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FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
System Functional Analysis:
1- Field 2- Ideational 3- Mood
Focus of interest: Form, Choice, Meaning
Going in through form
Noam Chanky, “TG Approach” (Transformational- Generative)e
Linguistic should go BEYOND SYNTACTIC structures
.TG gave grammatically correct sentences (1960s theory, it has changed through
time, now it’s more abstract)
.”Hunting the subject” (Chamsky’s famous 1st rule)
S NP VP
Every sentence consists of a noun phrase followed by a verb phrase
IF IT DOES NOT follow these features, then it’s not a GRAMMATICALLY
ACCEPTABLE “SENTENCE”
.SPLITTING the clause elements into their component parts until we reach te basic
CONSTITUENTS:
The basic rules are:
1) VP V NP* Some verbal phrases consist of a VERB + a NOUN phrase
2) NP Det N * A noun phrase may consist of a “determiner” + “noun”
1 ex. VP V (had shot) + NP (himself)
2 ex. NP Det. (the) + N (policeman)
*functional grammar prepares focusing on “phoneme” rather than “morpheme”
because phonemes also include social meanings
IDENTIFYING CLAUSES AND CLAUSE CONSTITUENTS
Topic 1: Introduction to Systemic Functional Grammar
Topic 2: Constituents : Units of Grammar Analysis
Topic 3: Ideational Meanings : Experiential (transitività) and Logical (Expansion,
Projection and Dependency)
CONSTITUENCY
The Rank Scale, hierarchy
-Experiential made of a CLAUSE
3rd: PROCESS /\ :verbal groups (the whole verb group)
2nd: PARTICIPANTS / \ :nominal groups
1st: CIRCUMSTANCES /______\ : prepositional phrases, adverbial groups,
nominal groups
Units of Meaning
1st CLAUSE COMPLEX )
2nd CLAUSE )
3rd GROUP = phrase ) Units of every rank may form COMPLEXES
4th WORD ) 4 clauses = 1 clause complex
5th MORPHEME * ) bread + and + cheese = 2 nouns = 1 NG cpmplex
*combination of more than 1 clauses through:
hypotaxis (=subordination)
parataxis (=coordination) the highest rank in functional grammar analysis
-EMBEDDING= contained into bigger units
Embedded structures are always QUALIFIER TO A NOUN (they always follow a noun
group)
(*) FONDAMENTAL to make sense!
Ex. They live in a house (where the sun always shines)
Children (who hate chocolate) are un common
Ex. The argument (that English pronunciation has undergone change) is common knowledge -Ideas: through, belief, knowledge, feeling, idea, expectation, view, opinion, assumption etc. Ex. The through (of getting up at 6 o’clock) doesn’t upset me -Offers & Commands: offer, suggestion, promise, porposal, torea, intention, desire, hope, inclination, decision, etc… Ex. The hope (of passing the exams) 2)NOUNS + Projected clause (either “IF”, “WHATEVER”, “WH-“, “WHAT”; “THAT” which are FINITE, or “WHETER”, “WH-“+ “TO” CLAUSE, which are NON- FINITE) Question, argument, dispute, doubt, problem, issue etc… Ex. I’m facing the problem (wheter to take the exam in January or May) 3 VIEWS OF A SUBJECT according to structural grammar 1- The one that does the ACTION Material process: ACTOR Ideational Subject 2- the one that is in accord with the verb: SUBJECT Grammatical Subject 3- the one we’re talking about/ the focus of the sentence: THEME Textual Subject Ex. “Harry was blinded by pain” 1- Ideational Subject = actor= BY PAIN 2- Grammatical Subject = subj.= HARRY 3- Textual Subject= theme= HARRY GROUPS/ PHRASES that exist in English
- NOUN GROUP The Only group that has its OWN experiential structure
- Verb GROUP
- PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
- ADVERBIAL GROUP
(pronoun= placeholder of a noun, so there is not a “pronominal group” but if a group is headed by a pronoun it’s a noun group ) (adjective= noun modifier so there is not an “adjectival group”, you never have an adjective that heads a noun) (conjunctions in functional analysis are just considered as the “GLUE” that keeps the clauses together) There are two other kinds of analysis (Textual and Logical) where the conjunction plays a more articulated role METAFUNCTION It originates in sistemyc linguistics and it’s considered to be a property of all languages S.F. Linguistics is functional and semantic rather than formal and syntactic All languages are considered to be shaped and organized in to 3 functions or metafunction Michael Halliday, the founder of SF Linguistics, calls these 3 functions the -Ideational | experiential (transitivity) SYSTEMIC CLUSTERS: -Interpersonal | logical (dependency)groups of semantic systems that -Textual make meanings These 3 are mapped onto the structure of a CLAUSE, which is analyzed from 3 different points of view Experiential structure: 2(numerative) +Semi-heoped (classifier) +teospoons (head)+ of baking powder (embedded qualifier) Dialect= variety Social dialect= diastratic Geographical= diatopic INTEGRAL PART OF THE NOUN GROUP= EMBEDDED P.P.
STRATIFICATION
CONTEX context of culture+ context of situation CONTENT: semantic meaning CONTENT: lexicogrammar wording
Circumstance Textual are all kinds of adjunct (you can even talk about a “circumstantial adjunct”= circumstance) IDEATIONAL- EXPERIENTIAL Are they the same? “Experiential structure” a phrase usually referred to a NOUN GROUP Ideational overrarching concept that corresponds to the meaning that is made in the variable of context called FIELD (“ideational meaning= “what is going on?”) Experiential meaning it extends beyond the Noun Group e.g. Transitivity is a kind of experiential analysis Because of it, a Noun group attracts a series of different points of speach that then become themselves part of the NG e.g. “the flour”= 1 NG What parts of speech go within the NG? -article (the/a) -adjective -nouns (noun premodification) | -demonstratives (this/that) | +noun itself -numeratives (this/that) | -post qualifiers -possessive -pronoun (it’s a NG when it’s the head of a group) Analysis of groups: I= noun group Will put= verb group This= noun group Into that= p.p.
TYPES OF MODIFICATION 1- premodification (CLASSIFIERS) modifiers (noun /adjectives)+ head of the NG (E.g. bakewore range) 2- postmodification (QUALIFIERS) head of the NG + modifiers it’s a prepositional phrase (embedded) (E.g. range of bakewore) Only qualifiers can be embedded, Embedding is a property of postmodification ADJEC. IN FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS It is not specified wheter it’s “qualificativo, dimostrativo” but we ask a question: “is it a valuative adj.?” Based on the quality of information they give: “beautiful” “plain” Judgement type Evaluation class adj. That talk about class/type are called “Classifiers”, which include Noun Premodifiers and Adjuncts (that describe the type or class of nouns In functional grammar, Evaluation adjectives are called “EPITHETS” (epithets cannot be nouns but only ADJECTIVES EPITHET OR CLASSIFIER? Epithet= Adjective, Premodification, espresses value/judgement Classifier= noun/adjective, premodification, express type/class The test is SYNONYMITY e.G. Two old electric trains and two new electric trains 1- Replace “old/new” with another evaluative adjective like “decrepit”, “outdating”, “old-fashioned” epithet 2- Replace “old/new” with a classifier like “no longer available”, “historical”, “no-longer current” classifier Experiential structure of the NG “the old copy of the book” The= specific deictic Old= classifier Copy= thing Of the book= qualifier (always embedded)
2 type of deictics= -SPECIFIC: 1-definite ARTICLES; definite DEMONSTRATIVES Possessive deictics (more similar to specific than non-specific ones) 2- all possessive adjectives (my/your/her) 3- possessive pronouns (mine/yours/its) (just from the POV of experiential structure of the NG they have like NOUNS -NON-SPECIFIC: INDEFINITE ARTICLES (some/many/few/a few/a little… quantifiers that aren’t numeratives) Numbers: they’re all ADJECTIVES (both cardinal and ordinal) EPITHET OR CLASSIFIER? Epithet= Adjective, Premodification, espresse value/judgement Classifier= noun/adjective, premodification, express type/class The test is SYNONYMITY e.G. Two old electric trains and two new electric trains 1- Replace “old/new” with another evaluative adjective like “decrepit”, “outdating”, “old-fashioned” epithet 2- Replace “old/new” with a classifier like “no longer available”, “historical”, “no-longer current” classifier Experiential structure of the NG “the old copy of the book” The= specific deictic Old= classifier Copy= thing Of the book= qualifier (always embedded) The object when you change the CLASSIFIER. If the classifier is the same and only Epithets change, then the object doesn’t change IDEATIONAL MEANINGS FIELD (analysis 1) (experiential and logical): The clause as REPRESENTATION
Part 1: EXPERIENTIAL meaning THE THREE (simultaneous) views of the clause 1- FIELD: “what’s going on?”: Clause as Representation: Transitivity (experiential); ideational: CLAUSES in COMBINATION (taxis and logico-semantic relations) (logical) 2 - TENOR: “who’s taking part?”:Clause as Exchange: Mood; Modality; interpersonal: Appraisal (examination of the value, condition, qualities…) 3- MODE: “what’s the role of language?”: Clause as Message: Theme/ Rheme + textual + Non-structural cohesion IDEATIONAL metafunction Experiential: transitivity Logical: taxis (or Independency) and logico-semantic relations (or Expansion/Projection) TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM It includes: 1-the PROCESS 2-one or more PARTICIPANTS in the Process (actors) 3- one or more CIRCUMSTANCES TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM PROCESSES 1- Doing (Phisical world) material (happening/ creating/changing/doing/acting): EXISTENTIAL (existing) 2- Being (world of Abstract relations) relational being of having (having attribute/having identity/symbolizing): VERBAL (saying) 3- Sensing (world of consciousness) mental (seeing/feeling/thinking): BEHAVIOURAL (behaving) Based on the different type of process, the part of speech have different nomes RELATIONAL PROCESS Expresses states of Being and Having Carrier/ Identifier + relational process+ Attribute/Identified Carrier or Attribute? The test is changing positions
They have only 1 participant= the Behavier The Behavier + Behavioral process (I + doze) Doze= cry, cough, sneeze, smile, fall asleep= “because you’re physiologically too tired to keep your eyes open” THE CLAUSE AS REPRESENTATION Part 2: Logical meanings IDEATIONAL METAFUNCTIONS= -experiential (transitivity)
- logical (taxis Indipendency / Logico-semantic relationsExpansion/ Projection) | TAXIS (dependency) It referes to the DEPENDENCY status of the clause in a clause complex: -hypotaxis Relationship in which 1 clause is DEPENDENT on another = subordination -parataxis When 1 clause follows on from another = coordination The hypotaxis follows 2 Logico-semantic realations (meaning): -Expansion= extension, elaboration and enhancement (valorization) It broadly cavers the semantic work that conjunction does
-Projection= joining of clauses either through locutivo or idea, through verbal and mental process Types of Ex. Of Projection Expansion (either P. or hypotaxis): 1- Elaborating = “equals” (John didn’t wait (1); he ran away(2)) 2- Extending+ “is added to” (John ran away(1)/and Fred stayed behind (+2) 3- Enhancing X “is multiplied by” (John was scared (1), so he ran away (X2, as a consequence) PROJECTION 1- Locution (“) saying (John said (1): “I’m running away” (“2)) 2- Idea (‘) thinking (John thought to himself (1): ‘I’ll run way’(‘2)) ELABORATION & TAXIS Elaboration expansion process (=) & Logico-semantic relations Taxis dipendency (=) It’s not a “plus” but an “in fact” because it added something but in a sense of explaining better (E.g. It’s half past 4, in fact is 16:29) Halliday and Mattiessen 2004 ELABORATION PROCESS= meaning: (i)Parataxis= coordination: -expositon (“in other words”) -exemplification (“for example”) -clarification (“viz”) (ii)Hypotaxis= subordination Description Realization: (i)Parataxis Secondary clause indroduced by “i.e.”(id est)/”e.g.”(exampli gratia)/”viz” (ii)Hypotaxis
Adversative while whereas whitout Variation= Replacive // instead of, rather than Subtractive except that except for, other than Alternation= OR if…not (…than) // E.g. “I’ve been studying without taking a break for hours (without= AND I haven’t take a break… hypotactic extension) ENHANCEMENT Whole range of “dependent propositions” The secondary clause expands on a MAIN CLAUSE (or other dependent) by adding some circumstancial feature (e.g. Time, Consequence, Condition, Cause) E.g. I’m in a car park in Leeds when (time) I tell my husband… Even through (condition) I’m apparently, the kind of persom I can describe myself as the kind of person who doesn’t foget names, because (cause) I’ve remembered names thousand of times Mainly done HYPOTACTIC Enhancement process (X) has 4 categories: (i)temporal = same time (A meanwhile B)/ different time later(A subsequently B)/ different time earlier(A previously B) (ii)spatial= same space (C there D) (iii)manner= means(mezzo) (N is via/by means of M)/ comparison (N is like M) (iv)casual-conditional= 3 causes: reason (because P so results Q) Porpouse (because intention Q so action P) Result (//) 3 conditions: positive (if P then Q) Negative (if not P then Q)
Concessive (if P then contrary to expectations Q) PROJECTION (Halliday and Matthiessen 2004) It can occur either paratactically or hypotactally, depending on wheter you have QUOTATION (“…”) paratactic projection or REPORTED SPEECH hypotactic projection A projected speech functions: A relation that is on a PAR: between PEERS, Coordination, so PARATAXIS=QUOTATION E.G. I am in a acr park in Leeds when i tell my husband I don’t want to be married to him anymore Hypotactic projection (tell= verbal process), Reported LOCUTION BASIC CONTENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR SYNTAGMATIC all of the main areas, means: combination of elements, how the elements in a clause hang together (Clause/ frase= sentence, Phrase/sintagma= multi world expression) PARADIGMATIC choice that we have elements, based on what we want to say (Dicotomy: SYNTAGMATIC (structure) - PARADIGMATIC (meaning) GRAMMAR = structure (=Syntax) + choice (=meaning in context) Formal grammar is the area that focuses on the structure, the syntax Functional grammar: Formal Functional Primary concern structure meanings Unit of analysis sentence wide text (it looks at the clause in the context) Language concern syntax semantics= study of meaning Language a set of rules or sentence construction a resource for meaning making E.g. Green colourless ideas sleep furiously (Syntactic structures, N. Chomsky) This sentence is perfectly grammatical when speaking of structural grammar is sintactically correct because it follows all the Rules Whereas when speaking of functional grammar, the sentence is ungrammatical, because it doesn’t make any sense Linguistics is a kind of semiotic (study of signs)
- FIELD transitivity, explains what is going on through a word or a group of word that is called PROCESS (=verb/ verb group) ideational, experiential meaning
- TENOR analysis of evaluative language, use of modal verb, dialogue analysis. Mood is a property of the verb. Mood analysis is the identification of the grammatical subject, expecially when it’s not the same as the actor | “who is taking part?” what interpersonal meaning is being negotiated?
- MODE Cohesion is analysed in two different ways, that always come together. STRUCTURAL: dependents on the order of the elements NON- STRUCTURAL: doesn’t depend on the order but at the nature of the elements Theme/Rheme, reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, lexical cohesion (words), lexical words (synonymous, opposites, metonymis) TO SUM UP: 1 FIELD what’s going on: ideational meaning 2 TENOR who’s taking part: interpersional meaning 3 MODE cohesion/ Text and what keeps the text together Three views of the subject according to functional grammar:
- The one that does the action (FUNCTIONAL: in case of Material Process-> Actor)
- the one that is in accord with the verb (FUNCTIONAL: Subject)
- the one we’re talking about I focus of the sentence (FUNCTIONAL: theme) the topic of the sentence In functional grammar, these explanation can have different names:
- ideational subject= Actor
- grammatical subject= subject
- textual subject= theme LABELLING attribution of a functional label to each constituent of a clause STRUCTURAL LABELLING Harry (noun) ‘s (saxon genitive) scar (noun) FUNCTIONAL LABELLING Harry’s scar (Actor) was almost blinding (Process material) him (Goal) with pain (Circumstance) PARTICIPANTS:
material process participants that undergoes the action is the GOAL (person or thing) participants that is the internal direct object is the RANGE CIRCUMSTANCE: everything that is an indirect object, is a prepositional phrase that provides more information to the process. PERIPHERAL information Systemic functional analysis 1 (Transitivity: Ideational: Field “what is going on?”) Harry’s scar (Actor) was almost blinding (Process: Material) him (Goal) with pain (Circumstance) Systemic functional analysis 2 (Mood: Interpersonal: Tenor “who’s taking part?”) Harry’s scar (Subject) was almost blinding (Finite+ Adjunct+ Predicate) him (Complement) with pain (Adjunct) Identification of the grammatical subject= the one in accord with the verb Subject is a noun group that has an experiential structure and can only be 1, you don’t label each word like + is done with the verb Verb Group why is it broken down? Because 1 word tells us only about the tense, the other one tells us about the action-> BLINDING Was= Finite, it only provides audiorage for the verb group to tense and/or aspect Blinding= Predicator (lexical element of the verb group) tells information about the action (ex. I wrote a letter-> finite and predicator are CONFLATED in just one world, Lexicogrammar) Complement= the goal viewed from an interpersonal POV-> the direct object IT MUST BE A NG! It can’t be a prepositional group System Functional Analysis 3 (Theme: Textual: Mode “how does the text hold together) Harry’s scar (Theme) was almost blinding him with pain (Rheme) The theme depends on position, it’s what comes first, it’s the focus of information, entity about which or whom sensitività will be said CONSTITUENCY Units of analysis in grammar
