Tenor too. How language is structured to enact interpersonal meanings and especially to express opinions, values and judgements is the focus of this chapter.THE CLAUSE AS EXCHANGE
As you have studied in the course Introduction to Functional Grammar A.A. 2003-04, when we analyze a text for interpersonal meanings, we study the clause in its function at the site of exchange, and in particular in terms of:
a) the kind of exchange taking place
b) participant relationships and discourse roles
c) the assessment of the speaker about the validity or truth of the statement being made (modality)
d) attitudes, values, and judgements We will now look at each of these in turn.
a) kind of exchange
In speaking or writing we engage in an exchange in which we take on speech roles. The fundamental speech roles we can take on are giving and demanding. In these exchanges, we give and/or demand commodities, which are either (a) goods-&-services or (b) information (Halliday 1984: 68). Exchanges are thus (a) the giving of goods-&-services or information and/or (b) the demanding of goods-&-services or information. The exchange of information gives us
propositions, while the exchange of ‘goods/services’ gives us proposals. Within the category of propositions we can have the speech functions of statement and question; within the category of proposals we have the speech functions of offer and command. Each function elicits a preferred
(or dispreferred) response. (See Halliday 1984: 69 and the review slides in Freddi Functional
grammar: an introduction for the EFL student). Speech functions are linked to the situation of
context,; the social role of participants in an interaction will constrain their choice of speech functions and, contemporaneously, of Mood choice as well. See Table 1 at the end of this section
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illustrating the overlapping combination of speech functions with their characteristic (more
congruent) Mood realizations in the clause.
Compare these utterances: 1. I'll open the door.
2. Open the door, please. 3. Open the door!
In (1), someone is offering a service; in (2) someone is requesting a service ; and in (3) someone is giving an order. How we formulate a request, a command or an offer of services will depend on the relationships of the participants, on the cultural norms governing these relationships, and on whether or not the speaker is working within or against those norms.
TASK 1: In what situations would the three utterances above be used? No key for this task. b) participants: relationships
TASK 2:
Where do you think the following conversation takes place? How do the choices in
the lexico-grammar of the two adjacency pairs reveal information about the participants and their relationship? The conversation is taken from Hartley 1993: 23. The discussion of this conversation is included in the Keys to the Tasks at the end of the chapter:A. “What’s your name, boy?” B. “Dr. Poussaint. I’m a physician.” A. “What’s your first name, boy?” B. “Alvin.”
c) the assessment of the speaker about the validity of the statement (modality)
Example (4) below expresses the text maker’s non-negotiable certainty of the validity of the proposition, while in Example (5) the Modal Operator may expresses only the possibility of the validity of the proposition, acknowledging other opinions.
4. Alvin is a physician. 5. Alvin may be a physician.
d) attitudes, values and judgements
In Example (6) below, by using the Epithets terrific and kind, the writer communicates his/her opinions; in this case s/he appraises Alvin as both a physician and a man. Attitudes, values and judgements are discussed in further detail in chapter 8 on APPRAISAL SYSTEMS.
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Speech Function Congruent clause mood Incongruent clause mood
Command Imperative Modulated interrogative, declarative Offer Modulated interrogative (Shall I? Shall we?)
Imperative, declarative
Statement Declarative Tagged declarative
Question Interrogative Modulated declarative
Table: 1 congruent and incongruent realizations of speech functions (Eggins and Slade 1997: 184).
N.B. It is important to keep in mind that, while for statements and questions there are clear patterns
of Mood choices in the clause, for offers and commands the patterns are not so clear. Especially for the case of offers, there is not really any clearly identifiable congruent form (Halliday 1994: 95)
5.2 Mood Elements
MOOD BLOCK: SUBJECT AND FINITE
Let us review briefly the clause in terms of the mood block. Themood block can be divided into two parts: the Mood and the Residue. The elements that belong to the Mood are
Subject (S) and Finite (F). Subject in the MOOD SYSTEM corresponds to the Subject in traditional grammar - and is also referred to as the Grammatical Subject. The Finite is the part of the verbal group that encodes primary tense (Verbal Operator) and POLARITY. It can also express the speaker’s opinion in terms of modality (in this case through a Modal Operator or Adjunct, see page 29 below).
The most important constituents of the clause as exchange are the Subject and Finite:
The Subject and Finite constitute the “nub” of the proposition: in order to interact we need both something to argue about, and some way in which to argue (Eggins and Slade 1997:78) .
The second part of the VG is, recall, the Predicator. For example: in He has gone – “has” is the Finite; “gone” is the Predicator. Other examples: “He arrived”, “ed”, or past tense, is the Finite. “He arrives at noon”, “s” is the Finite. Recall too, that in Imperatives, for example, Get Out!, there is no finite – only Predicator. Finites expressing opinion are discussed under the section Modal Finites. You can identify the Subject and Finite in the clause by forming a tag question.
1. The workers protested against the government reform yesterday, didn’t they? 2. The workers protest against the government reform was held yesterday, wasn’t it? 3. Riot police shot and killed 11 African demonstrators, didn't they?
4. Eleven Africans were shot dead by police, weren't they?
We will now look further at how meanings are mapped onto the lexico-grammar of the MOOD SYSTEM.