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Discourse Analysis: prof.Ahmed Q. Abed. Phd.
Assignment: Transitivity
Prepared by: Noor Riyadh Rahim
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a potent framework for describing and modeling language as a resource for making meaning and choices. This framework treats language beyond its formal structures and takes the context of culture and the context of situation in language use (Halliday, Matthiessen, 1995). SFL is identified with the linguists of the London School, specifically Halliday, whose immediate goal in stylistic analysis is “to show why and how the text means what it does” (Halliday 1971; Martin, 1992; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). To show how the text means what it does determined by (1) context of culture, (2) context of situation, and (3) metafunctions. Metafunctions, to Halliday (1970), are (a) textual, which provides links between language and the features of the situation in which it is used; (b) ideational, serves for the expression of “content” or the speaker’s experience of the real world, including the inner world of his own consciousness’, and (c) interpersonal, establishes and maintain social relations. Part of the ideational function, which concerns with the transmission of ideas is transitivity. Transitivity generally refers to the way in which meaning is encoded and presented in a clause. It is concerned with the transmission of world-view. And it plays a role in showing how speakers encode in language their mental picture of reality and how they account for their experience of the world around them.Transitivity’s definition according to Halliday (1976) from a functional point of view as “the set of options relating to cognitive content, the linguistic representation of extralinguistic experience, whether of the phenomena of the external world or of feelings, thoughts and perceptions”. Transitivity was developed as the concept of transitive or intransitive verb (Halliday,
- whether the verb takes object or not, but in SFL it functions to link grammar to the metafunctions.Transitivity in Hallidays’ terms is the main component in experiential function of the clause and it deals with “transmission of ideas, representing process or experiences (actions, events, processes of consciousness and relations)” (1985).In Halliday’s concept of transitivity there are three components of what he calls a transitivity process: a) the process itself (actions involved in the sentence verbs) b) participants in (peoples involved in the sentence)the process c) circumstances associated with the process (An adverbial group or prepositional phrase) Halliday propose three major and three minor process that exist in the transitivity system of English, and the different types of the semantic roles which are associated with each process.
1- Material processes : They are the processes of doing and happening. They convey the image that some entity does something that may be done to some other entity. there is an obligatory role of Actor filled by the doer of the process, an optional role of Goal filled by the entity affected by the process, and an optional role of Recipient or Client that construes a benefactive role (a participant that is benefitting from the performance of the process), in terms of either goods or services. Material processes can be: 1 - Action process( where the processes are performed by animate actors) a)intention processes (the actor performs the act voluntarily). b) supervision process (the act happens by its own). 2 - Event process (where the are performed by inanimate actors) 2-Mental processes : Unlike material processes, which are concerned with experiences of the material world, mental processes of (sensing or feelings) represent conscious experiences as they flow from a person’s consciousness – person here refers to all animates (Halliday and Matthiessen (1985). They include two participants (Sensor who conscious being, and the phenomenon which is the sensed, felt or thought). Mental processes express a state of mind or psychological events; therefore, they have to do with feelings, thinking, perceiving and wanting, that is, they are internal reactions to different phenomena. Mental processes are classified by Halliday (1958) into four types: 1-emotion (to love, to fancy, to hate, to like, to dislike, to adore, to detest, to regret, to enjoy, fear, etc.) 2-cognition (to know, to understand, to comprehend, to remember, to believe, to realize, to recognize, etc.) 3-perception (to see, to hear, to overhear, to feel, to notice, to perceive, to sense, to taste, to smell, etc.) 4-desideration (to want, to desire, to intend, to hope for, to yearn for, to plan, to determine, to decide, etc) 3- Verbal processes They are processes of saying, They include any type of symbolic exchange of meaning (all modes of expressing and indicating).They can be either explicit when verbs such as to say, to tell, to utter, to inform, to express, to complain and so on are used or implicit when verbs such as to show, to indicate, etc. are employed.Following are examples of the common verbs that can serve as verbal processes : (to say,totell,toutter,toask,toenquire,to command,toorder,torequire,tothreaten, to beg, to implore, to add, to reply, to urge, to inform,tocomplain,toreport,toannounce, tonotify,toexplain,tosuggest,toclaim,toassert,to confirm, to argue, to persuade, to c o n v i n c e , t o p r o m i s e , t o p r a i s e , t o f l a t t e r , t o c o n g r a t u l a t e , t o insult,toslander,toabuse,toblame,torebuke, to criticize, to chide, to accuse, to censure, etc.) In verbal processes, four roles filled by four participants can be realized: 1- an obligatory role of Sayer ,who is speaking.
They are processes represent that something exists or occurs as in ‘there seems to be a problem’. they are typically realized by the verb (to be) or some other related verbs, such as to exist, to remain, to arise, to occur, to happen, to take place, to come about and the like,Existential processes typically have one obligatory participant, labelled Existent, which can represent a wide range of referents, including a thing, person, object, institution, abstraction, action and event. The existent may be a phenomenon as in ‘There followed an angry debate’. Existent clauses often contain a circumstantial element as ‘There was a war in 2004’.
Circumstances
Circumstances are those elements of language that give language users (writer, speaker,hearer or reader)more information about what is happening or the activity and deal with the (when, where, how, the manner, with whom..) these element are( adverbial groups and prepositional phrases). Circumstances can be classified as follows:
- Location circumstances^ construe the extent of the unfolding of the process in space and/or time and answer the questions ‘when’ or ‘where’, as in:
- Temporal Last year, I travelled to the UK. When?
- Spatial I have lived in London for two years. Where?
- Extent circumstances , like location circumstances, construe the extent of the unfolding of the process in space and/or time but answer questions like ‘for how long’,‘how far’ or ‘how many times’, as in:
- Duration I have slept for an hour. For how long?
- Distance I drove 20 miles yesterday. How far?
- Frequency I visit my family three times a year. How many times?
- Manner circumstances construe the way in which the process is actualized and presented, thus answering questions like ‘how’,‘by what means’,‘what like’, or ‘how much’, as in:
- Quality He threw the ball to his friend strongly. How?/With what?
- Means He opened the door with a tea spoon. By what means?
- Comparison Try to do your job as professionally as you can. How?
- Degree All his friends love him deeply. How much?
- Cause circumstances construe the reason, in its boarder sense, why the process is actualized, thus answering the questions ‘why’, ‘for what purpose’ and ‘on whose behalf/who for’, as in:
- Reason I have left early as I have a lot of things to do. Why?
- Purpose I went to the mall to buy a new laptop. For what purpose?
- Behalf He said sorry on behalf of his son. On whose behalf?
- Contingency circumstances specify certain elements on which the actualization of the process depends, with the sense of if (representing positive cases of condition),
with the sense of if not (representing negative cases of condition) and with the sense of although (representing cases of concession). In case of emergency, the students can leave the exam room and go to the WC. In the absence of the teacher, the head of the department can ask any teacher to cover him/her. Despite his illness, he has managed to complete his studies.
- Accompaniment circumstances^ are forms of joint participation in the process and answer questions like ‘with whom’ and ‘without whom’, as in: - Company She goes to school with her dad. With whom? - Lack of company She can live in this city without him. Without whom? - Role circumstances^ construe the meanings to be and to become circumstantially, thus answering the question ‘what as’ and ‘what into’, as in: - Guise I have worked as a translator for many years. What as? - Product She cut the cake into many small pieces. What into?
- Matter circumstances can be replaced in verbal processes with theVerbiage of the process. Matter circumstances are typically expressed by prepositions, such as about, concerning, regarding, with reference to, with respect to, as for and the like, thus answering a like ‘what about’, as in: - Focusing Do not think about these silly issues if you want to ease your mind. What about?
- Angle circumstances can represent the Sayer’s source of information in verbal processes with the sense of ‘as... says’, typically expressed by complex prepositions, such as according to, in the words of and the like, thus answering the questions ‘according to whom’. Similarly, angle circumstances can represent the Sensors’ viewpoint in mental processes with the sense of ‘as... thinks, typically expressed by the simple preposition to or complex prepositions, such as from the standpoint of, in the opinion of, in the view of, to one’s mind, in one’s book, and so on, as in: - Source According to our teacher, we are not allowed to use dictionaries. According to whom? - Viewpoint It seems to me she won’t come to the party. What’s your opinion
Process 3: material process, went. Participants: 1-actor, he. 2-goal, she Circumstances: Manner circumstances; degree, quickly. ةفيــظوــلا نــع ارسفتــسم تاعــماجــلا ىدــحإ ىــلإ ةــلاــسر نيــبرقــملا يــئاــقدــصأ ّدــحأ ُثعــب َ-٤ .الشاغرة One of my close friends sent a letter to a university inquiring about the vacancy. Process 1: material process, sent. Participants: 1-actor, one of my best friends. 2- goal, a university Circumstances: / Process 2: Verbal process, inquiring. Participants: 1 -sayer, one of my best friends. 2-The verbiage, enquiring about the job vacancy. Circumstances: manner circumstances, means, the letter. نأ دعــب دــيدــش نزــحب رعشــي هنكــل ،ةنــيدــملا طــسو يــف ققشلاو تويبــلا نــم دــيدعــلا كلمــي - ٥
. دراسته إلكمال املتحدة اململكة إلى أبنه سافر He owns many houses and apartments in the city center, but he felt sadness after his son traveled to the UK to complete his studies. Process 1: Relational process; attributive, process of having, owns. Participants: 1-carrier, the implicit pronoun (he). 2- attribute, many houses and apartments. Circumstances: Location circumstances, spatial. Process 2: Mental processes, perception. Participants: Senser, the implicit prounoun (he). Circumstances: Location circumstances;Temporal, after.
