Functional Grammar: An Introduction

Functional Grammar:
An Introduction
for the EFL student
A coursebook by Maria Freddi
Functional Grammar Studies

for Non-Native Speakers
of English
Series Editor
D.R. Miller
Table of Contents
Foreword of Series Editor
Preface ............................................... sl. 4
Chapter 1 - Why study grammar? ........................ sl. 6
1.1. The Text-Context connection ...................... sl. 10
1.2. Formalism vs. Functionalism ...................... sl. 21
1.3. The Grammar-Meaning connection ................... sl. 26
Keys to exercises ..................................... sl. 30
Chapter 2 – Ways with Words ........................... sl. 35

2.1. The Rank Scale ................................... sl. 37
2.2. The Nominal Group ................................ sl. 50
Chapter 3 - Interpersonal Meanings .................... sl. 69

3.1. The MOOD SYSTEM .................................. sl. 75
3.2. The MODALITY SYSTEM .............................. sl. 89
3.3. The APPRAISAL SYSTEM ............................. sl. 101
Chapter 4 - Ideational (Experiential and Logical)
Meanings ................................. sl. 111
4.1. The TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM ......................... sl. 113
4.2. Grammatical Metaphor (Ideational) ............... sl. 162
4.3. Clauses in combination:
the Clause-Complex ............................. sl. 169
Keys to exercises .................................... sl. 195
Chapter 5 - Textual Meanings ......................... sl. 198

5.1. THEME and RHEME ................................. sl. 200
5.2. Non-Structural Cohesive devices ................. sl. 214
Keys to exercises .................................... sl. 227
Appendix A–
Test sample items .................................... sl. 235
Keys ................................................. sl. 239
Appendix B–
List of texts ........................................ sl. 240
Foreword
Donna R. Miller
Series Editor
It is with great pleasure that I present the first three e-books of this new series of Functional Grammar Studies for Non-Native Speakers of
English, which is contained within the superordinate: Quaderni del Centro di Studi Linguistico-Culturali (CeSLiC), a research center of
which I am currently the Director and which operates within the Department of Modern Foreign Languages of the University of Bologna.
The first three volumes of this series:
• M. Freddi, Functional Grammar: An Introduction for the EFL Student

• M. Lipson, Exploring Functional Grammar
• D.R. Miller (with the collaboration of A. Maiorani and M. Turci), Language as Purposeful: Functional Varieties of Texts
have as their primary ‘consumers’ the students of the English Language Studies Program (ELSP) in the Faculty of Foreign Languages and
Literature of the University of Bologna, for whom they are the basic coursebook in each of the three years of the first-level degree course.
They are the fruit of from 2 to 4 years of trialling, which was a vital part of an ‘ex-60%’ research project, financed in part by the Italian
Ministry of Education, University and Research, that I first proposed in 2002 and that is now into its third and final year, but which had
already been initially set in motion when the reform of the university system was first made known back in 1999.
Without going into undue detail about what the reform meant for language teaching in the Italian universities, I’ll just say that in the
first-level degree course our task is now twofold: parallel to the many hours of traditional EFL practice with mother-tongue speakers, there
are lectures which aim at providing, over the three years, a metalinguistic description of English grammar in a functional, socio-semiotic
perspective. The contents of these volumes are thus progressive and cumulative. In the first year a ‘skeleton’ of the Hallidayan Functional
Grammar model is taught; in the second it is ‘fleshed out’, and in the third it is ‘animated’, as it were, put into practice, being made to work
as a set of analytical tools for the investigation of the notion of register, or functional varieties of texts. A fourth volume on translation of
text-types in this same perspective is also in the planning stages.
This kind of metalinguistic reflection on the nature of the language being taught and on how it works is thus relatively new for
Faculties of LLS in the Italian university system. Its justification is essentially the premise put forth by F. Christie (1985/1989) apropos of
the L1 learner’s education: i.e., that explicit knowledge about language on the learners part is both desirable and useful. It is our conviction
i
that such an insight not only can but should be extended to the L2 learning situation. In short, foreign language learning at the tertiary level
should not be merely a question of the further development of students’ competence in communicative skills; it should involve learning not
only the language, but about the language. Indeed, what scholars define as the ‘good’ adult language learner has long been known to
readily attend to language as system and patterns of choice (Johnson 2001: 153). To design and implement this component of the syllabus
and try to create the required synergy with the more practical work being done by the native speaker collaborators, so as to lead to better
and more holistic L2 learning, needed, however, serious reflection and experimentation. Hence the project mentioned above, in which both
Freddi and Lipson and other researchers and teachers took part.
Developing what began as sketchy class notes into proper coursebooks that would serve the needs not only of those coming to
lessons, but also of those many who, alas, don’t was one important aim of the project. Another was monitoring the success of the new dual
pedagogical syllabus by means of various quantitative and qualitative studies, the details of which I will not go into here. I will, however,
say that the revised curriculum has proved to have a rate of success that I don’t dare yet to quantify. Moreover, a significant proportion of
the students who have reached the end of their degree course report not only that they have understood what it was we are trying to do, but
that they are actually convinced that our having tried to do it is valuable! Some even add that by the end they actually came to enjoy what
at the beginning seemed to them a slow form of torture!
But what was it that we were trying to do, and by what means? As already said or at least implied above, we wanted, firstly, to get
the students to reflect on the workings of language, tout court, and the specific functions of the English language, in particular. To do that,
we wanted to investigate with them the grammar of English, but we knew we’d have to chip away at the die-hard myths surrounding the
study of grammar that see it as a boring, or even elitist, enterprise, one that is basically meaningless. We chose a functional grammar as we
are firm believers in the language-culture equation. We chose the Hallidayan model because its lexico-grammatical core is inextricably tied
to meaning-making on the part of human beings acting in concrete situational and cultural contexts, and we believe our students must be
offered language awareness in this wider and richer perspective.
Our approach in these e-coursebooks is consistently language-learner oriented: we have tried, in short, to keep in mind the fact that
our students are L2 learners and take account of their practical learning experiences, and not only that of the complementary EFL
component of their English courses. In aiming at helping them develop as learners and more particularly at empowering them through an
increasing awareness of the functions of the English language in a variety of more, but also less, dominant socio-cultural contexts, we
obviously aimed at working on their intercultural consciousness as well. These considerations dictated the choice for an explicit critical
pedagogy that would make the workings of language as visible, and as attainable, as possible to our students (Cf. Martin 1998: 418-419).
At the same time it also dictated the choice of the linguistic framework we’ve adopted, as it sees language as a vital resource not only for
behaving, but also for negotiating and even modifying such behavior, and views the study of language as an exploration of “…some of the
most important and pervasive of the processes by which human beings build their world” (Christie 1985/1989: v). It is our hope that we are
ii
helping our students to be able not only to participate actively in these processes, but also to act upon them in socially useful ways. Such a
hope is conceivably utopistic, but some amount of idealism is eminently fitting to a concept of socially-accountable linguistics conceived
as a form of political action (Hasan & Martin (eds.) 1989: 2). It is also surely indispensable when attempting to break what is, in terms of
our specific pedagogic setting, wholly new ground. We leave aside the thorny issue of English as global lingua franca, acknowledge
merely that it is, and propose that these materials are proving to be effective teaching/learning resources for improving English literacy
outcomes in that particular setting (Cf. Rose 1999).
From what has been said, it follows that the linguistic theory we adopt here is, at the same time, a social theory. The same cannot be
said of the course that our students take (and that is obligatory in most degree courses in foreign languages and literature in Italy) in
General (and generally formalist) Linguistics. As most of the students in our degree course opt to study English, this series was also
conceived as a way to ensure they are provided with another way of looking at what a language is. Undoubtedly, the contrast in
frameworks often slips into conflict, but we feel that their being rather uncomfortably caught between sparring approaches is a crucial part
of their education – and we are starting to see that it has its positive payoffs too.
Donna R. Miller
Bologna, 10 November, 2004
Cited References:
Christie F., 1985/1989, “Foreword” to the series in ‘educational linguistics’, Australia: Deakin University Press; Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Hasan R. & J.R. Martin (eds.), 1989, Language Development: Learning Language, Learning Culture (Meaning and Choice in Language:
Studies for Michael Halliday), Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.
Johnson K., 2001, An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching, London, Longman.
iii
Martin J.R. 1998 “Linguistics and the Consumer: the Practice of Theory”, in Linguistics and Education 9 (4): 411-448.
Rose D., 1999, “Culture, competence and schooling: approaches to literacy teaching in indigenous school education”, in F. Christie (ed.),
Pedagogy and the Shaping of Consciousness: Linguistic and Social Processes, London & New York: Continuum.
iv
Preface
Despite its forbidding reputation, grammar is one of the
most interesting aspects of language study.
This coursebook introduces English grammar from a
Hallidayan systemic-functional perspective, which will be
extended in the 2° volume of this series, and related to
different text-types in the 3°.
The main purpose is to offer an account of how the English
clause works in relation to its context of use. The idea
is that lexico-grammatical choices speakers make become
fully meaningful depending not just on the channel of
communication, but also on the relationship between
interlocutors and the purpose of what is said.
The handbook necessarily takes for granted on the part of
the students a knowledge of the grammar of their own
language. Also, though only to a certain extent, it builds
on elementary knowledge of the grammar of English, in an
attempt to bridge the gap between more traditional
accounts of how it works and the Hallidayan approach.
4
Together with the other authors in this series, I too am
utterly convinced that an understanding of the nature of
language, of how it works is not a natural by-product of
knowing how to use language, even for native-speakers. On
the contrary, I firmly believe that knowing about a
language does help become better users, that is, better
readers, better writers, better speakers and listeners of
that language.
I therefore hope that, in providing EFL learners with a
new analytical tool, they will become aware of the
resources which English has and improve their learning of
it at the same time.
Students are also encouraged to practice their grammatical
analysis and develop their awareness with reference to
mini-texts (titles, headlines, blurbs, and the like) of
their own choosing.
5
Chap. 1- Why study grammar?
Why study grammar?

Why study Functional Grammar?
What is new about the Hallidayan
functional approach?
Why is it attractive?
6
The assumption of this course is that knowledge of grammar
facilitates language learning, that it helps produce and
understand texts in English. What follows is taken from the
lexicographic definition of Grammar in the OED Online.
[ad. OF. gramaire (F. grammaire), an irregular semipopular adoption (for the form of which cf. OF.
mire repr. L. medicum, artimaire repr. L. artem magicam or mathematicam) of L. grammatica, ad. Gr.
Γραµµατική (scil. Τέχνη art), fem. of γραµµατικος adj., of or pertaining to letters or literature, f.
γραµµατα letters, literature, pl. of γραµµα letter, written mark, f. root of γραφειν to write. Cf. Pr.
gramaira (prob. from Fr.). Old Fr. had also a learned adoption of the L. word, gramatique, parallel
with Sp. gramática, Pg., It. grammatica, G. grammatik, Welsh gramadeg.
In classical Gr. and L. the word denoted the methodical study of literature (= ‘philology’ in the widest
modern sense, including textual and aesthetic criticism, investigation of literary history and antiquities,
explanation of allusions, etc., besides the study of the Greek and Latin languages. Post-classically,
grammatica came to be restricted to the linguistic portion of this discipline, and eventually to
‘grammar’ in the mod. sense. In the Middle Ages, grammatica and its Rom. forms chiefly meant the
knowledge or study of Latin, and were hence often used as synonymous with learning in general, the
knowledge peculiar to the learned class. As this was popularly supposed to include magic and
astrology, the OF. gramaire was sometimes used as a name for these occult sciences. In these
applications it still survives in certain corrupt forms, F. grimoire, Eng. GLAMOUR, GRAMARYE.]
7
Task 1- Analyse the following text: what are the words you
already know? And which are those you are not sure about?
Can you understand this text? That is, can you tell who is
writing to whom about what?
We at Kier recognise the importance in executing the

construction works here at 20 King Street, in a safe and
hazard free environment for both the general public and
local businesses. The process of developing a working
structure with the public and local business continues and
remains on going. We therefore require feedback, advising
us of any measures you feel we should take whilst on this
project, as to maintain a correct environment to work and
live in.
In return we would ask that should you see this building
being vandalised or in such state that requires emergency
services, then you call them direct and report the
incident that you are witnessing. We would then hope to be
contacted ourselves on:
0207 930 9216 or 0208 464 3377 or 07747760173
Thank you for your Assistance.
Mr. G. Whittle
Kier Group 8
9
1.2.The Text-Context
Non- Connection
Linguistic Language
Language takes
place in
takes
place in
Level CONTEXT.
CONTEXT. The
meanings
The
we
meanings we
construct
construct inin
using
using language
language
are
are strictly
strictly
linked
linked to
to both
both
the cultural
the cultural
and
and
situational
situational
context in
context in
SEMANTICS (meanings) which
which language
language
is used.
is used.
LEXICO-GRAMMAR (wordings)
Language
Language is
is aa set
set of
of
PHONOLOGY/GRAPHOLOGY
Linguistic (sounds/symbols)
lexico-grammatical
lexico-grammatical
options
options realizing
realizing
certain
certain meanings
meanings and
Level being expressed
being expressed
and
through the phonic
through the phonic
or graphic matter.
Fig. 1- The text-context connection I or graphic matter.
(Adapted from Martin 1992) 10

Context of Situation
Semantics
Lexico-
Grammar
Fig. 2- The text-context connection II 11

The Context of Culture
Halliday (1994: xv) says that “any evaluation of a text
requires an interpretation also of its context”.
In order to analyse language in use, therefore, a theory of
grammar will have to take into consideration not just the
text, but also the context, both situational and cultural.
The model will put together context, meaning and grammar
realizations.
In part, we understand the meanings of sentences because we
know the vocabulary (lexis) and the grammatical structures
(as speakers, we follow regular patterns in our selections
of both). This makes it possible to communicate
successfully, even if sometimes interpretation is ambiguous
and miscommunication possible. In the same way, we
understand the meanings of speakers because we know
something of the culture in which texts are embedded.
How do we define culture?
The context of culture can be understood in terms of the
beliefs, ideas and ideologies, worldviews and value systems
that are constructed in language.
12
The Context of Situation
In modern linguistics ‘context’ came to refer to the NON-
VERBAL environment and generally includes who’s talking to
whom, when and where, and how. According to Hallidayan
linguistics, the context of situation can be described by
three variables:
FIELD is both the kind of social activity effected and the

topic or subject-matter. It is sometimes translated with
“campo d’azione”.
Answers the question “What’s going on?”
TENOR is the people involved in the language event, the more

permanent (social roles or statuses) and more temporary
(discourse roles) relations established.
Answers the question “Who’s taking part?”
MODE is the function accorded to the text, the rhetorical aim.

Answers the question “How’s language being used?”
Halliday derives his notion of the c.o.s from the
Halliday derives his notion of the c.o.s from the
anthropologist Malinowski. I quote, “the situation in which
anthropologist Malinowski. I quote, “the situation in which
words
words are
are uttered
uttered can
can never
never be
be passed
passed over
over as
as irrelevant
irrelevant to
to the
the
linguistic
linguistic expression”
expression” (Malinowski
(Malinowski 1923:
1923: 306).
306). 13
Mode
Mode can be understood as the part language plays. It
includes:
-the channel of communication, whether phonic (e.g.
face-to-face communication, radio, telephone, etc.),
or graphic (e.g. book, newspaper, written note,
scientific article, etc.), or some combination of the
two (e.g. CD-ROM);
-the medium, degrees of spoken-ness/written-ness,
i.e. whether the text is more lexically dense (high
incidence of lexical vs. grammatical words) and
packaged (in nominalised strings, for example), or
more lexico-grammatically intricate (in complex
combinations of clauses);
-the nature of the exchange, dialogic or monologic,
and whether it is spoken and spontaneous, or written-
to-be-read, or written-to-be-spoken, and thus
prepared, or at least semi-prepared.
14
Medium
The notion is a complex one. It has to do
with degrees of writtenness and degrees of
spokenness on a continuum,
i.e. lexical density (high incidence of
lexical vs. grammatical words) and
grammatical intricacy (complex clausal
organisation), and with degrees of
spontaneity.
Task 2- Compare the two extracts on slide 16 and 17

to have a grasp of this important distinction: what
features do you find most typical of either two?
Where do you think the extracts were drawn from?
15
Extract A-
An increasingly large number of television
programmes coming from the United States, i.e.
serials, sitcoms, soap operas, and the like, have
increased the business of dubbing in countries such
as Italy, which have always traditionally dubbed
rather than subtitled. Commercial reasons like this
together with the need for highly trained
translators have aroused new interest on the part of
academics in the theoretical issues involved in
dubbing. The questions I would like to pose here
are, firstly, at which point does translating cease
and dubbing take over? In other words, what exactly
is the difference between translation proper and
adapting a script for the TV screen? And, secondly,
can Dialogue Analysis provide the dubbing
scriptwriter with useful criteria for a critical
reading?
(From Freddi 1998 Dialogue Analysis and Multimedia Translation)

16
Extract B-
Well, Mrs. Moss, I think you should avoid

sleeping pills if you can. You may come to
rely on them completely and find it
impossible to sleep without them. I’d
suggest some other remedies, perhaps very
obvious ones. Have you tried drinking herb
tea, like camomile, before you go to bed?
This can help you relax. You could also try
listening to music or reading.
(From Lipson 2001-2002)
17
Register
Note that these three variables of context,
namely Field, Tenor and Mode, define the
register to which a text belongs.
There is an inextricable, systematic
association between context and text (the
extra-linguistic situation and the
linguistic/verbal realizations) and vice versa:
the context activates the meanings (i.e. the
Semantics) that are realized in and by the
grammar (i.e. lexico-grammar).
Thus a register can be defined as a “culturally
specific text-type which results from using
language to accomplish something” (Gerot & Wignell
1994: 17).
Examples of registers are: the lecture, the
research article, various types of service-
encounters, etc. 18
Task 3- Analyse the exam-situation in terms of Field, Tenor
and Mode.
Task 4- Identify the following registers and describe the
three variables of the contextual configuration:
a) Wash and dry a 450g chicken, boned and skinned. Cut into
small, similar-sized pieces and place in a bowl. Add the
spices (1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp ground
cumin, 1/2 tsp ground turmeric), some salt and two tbsp of
olive oil and mix together. Cover and chill for at least
an hour. Thread the chicken, 2 medium red onions and 4
baby sweet green peppers alternatively along 4 long
skewers. Cook over hot coals on a barbecue for 10-15
minutes, turning frequently and basting with extra oil
during cooking, until tender and cooked through. Serve hot
or cold. If you wish, add a dressing of greek yogurt,
flavoured with a pinch of paprika, a pinch of cumin, some
mint and crushed garlic, plus a pinch of salt, to taste.
b) Well, Well, Mrs. Moss, I think you should avoid sleeping

pills if you can. You may come to rely on them completely
and find it impossible to sleep without them…
19
c) Volvo. For life.
d) Christmas Greetings and Best Wishes for the Coming

Year.
e) Subject: Fwd: Re: University meeting

Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 14:06:52 +0200
From: Joanna <xxxxx>
To: mfreddi@lingue.unibo.it
>At 11.13 30/06/2003 +0200, you wrote:

>>Hi Sandra,
>>
>>Maria suggested that we try and have a meeting
together. When
>>would be a ggod time?
>>
>>Hope everything is well with you.
>>
>>Best wishes.
>>
>>Joanna
20
1.2.Formalism vs. Functionalism
In order to start
answering the
questions in slide
6, let us consider
this advertisement.
Task 5- What aspects

of the sentence do
we want to consider
in providing a
linguistic
description of the
following travel
advertisement of a
British region?
(Based on Thompson 1996: 2)
21
The basic philosophy of a FORMALIST:
Grammar is an abstract set of rules.
The primary concern is with the forms of

grammatical structures and their
relationship to one another.
Grammar = morphology and syntax
Grammarians often use made up sentences to

illustrate rules.
22
The basic philosophy of a
FUNCTIONALIST:
Grammar is a system of human communication

and allows speakers to make and exchange
meanings.
The primary concern is with the functions
of grammatical structures and with their

meanings in their context.
Grammar = lexico-grammar
Grammarians aim at using sentences drawn

from real world sources, authentic pieces of
linguistic evidence.
Note,
Note, however,
however, that
that formal
formal analyses
analyses
must
must at some stage take account of
at some stage take account of
meaning and function, and
meaning and function, and
functional
functional analyses
analyses must
must at
at some
some
stage take account of form.
stage take account of form.
23
Why do we need FG then?
In the history of language study in the West, there
have been two somewhat different theoretical
conceptualizations of grammar. Both have their origins
in Ancient Greece, there have been many variations, but
we can still trace these two strands of thinking today
(Matthiessen & Halliday 1997).
1) In one, language is a set of rules, rules for
specifying structures, for example the construction of
a transitive sentence with verb + accusative. This
perspective is that of logic and philosophy in the
foregrounding of the sentence as the basic unit of
language, organized on a logical model into Subject +
Predicate. Since the sentence is the basic unit, it is
studied in isolation.
24
2) In the other view, language is a resource for making
meanings. This perspective is that of rhetoric and
ethnography in the foregrounding of the text (discourse)
as the basic unit of language, organized according to
the rhetorical aim. Since text is the basic unit, the
sentence is studied in its discourse environment.
Moreover, Matthiessen and Halliday 1997 observe that at
this stage in the history of human-kind, we need a
richer theory of grammar to meet the challenges of the
age of information. To the new needs of our society and
new purposes of language use corresponds a new theory of
language.
For example, in the field of education, one should ask,
how do we give access to and transfer knowledge through
language?, or in the field of language teaching, how do
we help people learn a foreign language?, or in the
field of media studies, what is the best way to explain
and describe the way language works in advertising a
product, as in slide 21?
25
1.3.The Grammar-Meaning
Connection
The founder of the theory says:
Language is a semiotic system:

meaning is created in language.
(M.A.K. Halliday 1994)
‘Functional’ means that we are

foregrounding the role of grammar as
a resource for construing meaning.
(M.A.K. Halliday 1994)
26
The claim that “meaning is created in language” hints
at the philosophical issue of the locus of meaning and
the relation between language, meaning, thought and
reality.
Similarly, the claim that “grammar is considered a
resource for making meaning”, entails that grammar
equals meaning and vice versa (see Figure 3, sl. 30).
There is in fact circularity between meanings and
grammar in that meanings are realized or constructed
in and by the grammar, which means that they are
accessible to speakers only via the grammar and that
grammar has an internal meaning creating role. How can
we have access to a semantic category without its
grammatical realization? For example, how are we to
understand the semantic category ‘temporality’
(‘time’) in different languages, unless we explore the
grammatical resources that realize it (tense, etc.)?
Thus, there is no point in asking which determines
which.
27
SEMANTICS LEXICOGRAMMAR
(MEANINGS ) (WORDINGS )
(fro m Miller 2000-2001)
Fig. 3- The Grammar-Meaning connection

28
To sum up:
Functional Grammar focuses on language
use.
It is descriptive, more than prescriptive,

in its examination of actual occurrences of
spoken and written language and the context
of their use
It aims at:
-showing how meaning is made
-understanding and interpreting texts.
29
Keys to exercises
Task 1-
Glossary:
hazard free = not dangerous
Vandalised = damaged on purpose
Witnessing = seeing
We, ourselves = the reference for the 1st person plural subject-
pronoun is the Kier Group, which also coincides with the writer of
the text (sender of the message), Mr. Whittle, as representative of
the group
You = the 2nd person plural pronoun refers to the addressee and reader
of the text (receiver of the message)
The importance of granting a safe working environment at the
construction works at 20 King Street = the main topic of the text, a
declaration of intents (Function is Informative)
…advising us of any measures you feel we should take whilst on this
project, as to maintain a correct environment to work and live in =
complex combination of clauses (dependent and embedded)
In return we would ask that should you see...then you call them
direct...we would then hope= modal verbs are used to modalize the
message, however, this second part of the text is a clear call for
action, almost an injunction (Function is Exhortatory)
Thank you for your Assistance = this line is the closing addressing
the readers in a direct way, asking for their help and action.
30
Task 2- The first paragraph of Extract A is characterised by
nominalization: long Nominal Groups (NGs) functioning as
participants within the clause as representation. Such NGs
contain a high number of lexical or content words, while the
number of clauses is very low. If we count up the lexical
words and divide them by the number of clauses we get the
lexical density of the paragraph. If this number is high, then
the paragraph is more likely to be an instance of the written
medium. The second paragraph has more clauses (in order to
identify them, count up the verbs of both independent and
dependent clauses). These are questions in form, but function
as research questions, which will be addressed and
investigated by the author of the research paper.
On the other hand, Extract B shows signs of its spoken nature.
Among others, the continuative well, and the direct form of
address, the vocative, Mrs. Moss, which are both typical of
spoken English; then, there are many independent coordinated
clauses as well as dependent, subordinated clauses (identify
the verbs). Grammatical intricacy is more typical of spoken
discourse. The topic (remedies for insomnia) together with the
high incidence of prescriptive deontic modality lead us to
think that this is an instance of doctor-patient telephone
interaction. 31
Task 3-
The exam-situation is defined by:
1) its Field: an activity that tests the acquired knowledge of
the student; the subject-matter of the exam, e.g. say, an exam on
Elizabethan literature;
2) its Tenor: namely the examiner/-s and the examinee engaged in
the exchange (the hic et nunc), with their social, semi-permanent
roles or statuses (teacher-student) and their ongoing discourse
roles: the teacher’s discourse role consists in asking questions
and giving feedback on the student’s answers;
3) its Mode: the channel is phonic, the medium is more spoken
than written, and a dialogue, even though the interaction is
semi-planned rather than spontaneous. Where can the medium be put
in the continuum between spokenness and writtenness? (see Gerot
and Wignell 1994: 159 ff.)
Task 4-
a recipe-
Field: giving instructions on how to prepare chilli-chicken
skewers
Tenor: writer-general readership
Mode: graphic channel, more written than spoken medium
32
Task 4- cont’d
b) a telephone conversation-
Field: advising on how to overcome a medical problem, remedies
against insomnia
Tenor: doctor-patient
Mode: originally phonic channel, medium is spoken
c) an ad
Field: the activity of advertising in order to sell a car
Tenor: Volvo company-potential buyers
Mode: graphic channel (originally multi-modal, i.e. including the
visual mode of images), medium is more written than spoken
d) a greeting card
Field: Christmas greetings
Tenor: very generic and impersonal, no explicit trace of sender or
receiver
Mode: graphic channel (maybe multi-modal if including an image,
medium is written
e) an e-mail
Field: activity of making an appointment, a University meeting
Tenor: 3 colleagues
Mode: graphic channel, medium mixed, written but with features of
spokenness
33
Task 5-
The following issues can be highlighted: what is the
writer doing with the imperative? The sentence is indeed
an order or command realized by the imperative Mood
(“spend”), but being an ad, it functions more like an
invitation. Why didn’t the writer choose an indicative
statement form? Who is the addressee of this
command/invitation? And whom does the adverbial
“together” include?
Also, why is the time one spends in that part of Britain
characterised as being worthwhile (“quality time”)?
Then, what features of the graphic co-text, including
lay-out, pictures, that is, the visual semiotics,
trigger the grammatical choices and affect the message
of the sentence?
Therefore, what is the ultimate purpose of the sentence?
What is its function, i.e. its meaning?
34
Chapter 2- Ways with Words
In order to approach a text, we need to be able
to break it down into smaller, more manageable
units, so, for example, into sentences (those
units of the writing system beginning with a
capital letter and ending with a full-stop),
which in turn can be broken down into clauses,
(which combine with each other to form a text),
which can be broken down into groups of words,
and so on.
We therefore need to start looking in a more
systematic way at the units of grammar on which
our analysis is going to be based.
We will then identify their functions within ONE
clause, and we will eventually go back to how
clauses are put together to form a text.
35
2.1. The Rank Scale
(or, the constituent structure of
grammar)
The Rank Scale is defined as:
the layered part-whole relationship that occurs among
the units of grammar (Halliday 1994: 23).
Larger units are made up out of smaller units (e.g.
sentences consist of clauses, which consist of groups
of words, which, in their turn, consist of words,
which, in their turn, consist of… see following slide).
Each unit consists of one or more of the next smaller,
and sometimes these can be conflated:
Ex. Stop!
= one sentence
= clause
= one group
= one word
= one morpheme (ex. based on Halliday 2004: 9)
36
A TEXT is a meaningful instance
of language, a coherent whole
that makes sense to someone TEXT
that knows the language; it is
indeterminate in length (it can
be the Stop! above, or consist
of one or more volumes). It
CLAUSE
consists of one or more
CLAUSEs, i.e. a group of words
with at least one Verb (or GROUP
Verbal) GROUP (VG). But clauses
can also have Noun (or Nominal)
groups, (NG), Adjectival
Groups, Adverbial groups (AG),
and Prepositional Phrases (PP).
These in turn are made up of at WORD
least one WORD. Words have both
content (lexical) and function
(grammatical). They are made up MORPHEME
of at least one MORPHEME.
Morphemes are the smallest
distinctive unit of grammar
having meaning.
Fig. 4- The Rank Scale 37
An example of a TEXT could be the one already seen
in sl. 9 and 10:

hazard free environment for both the general public and
local businesses. The process of developing a working
structure with the public and local business continues
and maintains on going. We therefore require feedback,
advising us of any measures you feel we should take
whilst on this project, as to maintain a correct
environment to work and live in.
In return we would ask that should you see this building
being vandalised or in such state that requires
emergency services, then you call them direct and report
the incident that you are witnessing. We would then hope
to be contacted ourselves on:
0207 930 9216 or 0208 464 3377 or 07747760173
Thank you for your Assistance.
Mr. G. Whittle
Kier Group
38
A text can be broken down into sentences and into
CLAUSES:

hazard free environment for both the general public and local
businesses.
The sentence above is made up of just ONE clause,

although a very a long and qualified one, and in
particular one independent clause, as there is only one
finite verb (recognise). Some of you might notice,
however, a non-finite verb (executing), and might argue
that this is another clause, a dependent one.
However, later we will see that this second clause loses
its status of clause, as it were, it is down-ranked,
becoming a constituent within a group, namely the
Nominal Group. This phenomenon is called Embedding.
Thus, here the second clause (in executing…) is embedded
as part of the NG “the importance” (see sl. 56 ff.).
39
Clauses combine to form a CLAUSE COMPLEX:
The process of developing a working structure with the
public and local business continues and maintains ongoing.
In the sentence above you have two coordinated clauses
(the second of which has the Subject elided), both
independent, both with finite verbs (continues,
maintains), they form a clause-complex.
In the next one there is one independent clause (with
the VG require), and two dependent, both with non-
finite verbs (advising, as to maintain). The other two
verbal groups (feel, should take) are in embedded
clauses, as are the last two, (to work and live in).
We therefore require feedback, advising us of any measures
you feel we should take whilst on this project, as to
maintain a correct environment to work and live in.
The CLAUSE is the basic unit of analysis in this

model and is considered to be representative of the
text as an instantiation of a meaning potential.
40
Each clause can be broken down into groups:
We at Kier = 1 Nominal Group (1 pronoun + 1 embedded,

qualifying Prepositional Phrase)
recognise = 1 Verbal Group
the importance in executing the construction works here at
20 King Street, = 1 Nominal Group
in a safe and hazard free environment = 1 Prepositional
Phrase
for both the general public and local businesses = 1
Prepositional Phrase
The process of developing a working structure with the

public and local business = Nominal Group
continues = Verbal Group
(it) = ellipted pronoun, thus Nominal Group
maintains = Verbal Group
Ongoing = Adjectival Group
41
More examples of VERBAL GROUPS, VG, (and of
what are called Verbal Group expansions)
are:
We recognised.
Lexical Verb + Finite [-ed, Simple Past]
(or Predicator)
We have recognised.
Finite [have, Present] + Lexical Vb. + [-ed, Perfect]
(or Predicator)
We should have recognised.

Finite [should, Modal Auxiliary] + [have, Present] +
Lexical Vb. + [-ed, Perfect]
(or Predicator)
42
Task 3- Underline the VGs in the following
examples:
1- Stella got the first prize.

2- He must have left.
3- The reply had been accepted as valid.
4- The duke gave my aunt this teapot.
5- I would have thought so.
6- Sanctions against the country should be eased.
7- We would then hope to be contacted.
8- The building requires emergency services.
9- They seldom come to Italy.
10- Did you take my glasses?
43
In the clauses analysed so far there was no
example of ADVERBIAL GROUPS (AG). Again, an
Adverbial Group can be made up of one word
only, one Adverb, as in the examples below:
They left the room quickly.

They seldom come to Italy.
or even of a modified Adverb, as in:

They come to Italy very rarely.
They don’t come to Italy quite often
enough for their tastes.
44
Each group in its turn can be broken down into
WORDS:
We at Kier = 1 NG, 3 words

recognise = 1 VG, 1 word
the importance in executing the construction works here
at 20 King Street, = 1 NG, 11 words
in a safe and hazard free environment = 1 Prepositional
Phrase (henceforth PP), 7 words
for both the general public and local businesses = 1
PP, 8 words
More examples of words are:
Tall, a, book, serendipity, the, cross-

check.
45
Each word is identified by both its
Content, that is its lexical or conceptual
value,
and its
grammatical Function, that is, its relation
to other words in the clause.
The total meaning of a word is the sum of
both these aspects.
Furthermore, we can distinguish between:
Lexical words (= also ‘content words’),
they function in lexical open sets rather
than in closed grammatical systems;
Grammatical words (= also ‘empty words’),
they have no lexical or conceptual content,
they have only their grammatical function.
46
The image shows an entry
of the lemma ‘and’ taken
from the MacMillan English
Dictionary for Advanced
Learners, MacMillan 2002.
Task 1- Look up in one or
more dictionaries both a
grammatical (e.g. ‘the’)
and a lexical word (e.g.
‘red’), and compare the
entries with the content-
function distinction in
mind.
47
Each word can be broken down into MORPHEMES, the smallest
unit of grammar:
Execut-ing is formed from the lexical morpheme execut- and

the grammatical morpheme –ing for the Gerund;
Work-s is formed from the lexical morpheme work- and –s

indicating the Plural.
A useful exercise to improve your command of lexis is

practising word formation, as in the example below. Notice
how morphemes change the word-class (or part of speech):
Safe Adjective (Adjectival Group)
Safe-ty Noun (NG)
Safe-ly Adverb (AG)
Un-safe Adjective (Adjectival Group), an antonym of

‘safe’
48
Task 2- Identify the morphemes and their
function in the following examples:
A, kindness, trees, soften, moisten,

approbation, approval, recital, proposition,
proposal, employer, transfer, presume,
receive, deduce, away, alone, unselfishly.
These facts seemed to me to throw some light

on the origin of species - that mystery of
mysteries (C. Darwin, The Origin of Species)
49
2.2. The Nominal Group
In the English grammar the NG is an extremely productive unit
and an economic way to represent reality linguistically,
thanks to its structural capacity to be expanded both to the
left (pre-modification) and to the right (post-modification),
something we have already seen with reference to AGs above.
This is why considerable space is dedicated here to this
interesting language structure and to its functions.
You will learn how to decode the logical and experiential
relations between the various elements within a NG, and this
will help you read and understand different texts. There is a
special type of text, which Halliday 1994 calls “little
texts” whose grammar is reduced to one NG exclusively: these
include titles, newspaper headlines, road signs, and the
like.
As is illustrated below, the relationship between the
elements within a NG can be seen from two different
perspectives: 1)the logical, highlighting the hierarchical
relationship between the head noun and its modifiers, and
2)the experiential, which stresses the type of semantics, or
meanings, instantiated. 50
Modifier | Head Noun = logical relation
A | book
Deictic | Thing = experiential relation

A | book
51
Pre-Modification
The | book
Specific Deictic | Thing
The | two | books
Spec. Deictic + Numerative + Thing
The | two | most fascinating | books
Deictic + Numerative + Epithet + Thing
The | FG | book
Deictic + Classifier + Thing
Those | big | reference | books
Demonstrative + Epithet (objective) +
Classifier + Thing
52
Pre-Modification cont’d:
Classifier
Notice that the Classifier + Thing structure is of
particular importance in technical and scientific texts:
Adjectives, but also Nouns and Participles, often
function as Classifiers.
E.g. weak force, ecological problems, water pollution,

living organism, virtual reality, virtual-reality
generator, quantum theory, memory capacity, information
technology, etc.
Notice the difference between:

A fascinating movie
Epithet
(=objective/subjective quality)
A De Niro movie
Classifier
(=what kind/type?)
53
Post-modification: Qualifier
Those books | with colourful pictures
Qualifier = often a prepositional phrase (PP) or a

clause providing additional defining or circumstantial
information about the Thing.
Examples
A Room with a View
(Title of a beautiful novel by E.M. Forster)
Deictic + Thing + Qualifier
(PP with Deictic + Thing)
The street [around the corner]

The man [at the train station]
People [[who have been involved in the accident]]
The woman [at the reception]
The news [[(that) you gave me yesterday]]
Her attitude [to emancipation] doesn’t help.
(ex. based on Thompson 1996: 23) 54
Note
Note that
that the
the common
common
Embedding meaning
meaning of ‘embedded’ is
‘fixed
of ‘embedded’
firmly and
is
deeply’.
‘fixed firmly and deeply’.
Another way to look at the post-modification of the
NG, the Qualifier, is by means of its status within
the group: what is happening is that the PP or clause
becomes a part of, and inserted into the Thing (i.e.
the Head Noun) by delimiting, defining and specifying
it. This is why we say that it is embedded. The
characteristic embedded clause is the DEFINING
RELATIVE CLAUSE (also called ‘restrictive’ relative
clause, or ‘identifying’ in some formal accounts of
grammar), where the relative pronoun can be omitted.
So, for example,
Every cup [[you taste]] gives you an exquisite coffee
Embedded defining relative clause
experience.
In short, as Halliday points out (1994: 188),
embedding allows a unit (here a NG) to be expanded by
inclusion of another unit from a higher rank (e.g. a
clause) or the same rank (another NG). 55
All defining relative clauses are embedded and function
as Qualifier. Compare the example in the slide above,
every cup you taste, with the following one, where we
have a NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE (or ‘non-
restrictive’):
Stella, whom you met yesterday, is coming with us to

the Lighthouse.
Notice that in a written text, a non-defining relative

clause is usually signalled with a comma corresponding
to a pause in spoken discourse. The meaning of a NON-
DEFINING relative clause is different from that of a
defining one, in that it introduces a kind of gloss, an
extra-comment elaborating on the primary clause. So, it
differs in function from the embedded clause, which is
an integral part of the NG.
56
Task 4- Identify the embedded PPs or embedded clauses in
the following examples. Say what kind of clause it is.
Use the square brackets (singles for PP and doubles for
clauses) to signal the embedded element.
1. Experiments in the dehydration and evaporation of milk

were carried out. (ex. from Thompson 1996: 23)
2. Singing in the bath is a funny habit.
3. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.
4. The team was hard to beat.
5. This is the man whose views I normally agree with.
6. The theme of this week is ‘bakery’.
7. Here you have the measure of his arrogance.
8. Please find enclosed the agreement terms you proposed.
9. Her decision to resign was a surprise for everybody.
10. The child in the garden is my youngest cousin.
57
Task 5- Analyse the following NGs for the
experiential structure:
A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green

robes
(“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”
J.K. Rowling)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream

(Title of a famous play by Shakespeare)
Task 5a- Analyse all the NGs you can identify

in the two pictures on slide 59:
58
59
Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic
(or Grammar as System and Grammar as
Structure)
I went to the theatre on Sunday

I went to the movies last night
He ‘s going home tonight
Go home! _______
Fig. 5- Paradigm and Syntagm

60
Lexis and Grammar are inseparable:
LEXICO-GRAMMAR.
With reference to the figure above, it is helpful to note

what Matthiessen and Halliday 1997 say about the
distinction and dynamic relationship between these 2 axes:
System and structure theorize the axes of organisation in
language, namely the paradigmatic or vertical axis and the
syntagmatic, or horizontal axis.
System is a point of choice (e.g. indicative vs. imperative
within the MOOD system, or past vs. future within the TENSE
system), whereas structure is a sequence of combinatory
possibilities, a sort of patterning.
The concept of choice is fundamental in language: a
paradigm is the list of options from which a speaker makes
a choice. Each choice or selection the speaker makes (the
vertical dimension) contributes to the wording and thus
affects the structure (the horizontal dimension).
61
Language is multifunctional
In the course of these lessons we will be introducing a
range of semantic functional labels which reflect the
fact that word classes (or, parts-of-speech) do not
express only one kind of meaning and can have more than
one function.
Take a Noun (or NG), a Verb (or VG), another Noun (NG)
and yet another Noun (NG) and put them in a sequence and
mutual relation such that you get the Subject Verb (or
Predicate) Complement Object structure of the English
clause:
The duke gave my aunt this teapot. (From Halliday 1994: 30)
S V C O
Although both my aunt and this teapot are NGs, their

function within this clause is very different. In fact,
my aunt is the indirect Object expressing the
Beneficiary of the action expressed by the Verb, while
this teapot is the direct Object, or Goal of the action.
62
The same clause could be rewritten as Subject Verb
Object Adjunct (SVOA):
The duke gave this teapot to my aunt.
S V O A
In this second formulation, the form has changed, the

NG my aunt has become a PP, to my aunt, while the
function is the same, that is, Beneficiary of the
action.
Also, according to Halliday (1994: 31), the duke is

Subject in a threefold sense:
(i) Grammatical Subject (Subject)= that of which
something is being predicated, having number and person
agreement with the Verb;
(ii) Logical Subject (Actor)= the doer of the action;
(iii) Psychological Subject (Theme)= that which is the
concern of the message, what the speaker (or writer)
has in mind to start with.
63
‘The duke’ is thus contemporaneously Subject-Actor-
Theme, that is, all three functions are combined in one
Nominal form.
This is typical of the standard, unmarked form of a

statement-type clause, where what is called the Subject
in traditional grammar occurs in initial position and
also functions as ‘doer of the action’.
In other words, the function ‘Subject’ is looked at
from both the point of view of its structural
characteristics (e.g. the number and person agreement
with the verb, or the element that can come first in
the clause) and of its semantics, highlighting the
various strands of meaning (e.g. the doer of the
action, the concern of the message). It is thus broken
down into a set of functions that show the complexity
of language and its multi-functionality.
64
Keys to exercises
Task 1- no keys are suggested
Task 2-
A, kind+ness, tree+s, soft+en, moist+en, ap+prob+ation,
ap+prov+al, re+cit+al, pro+pos+ition, pro+pos+al, employ+er,
trans+fer, pre+sume, re+ceive, de+duce, a+way, a+lone.
Th+ese, fact+s, seem+ed, to, me, to, throw, some, light, on,
the/th+e, origin, of, specie+s, th+at, myster+y, myster+ie+s
Task 3-
1- got
2- must have left
3- had been accepted
4- gave
5- would have thought
6- should be eased
7- would hope; to be contacted
8- requires
9- come
10- did take 65
Task 4-
1. [in the dehydration and evaporation [of milk]]

Embedded PP with Embedded PP
2. [in the bath] Embedded PP
3. [[you want to know]]
Embedded clause, defining relative
4. [[to beat]]
Embedded clause, infinitive
5. [[whose views I normally agree with]]
6. [of this week] Embedded PP
7. [of his arrogance] Embedded PP
8. [[you proposed]]
9. [[to resign]]
Embedded clause, infinitive
10. [in the garden] Embedded PP
66
Keys to exercises cont'd
Task 5-
Non-Spec. Deictic + Epithet (objective) + Epithet (obj.) +
Thing + Qualifier (Epithet + Thing)
A= Non-Spec. Deictic +
Midsummer Night’s = can be considered one Classifier +
Dream = Thing
or
Midsummer Night’s = Possessive (within Possessive: Midsummer
= Classifier + Night’s = Thing)
Task 5-a
Science Museum | Information | Map.
Map = Thing (Head) + pre-modification.
Within pre-modification from right to left:
Museum= Classifier of Map

Science= Classifier of Museum
Science Museum= Classifier of Map, but also
Science Museum= Classifier of Information (services)
67
Task 5-a
Clarks. The Original Desert Boot. The story of a legend.
= 3 NGs
1) Thing.
2) From left to right:
Spec. Deictic + Epithet + Classifier + Thing
3) Spec. Deictic + Thing + Qualifier (=PP providing
additional defining information about the Thing)
Note that this is the typical telegraphic way that ads
compress meanings, leaving their relations only vague
and at most implicit. Indeed, there are relations,
although indeterminate; possible readings of what has
been ellipted include:
“Clarks ARE The Original Desert Boots. They ARE
(REPRESENT) THE story of a legend”, or even: “Clarks,
WHICH are the Original Desert Boots, ARE the story of a
legend”, with the second NG functioning as a non-
defining relative clause.
68
Chapter 3- Interpersonal Meanings
Task 1- Consider the following exchange, where does it

take place, who are the interlocutors, (the TENOR),
that is, who is talking to whom? Which features of
language reveal them?
TIT FOR TAT.

“When I recently asked my husband, ‘Why are those
trousers lying on the bed?’, he replied: ‘Because they
need washing.’ If it happens again, how can I respond
without causing a bad atmosphere between us?”
“Empty the kitchen bin on the bed ‘because the rubbish

bag needs taking out’. Park your car in the hall
‘because the oil needs changing’. Just remember, he
started it.”
69
Clause as Exchange
One function of language is as a means of constructing

interaction; the clause is organized as an interactive event
involving a speaker/writer and a listener/reader.
The speaker/writer together with his/her interlocutor(-s)
(listener/reader) engage in a social and discoursal relation,
by assuming discourse roles.
For example, when you ask a question, you act as seeker of
information, and the addressee may (or may not) take on the
role of supplier of the information being demanded.
We will then ask:
a) What kind of interaction is taking place?
b) What are the lexico-grammatical resources used to

construe the interaction?
70
Basic SPEECH FUNCTIONS
Commodity
Act
goods & services information
OFFER STATEMENT
giving Would you like some coffee? I drink coffee
Have some coffee. every morning.
I’ll get you some coffee.
COMMAND QUESTION
Suggestive: Invitation, What is your
Recommendation favourite drink?
Let’s get some coffee,
demanding (shall we?) Is coffee your
Coercive favourite drink?
Make me some coffee!
Spend some quality time
together in Northumbria.
proposals propositions
Table 1- The 4 basic speech functions 71
As can be seen in the table above (adapted from
Halliday 1994: 69), interaction, when thought of in
terms of the types of meanings being exchanged, can
be reduced to four main moves corresponding to the
two acts of giving or asking for information
(respectively, statement and question), and to the
other two of giving or asking for something, either
good or service (respectively, offer and command).
In other words, interaction is seen as a sequence of
propositions and /or proposals.
From the point of view of the listener/reader, there
are various ways in which he/she can comply with the
discourse role he has been assigned and contribute
to carry on the interaction initiated by the
speaker/writer (see the following table).
72
Speech Preferred response Dispreferred
function response
Offer acceptance rejection
Command undertaking refusal
Statement acknowledgement
agreement disagreement
Question answer disclaimer
Table 2- Speech functions and responses (adapted from Halliday 1994: 69)
Notice that not all communicative functions need a

verbal response, e.g. a command is successful if the
action demanded is carried out (non-verbal response).
73
Examples of:
Response to offer: Yes please/No thanks.
Response to command: Listener does something, i.e.

carries out the command, or doesn’t do it.
Response to statement: Listener acknowledges the

proposition by either agreeing or disagreeing
(e.g. Yes / Right / mm / No, that’s not true,
etc.)
Response to question: Yes/No, I didn’t know, etc.

TAGS
TAGS signal
signal explicitly
explicitly that
that some
some feedback
feedback isis required
required
and
and what
what kind
kind of
of feedback
feedback it
it is
is expected
expected toto be
be (i.e.
(i.e. the
the
kind
kind of
of reaction).
reaction).
Ex.
Ex. Let’s
Let’s get
get some
some coffee,
coffee, shall
shall we?
we?
You
You drink
drink coffee
coffee every
every morning,
morning, don’t you?
don’t you?
74
3.1. The MOOD SYSTEM
Declarative
(Statement)
Indicative Yes/no (polar)
Clause Interrogative
(Question)
Wh-
(content)
Imperative
(Command,
Suggestion)
Fig. 6- The system of MOOD

Adapted from Matthiessen and Halliday 1997
75
The communicative (or speech) functions we have been
considering are variously construed in the clause by
means of grammatical choices made within the MOOD
system, as can be seen in the figure above. Notice that
there are at least three standard ways to make an offer
(see the examples in Table 1 sl. 71). Moreover, there
being no one-to-one correspondence between grammar and
semantics, there are, for example, also Moods other
than the imperative you can choose to give a command
(e.g. Will you shut up, please?, with a modalized
interrogative).
There is one particular component of the clause that is
involved in the grammatical variation that occurs and
that is essential for carrying the exchange between the
speakers and hearers forward.
This is called the Mood block: it is made up of two
parts, each of which has a particular semantic
contribution to make to the clause: the Subject, which
is the nominal component and the Finite, the verbal
component (see following slide). 76
The Mood block
Subject= the grammatical Subject of earlier
terminology, i.e. that of which something is
being predicated, having person and number
agreement with the verb (see slide 63).
Finite= that part of a VG which expresses

TENSE (past, present, or future) by reference
to the time of uttering, or MODALITY (e.g.
can, could, must, etc.), and POLARITY, i.e.
positive/negative validity.
Past Present Future
Now =
Time of uttering 77
Finiteness is thus expressed by a verbal operator,
which is either temporal or modal. Notice that in some
instances (unmarked declarative simple past, e.g. She
left her old job, or simple present with positive
polarity, e.g. She now works for IBM) the finite
element and the lexical verb are ‘fused’ into a single
word:
The duke gave that teapot to my aunt
Subj. give + [Past]
The forms of the verb DO (does/doesn’t, did/didn’t,

etc.) function as Finite in interrogative, negative
and contrastive clauses: The
The TAG
TAG test:
test:
Subj.
Subj. and
and Finite
Finite
Ex. A: Do you know Stella? are
are repeated in
repeated in
the TAG!
the TAG!
B: No, I don’t (know her).
Ex. A1: You don’t know Stella, do you?
B1: Yes, I do know her.
78
Residue: Predicator, Complement, Adjunct
How do we analyse the elements that fall outside the

mood block? The other main component of the
structure of Mood is the Residue. The Residue
consists of elements of three kinds: the Predicator,
the Complement (one or two at most), and the Adjunct
(which may be numerous).
Predicator = the non-finite, the VG minus

the Finite (i.e. the main temporal
information or the modal operator).
Ex. The duke is drinking.
Subj. ^ Finite ^ Predicator
79
Complement = the Object or Complement of many
other grammars; it is the element that has the
potential of being the Subject, but is not; it
is typically realized by a NG or an Adjectival
Group.
Ex. The duke is drinking his cup of coffee.
Subj. ^ Finite ^ Predicator ^ Complement
Adjunct = an element giving extra, or

‘adjunctive’, information about the other
elements of the clause; it is typically
realized by an AG or PP.
Ex. The duke never drinks coffee in the
evening.
Subj. ^ Fin. + Predic. ^ Complement ^ Adjunct
There
There are
are also
also elements
elements outside
outside the
the Mood
Mood and
and Residue
Residue structure:
structure:
among these,
among these, Vocatives
Vocatives (e.g. Stella, can you get the dog out?),
(e.g. Stella, can you get the dog out?),
Expletives
Expletives (e.g. Get that bloody dog out!), Conjunctions and
(e.g. Get that bloody dog out!), Conjunctions and
Conjunctive Adjuncts (e.g. And don’t let the dog in again!)
Conjunctive Adjuncts (e.g. And don’t let the dog in again!) 80
The MOOD block and its
function
Therefore, the ordering of Subject and Finite
shows whether information/goods & services are
being given or asked for. In other words, what
goes in the mood block is dictated by the mood
type.
The mood block has “a clearly defined semantic

function: it carries the burden of the clause
as an interactive event” (Halliday 1994: 77).
As the following dialogue shows, the part of
the message which is being picked up and re-
used to keep the exchange going is precisely
the mood block.
81
Mother Beauty, you cruel girl, what have you
done to your sisters?
Beauty Nothing Mother, they did it to
themselves.
Salmonella It's Beauty's fault, she ruined my
beautiful hair.
Rubella And she sprayed the soda siphon all over
my beautiful nightie.
Listerine And she knocked me down and sat on
me.
All (Pointing) She did it mother!
Beauty Oh no I didn't.
Others Oh yes she did.
Audience Oh no she didn’t.
Beauty Oh no I didn’t. etc.
Mother Well, I don't know what to believe. Tell
me Salmonella darling, what did that
nasty Beauty do to you?
(from Beauty and the Beast. A pantomime.)

82
Pantomimes
Perfect examples of the ‘clause as an interactive
event’ are the dialogues between principals and the
semi-improvised interactions between actors and
audience in pantomimes***.
Notice the function of the mood block in the extract
given above: it is the pivot of the whole negotiation
between participants in the exchange, and the shifts
of Subj. and Finite keep the interaction going (did
you, they did, she did, I didn’t, she did, she didn’t
etc.)
***(from
***(from the
the NSOED
NSOED in
in CD-rom)
CD-rom) pantomime.
pantomime. AA traditional
traditional
theatrical
theatrical performance,
performance, orig.
orig. in
in mime,
mime, now
now consisting
consisting of
of
aa dramatized fairy tale or nursery story, with
dramatized fairy tale or nursery story, with music, music,
dancing,
dancing, topical
topical jokes,
jokes, and
and conventional
conventional characters,
characters,
freq.
freq. played by actors of the opposite sex from
played by actors of the opposite sex from the
the
characters,
characters, chiefly
chiefly performed
performed in
in Britain
Britain around
around
Christmas.
Christmas.
We can now look more closely at the order of

Subject and Finite and how changing that order
changes the mood. 83
The MOOD system and its
syntagmatic realizations
INDICATIVE declarative: Subj. ^ Finite
I don’t drink coffee in the evening

Adjunct
Subj. Finite Predicator Complement
(Circumstantial)
Mood block Residue
INDICATIVE interrogative, Yes/No question:

Finite ^ Subj.
Do you drink coffee in the evening?

Adjunct
Finite Subj. Predicator Complement
(Circumstantial)
Mood block Residue
84
INDICATIVE interrogative, Wh- question,
and Wh- = Subj.: Wh- ^ Finite
Who drank my coffee?
Finite[-ed] +
Subj. Complement
Predicator
Mood block Residue
otherwise, Wh- ^ Finite ^ Subj.,

if Wh- = Circumstance/Complement
Where is my coffee?
Finite Subject
Residue Mood block
EXCLAMATIVE: Subj. ^ Finite (see declarative)

What a fool he is!
85
IMPERATIVE, unmarked: the Mood element is missing.
The Subj. is not specified and by default can only be
the addressee (‘you’).
Make me some coffee!

Predicator Complement Complement
Spend some quality time in Northumbria.

Predicator Complement Adjunct (Circ.)
IMPERATIVE, marked for pos./neg. polarity:

the Finite is present
Do spend some quality time in Northumbria!

Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct (Circ.)
Don’t go to Northumbria!
Finite Predicator Adjunct (Circ.)
86
IMPERATIVE, marked for person:
Finite ^ Subj. (if negative polarity)
Don’t you go to Northumbria without me!

Adjunct
Finite Subj. Predicator Adjunct
(Circ.)
IMPERATIVE, marked for person:

the Subj. is present (if positive polarity)
And you make me some coffee!

Adjunct
Subj. Predicator Complement Complement
(conjunctive)
87
A word on MARKEDNESS:
Markedness (it. Marcatezza)= a meaningful choice;
having a feature which is not that expected or
predicted by some general principle (i.e. from other
features).
Thence, in general, of any unit, construction,
configuration, etc. which is in any way a special case,
or which is simply less frequent, more rare.
(from The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics)
Ex. I will see you. -unmarked, default
Compare with the following example where the order of

words is marked, (cf. thematic structure):
Ex. You I will see. -marked,

meaning ‘you and nobody else’
88
3.2. The MODALITY SYSTEM
Task 2- In the text below, identify all the expressions of
modality you already know, modal verbs, modal Adjuncts, etc.
What meanings do they express?
General Tips
One of the most common reasons for Brits getting into trouble
with the police in Europe is dazzling other road users. Modern
halogen headlights often need to be adjusted by a garage to
prevent dazzling, otherwise deflector strips can be used.
“It’ll be a major problem for British drivers on the
continent”, says Barry Johnson, of the AA’s International
Motoring Services.
Another old danger is the translation of diesel. It is often
referred to as ‘gasoil’ or ‘gazole’, not to be confused with
gasoline.
The future may hold even more pitfalls because a planned
European enforcement network could make traffic offences
transferable between EU members. This means a drink-driving
offence on holiday will no longer be forgotten at home. You
can’t say you have not been warned.
(The Times July 2001)
89
Modality can be defined as the grammatical
resource by which speakers/writers communicate
degrees of their opinions;
thus, it can be seen as the intermediate space
between the positive and the negative poles,
or, the various kinds of indeterminacy that
fall in between.
Pos. Neg.
Yes certainly, maybe, possibly, etc. No
always, usually, often, seldom, rarely, never
90
(I) EPISTEMIC modality or MODALIZATION:
Is the expression of degrees of PROBABILITY (or
likelihood), and degrees of USUALITY (or often-ness).
There are various resources in the lexico-grammatical

repertoire of English that a speaker can choose from to
express these epistemic meanings:
(1) a finite modal operator (may, can, will, etc., see

slides 95-97)
(2) modal Adjuncts (possibly, certainly, maybe, etc.)
(3) both (1) and (2) together (see example on slide 93)
(4) expressions such as It is usual for…, It is likely

that… I think that…
Epistemic
Epistemic comes
comes from
from Greek
Greek
επιστηµη
επιστηµη meaning
meaning ‘knowledge’
‘knowledge’
91
(II) DEONTIC modality or MODULATION:
Is the expression of degrees of OBLIGATION (or
necessity), and degrees of INCLINATION, (or
willingness).
There are various resources in the lexico-grammatical

repertoire of English that a speaker can choose from to
express these deontic meanings:
(1) a finite modal operator (must, should, will, etc.,
see slides 95-97)
(2) modal Adjuncts (gladly, willingly, etc.)
(3) both (1) and (2) together (see example on slide 94)
(4) expressions such as It is necessary…, It is

required that…, x is supposed to…, x is willing to…,
etc. Deontic comes from Greek
Deontic comes from Greek
δεον
δεον meaning
meaning ‘duty’
‘duty’ 92
Some examples
That will be Stella.
Modalization (epistemic modality) realized by a finite modal
operator
That’s probably Stella.

Modalization (epistemic modality) realized by a modal Adjunct
That’ll probably be Stella.

Modalization (epistemic modality) realized by both a finite
modal operator and a modal Adjunct
That must be Stella.

Modalization (epistemic modality) realized by a finite modal
operator
Stella usually arrives later.

Modalization (epistemic modality) realized by a modal Adjunct
MODALIZATION is linked to the INDICATIVE mood and the

exchange of information: the meaning is maybe (i.e. either
yes or no) or sometimes (both yes and no), i.e. some degree
of probability or usuality.
93
More examples
You should pay your taxes.
You must take your medicine.
Modulation (deontic modality) realized by a finite modal

operator - linked to command (expression of duty according
to a standard of what is right)
Shall I close the door?

I will help you with the washing up.
Modulation (deontic modality) realized by a finite modal

operator- linked to offer (expression of willingness)
MODULATION is linked to the IMPERATIVE mood and the

exchange of goods & services: the meaning is “x is wanted
to/wants to”, i.e. some degree of obligation or
inclination (see Halliday 1994:356).
94
MODAL OPERATORS (traditionally
called modal auxiliaries)
are always FINITE and therefore always

part of the Mood block;
have no Subj.- Finite number agreement
(e.g. She must leave);
form interrogatives by being placed in
front of the Subject (e.g. Must she
leave?);
are followed directly by NEGATIONS (e.g.
She mustn’t leave)
some have NO PAST tense forms (e.g. for
must, had to is used: She had to leave)
(based on Lock 1996)
95
Finite modal operators:
Notice that can also expresses will

Capacity (or Ability), a
category of modality which would
doesn’t fit perfectly into
may
either the epistemic or
deontic type: might
e.g. Those students can speak
English. can
could
Compare with the use of ‘can’
to express degrees shall
probability:
This can’t be Stella; it’s too should
early!
must
or degrees of obligation
(prohibition, lack of ought to
permission):
You can’t go there!
96
SEMI-MODALS
part of the Mood block;
need can have Subj.-Finite number agreement
(e.g. He needs to do it);
dare form interrogatives with/without DO (e.g.
Do you need to do it? / Need you do it?);
form negatives with /without DO (e.g. He
doesn’t need to do it / He needn’t do it)

Have + to part of the Mood block;
infinitive form interrogatives and negatives
Used + to with/without DO (e.g. Does he have to go
there? He didn’t use to go there, but in
infinitive
British English, Has he got to go there?
He used not to go there)
Used to expresses USUALITY in the past!

97
MODAL ADJUNCTS
As we have already seen, modal Adjuncts can be used to
express nuances of modality. What follows is an
incomplete list of some of the most common ones:
Probability: probably, possibly, maybe, certainly, etc.

Usuality: usually, sometimes, never, etc.
Willingness: willingly, readily, gladly, etc.
Obligation: definitely, absolutely, etc.
There are also other meanings that can be expressed

through a modal Adjunct, among others,
Temporality: yet, still, once, already, etc.
Typicality: occasionally, generally, etc.
These elements can function as MOOD ADJUNCTS, as they
tend to occur within the Mood Block of which they are
part, between the Subject and the Finite. See, for
example:
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.
98
See also:
He definitely won’t be there on time.
However, the same Adjuncts, depending on the position they
have and on the extension of their meaning, together with the
intonation patterns with which they are uttered, can also
function as COMMENT ADJUNCTS, as in:
Definitely, he won’t come.
Other examples of comment Adjuncts include:
unfortunately, hopefully, surprisingly, of course, in my
opinion, frankly, to be honest, apparently, no doubt,
provisionally, etc.
Comment Adjuncts can be moved much more freely within the
clause than Mood Adjuncts. They are typically positioned at
the beginning (as in the example above), in the middle, or at
the end of the clause, and are separated from the rest by a
comma, or commas.
The
The main
main difference
difference between
between these
these two
two types
types of
of interpersonal
interpersonal
Adjuncts
Adjuncts is
is in
in the
the scope
scope of
of their
their meaning:
meaning: Mood
Mood Adjuncts
Adjuncts are
are
limited to the VG, whereas Comment Adjuncts refer to the
limited to the VG, whereas Comment Adjuncts refer to the whole whole
clause.
clause.
99
Task 3- Identify the elements expressing the various kinds
of modality in the following examples. Say what kind of
modality it is.
a) We definitely won’t be there on time.
b) Harry’s team will probably lose on Saturday.
c) I think he’ll almost certainly pass the exam.
d) Housework will probably be done by robots in 3004.
e) That can’t be Stella. She’s never on time.
f) This must be Harry. I recognise his knocking.
g) You must take your medicine!
h) Stella should practice the piano more regularly.
i) When we were kids, we used to spend part of our summer in

Britain.
100
3.3. The APPRAISAL SYSTEM
Notice
Notice that
that the
the modelling
modelling
of the system
of the system is
is still
still
ongoing!
ongoing!
In discussing Appraisal, we are moving from strictly

structural grammatical issues towards ATTITUDINAL
LEXIS and lexical choices (remember, however, that we
are dealing with LEXICO-GRAMMAR! See slide 61).
APPRAISAL SYSTEMS are defined by Martin (2000: 145)
as the lexico-grammatical resources used to express
and negotiate emotions, judgments and evaluations,
together with resources for amplifying and engaging
with these evaluations.
The simplest and most basic type of Appraisal is the
indication of whether the speaker/writer thinks that
something is GOOD or BAD, but there are many other
scales of evaluation, as shown in the following
slides. Notice also that any word class can construe
evaluation.
101
Task 4- Look up all the words you don’t know in the
dictionary, give a synonymous alternative wherever possible.
What kind of evaluation/attitude is the writer construing?
DESPERATE TEENAGER. I am going to a party soon, and

there is a boy I really fancy, but I do not know the
right thing to say to him. I want to sound seductive
and flirty. Also, I am not sure what to wear. I’m
looking for make-up ideas. Please help – this is a cry
for help from a desperate teenager.
102
APPRAISAL SYSTEMS give us a realization of interpersonal
semantics in that they have to do with how interlocutors
feel, the judgments they make about others’ behaviour,
and the value they place on the various phenomena of
their experience.
The appraisal can be either explicit or implicit. It is

explicit if there is a clear linguistic marker of the
evaluation going on, if there is an element appraised,
usually in the immediate vicinity of the appraisal, and
as long as a specific appraiser is retrievable in the
text.
In this coursebook we will only be dealing with the

major system of Appraisal, ‘Attitude’ and its explicit
realizations, leaving out the analysis of the other
attendant systems and their lexico-grammatical resources
(see vol. 2 in this series). 103
The major APPRAISAL system of ATTITUDE is broken
down into:
Judgment, Affect and Appreciation.
Fig. 7- The system of APPRAISAL

(Adapted from Martin 2001) 104
As the resource for construing human emotions
(happiness, sadness, fear, frustration, in/security,
dis/satisfaction, etc.), and the physical expressions
that are evidence of such emotions (so, for example,
crying or smiling, etc.), AFFECT is central to the
other two sub-types, it is the common core from which
the others derive.
JUDGMENT constructs moral evaluations of human

behaviour expressing either social sanction or social
esteem. (Draws upon Halliday’s 1994 account of the
English system of Modality).
APPRECIATION is the evaluation of objects and products

according to aesthetic principles, or social value.
E.g. clear definition, powerful arguments, beautiful
vase, old-fashioned concept, an incredible mess,
profound implications, catastrophic policies, fun game,
spectacular sunrise. 105
Some examples of JUDGEMENT:
1. It is so unfair that she did that.
2. He is always frank in his dealings with his

colleagues.
3. So, Liza Minelli and David Gest have split up.

Such a bizarre, dysfunctional union of freaks could
only end one way: divorce.
4.You have worked determinedly to achieve what is now
coming your way.
5. Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gautier were the

first to show the newly empowered aggressive woman on
their catwalks.
106
Task 5- Identify all the elements expressing the
writer’s attitude (appraisal) and say what kind of
appraisal it is.
DESPERATE TEENAGER. I am going to a party
soon, and there is a boy I really fancy, but I
do not know the right thing to say to him. I
want to sound seductive and flirty. Also, I am
not sure what to wear. I’m looking for make-up
ideas. Please help – this is a cry for help
from a desperate teenager.
107
Keys to exercises
Task 1-
The text is a written exchange between MRS MILLS (who solves
all your problems) and a female reader in the problem letters
section of The Sunday Times Style Magazine. The reader poses a
problem (Indicative mood), and asks for advice (Interrogative
mood). The writer answers with suggestions, dos and don’ts
(Imperative mood).
Task 2-
need to be adjusted = deontic, obligation

can be used = deontic, obligation
will be = epistemic, probability
It is often referred to as = epistemic, usuality
not to be confused with = deontic, obligation (negative,
prohibition)
may hold = epistemic, probability
could make = epistemic, probability
will no longer be forgotten = epistemic, probability
can’t say = deontic, obligation
108
Task 3-
a) definitely won’t = epistemic, certainty

b) will probably = epistemic, probability
c) I think, ’ll almost certainly = epistemic, high
probability
d) will probably = epistemic, probability
e) can’t= epistemic, likelihood; never= epistemic, usuality
f) must= epistemic, certainty
g) must= deontic, obligation
h) should= deontic, suggestion/recommendation
i) used to= epistemic, usuality
109
Task 4-
desperate = worried, distressed
fancy = like
seductive and flirty = attractive and attracted to him
The writer (a typical adolescent female voice) expresses her
insecurity and is asking for advice on how to improve her look and
behaviour so has to become irresistible.
Task 5-
DESPERATE teenager = Adj./Epithet, Affect: unhappiness
really fancy = VG/ mental Process, Affect: inclination/desire
the right thing to say to him = Adj./Epithet, Judgment/Appreciation
seductive and flirty = Adj./Attribute, Affect
not sure what to wear = Adj./Attribute, Judgment
this is a cry for help = NG/Thing, Appreciation: social value
from a desperate teenager = Adj./Epithet, Affect: unhappiness
110
Chapter 4 – Ideational
(Experiential and Logical) Meanings
Task 1- Consider the following text. What is the reality being
represented there? What is going on? Which words (or groups of words)
help us understand the topic or subject-matter? And what parts-of-
speech (word classes) do these belong to?
Chapter Eleven- Quidditch
As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains
around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel.
Every morning the ground was covered in frost.
Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows, defrosting broomsticks
on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat,
rabbit-fur gloves and enormous beaverskin boots.
The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in
his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.
If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House
Championship.
Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as
their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. But the news
that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn’t
know which was worse – people telling him he’d be brilliant or people
telling him they’d be running around underneath him, holding a
mattress.
111
Clause as representation
Language is used to represent our experience of reality, or
the world around us; it is a means of constructing and
expressing it. The question, therefore, is “what is reality
made up of primarily?” Reality is made up of events, ‘goings-
on’, or PROCESSES and of entities, PARTICIPANTS inherent to
them. We will then ask:
a) What are the kinds of Processes?
b) How are they realized in the lexico-grammar?
a) There are Processes which express the ‘outer’ experience,

i.e. actions and events (e.g. do, eat, go), others which
manifest the ‘inner’ experience, i.e. cognitive and affective
states (e.g. feel, think). There is a third type of process
which is that of relating one fragment of reality to another
(e.g. ‘x is a’).
b) The clause functions as REPRESENTATION: each clause

constructs an action, event or state in the material and/or
mental world, as well as the animate and inanimate
participants involved and, possibly, the circumstances in
which it occurs.
112
4.1.The TRANSITIVITY SYSTEM
What is the status of Processes in the
grammar? Processes are realized in the
grammar by VGs. They are the core
constituents of the Transitivity system which
includes:
1)the PROCESS itself,

2)typically one or more of the inherent
PARTICIPANTS in the Process, and,
3)sometimes, the CIRCUMSTANCES associated
with it; these are optional.
113
These ideational (experiential)
functions (or meanings) are usually
taken on by VGs NGs, and AGs, or PP:
MEANINGS GRAMMAR
are realized in/by
PROCESS VG
PARTICIPANTS NG or Adjectival
Group
CIRCUMSTANCES AG, or PP or to a
lesser degree a NG.
114
On Sunday my sister made a delicious cake.
On Sunday= PP Circumstance (when?)
my sister= NG Participant (which does

the action)
made= VG Process (the action)
a delicious cake = NG Participant

(which receives the action)
Adapted from Gerot and Wignell (1994)

115
Notice the distinction between a prepositional
phrase as Circumstance (slide 115 above) and
embedded prepositional phrases (slides 54 ff.)
A helpful clue for distinguishing between the two
functions is as follows,
if you can move it, without changing the meaning of
the clause, then the PP is usually functioning as
Circumstance:
On Sunday my sister made a delicious cake.
My sister on Sunday made a delicious cake.
If you cannot move it, then it is an embedded PP

functioning as post-modification:
My sister made a delicious cake with white icing.
*My sister with white icing made a delicious cake.
116
Types of Process
MATERIAL- of the external world
MENTAL- of the internal world
RELATIONAL- relating parts of

experience
But there are also other categories located

at the boundaries, namely behavioural,
verbal and existential.
117
The cover of Halliday 1994 118
MATERIAL Processes (of ‘doing’)
Ex. I left.
left= VG, material Process, a doing confined to the
doer of the action
I= NG, a participant, the doer of the action
functioning as ACTOR
Ex. I left Cambridge.

left= VG, material Process, a doing directed to a
receiver of the action
I= NG, a Participant, the doer of the action
functioning as ACTOR
Cambridge= NG, Participant, the receiver of the
action, functioning as GOAL*
*Notice that here since nothing is really ‘done’ to
*Notice that here since nothing is really ‘done’ to
the receiver of the action, namely the element
the receiver of the action, namely the element
‘Cambridge’ , it is more accurate to call it RANGE
‘Cambridge’ , it is more accurate to call it RANGE
rather than GOAL (see slide 126 for more examples
rather than GOAL (see slide 126 for more examples
of Range).
of Range).
The original reads:
The original reads:
Left
Left Cambridge
Cambridge by
by car
car at
at 9.30
9.30 in
in aa mist.
mist. (from
(from My
My
Name Escapes Me, by Alec Guinness)
Name Escapes Me, by Alec Guinness)
119
Ex. I left Cambridge by car.
by car= Prepositional Phrase (PP), a CIRCUMSTANCE of
(Manner) Means
Ex. I left Cambridge by car at 9.30.

at 9.30= PP, a CIRCUMSTANCE of Time
ACTOR= the one which perpetrates/is responsible for the

action
GOAL= the one to whom/which the process is extended, to
whom/which something is being done
RANGE= what specifies the scope of the doing
120
The GRAMMAR of MATERIAL Processes
1)TRANSITIVE vs. INTRANSITIVE

clauses
2)PARTICIPANTS: ACTOR and GOAL
3)PARTICIPANTS: BENEFICIARY and
RANGE
4)TENSE
121
1) Transitive vs. Intransitive
Clauses
The Goal has been defined as the element to which the
process is extended, thus clauses with a material Process
and one participant, the Actor, are INTRANSITIVE, while
clauses with two participants, Actor and Goal, are
TRANSITIVE. In this way, transitivity can be seen in terms
of extension vs. non-extension of the Process.
Compare the following sentences:
Ex. The smoke rises from his cigarette.

1 participant = Actor
Ex. You should raise your hands.
2 participants = Actor and Goal
See also the following examples found in Halliday (1994)
122
Transitive clauses: active into passive
Ex. They have cancelled the show.
have cancelled= material Process, an active VG, a transitive clause
they= Subject + Actor
the show= Object + Goal
Ex. The show has been cancelled by them.

has been cancelled= material Process, a passive VG
the show= Subject + Goal
by them= PP + Actor
Compare the two clauses below:

a) The show has been cancelled by them.
b) The show has been cancelled.
In a) the Actor is there, although expressed as Prepositional
Phrase, whereas in b) the agent is deleted. Note that the passive
voice allows for agency deletion, i.e. the suppression of the doer
of the action. In certain texts, e.g. newspaper reportage, this
could well result in a serious distortion of the facts. 123
2) ACTOR and GOAL
In a material Process clause, the Actor is not
necessarily a human or conscious participant.
Compare:
Ex. The glass fell.
Actor = The glass, an inanimate participant
Ex. I broke the glass.

Actor = I, an animate participant
As already shown under Transitive vs. Intransitive

clauses, the Goal can or cannot be present (see
slides above).
124
3) Other Participants functions:
Beneficiary and Range
Ex. He gave the book to me.

(or He gave me the book.)
gave= material Process

He= Actor
the book= Goal
(to) me= Beneficiary
Beneficiary= the one to whom or for whom

the process is said to take place.
125
Examples of Range:
1) take a shower, have a bath, take a look,
play tennis, play a game, give a smile, etc.
2) ride a bike, climb the mountains, sign
your name, etc.
Range= the element that specifies the scope
of the process. Nothing is being done to this
element. This phenomenon, at least the one
exemplified by the first set of examples, is
known to traditional grammar as
DELEXICALISATION, i.e. the representation of
the process has entirely shifted onto the
participant. Halliday
Halliday (1994:
(1994: 144)/
144)/ “In
“In
traditional
traditional grammar
grammar the
the
Beneficiary is the logical
More examples: Beneficiary is the logical
indirect
indirect Object
Object as
as much
much as
as
the Actor is the logical
the Actor is the logical
I need to take an early start. Subject and the Goal the
Subject and the Goal the
logical
logical direct
direct Object.
Object. TheThe
Range is the logical cognate
He took a huge bite. Range is the logical cognate
Object.”
Object.” 126
4)TENSE
The unmarked option for material Processes is the

PRESENT CONTINUOUS, whereas the marked option, at
least in British and North-American English, is the
PRESENT SIMPLE, signalling a general, habitual
action:
Ex. They are building a house.

Ex. They build a house (general or habitual).
Ex. I am eating an apple.

Ex. I eat an apple a day, to keep the doctor away.
127
MENTAL Processes (of ‘sensing’)
Ex. Stella liked her new hairstyle.
liked= mental Process
Stella= SENSER
her new hairstyle= PHENOMENON
Ex. This computer doesn’t like me.

doesn’t like= mental Process
this computer= SENSER
me= PHENOMENON
SENSER= the one who senses, perceives, feels.

This first Participant is ALWAYS human or
personified.
PHENOMENON= the thing or ‘fact’ which is

sensed, perceived, felt.
128
The GRAMMAR of MENTAL Processes
1)PARTICIPANT:SENSER
2)PARTICIPANT:PHENOMENON
3)PROJECTION
4)TENSE
5)BIDIRECTIONAL SEMANTICS
129
1)SENSER
In a clause of mental Process, the sensing participant,
i.e. the SENSER, is always human or human-like, that is
it is credited with consciousness (see examples),
whereas in a material Process no human or conscious
participant is required (e.g. The glass fell).
Task 2- Identify the Senser and the Actor:
1. They destroyed the economy and created chaos.

2. The boss wants you in his office.
3. The empty house was longing for the children’s antics.
4. He was being pursued.
5. Hardly anyone had seen Harry.
6. I enjoy practically all classical music.
7. The glass broke.
8. Please, return the form to this address.
9. People will be running around, holding a mattress.
10. If you don’t know the answer, just guess.
antics = funny ways of behaving

130
2)PHENOMENON
The Phenomenon sensed can be not only a ‘person’ or
‘thing’, that is, a phenomenon of our experience (e.g.
He realized his mistake), but also a FACT, that is,
more of what is called a ‘meta-phenomenon’, i.e.
something that is constructed as a sort of ‘pre-
packaged’ participant, typically in the form of an
embedded that-clause. This latter status is often
signalled by the word fact itself. Among the verbs that
can take FACTS are: know, acknowledge, realize, accept.
FACT as PHENOMENON:
He realized that he had made a mistake. (I.e. ‘the fact’)
He realized (the fact) that she had left.

(The fact) that she isn’t here worries me.
131
3)PROJECTION
Mental Processes can project what was traditionally
known as reported and direct speech.
Stella thought (that) it was a wonderful gift.

(I.e. ‘+that clause’, traditionally called Reported
Speech)
Stella thought to herself: “This is a wonderful gift!”
(I.e. ‘+quote’, traditionally called Direct Speech)
The difference, semantically, between projection and

embedded ‘fact’ is that the latter is merely entering
into the Process without being projected by it.
132
4)TENSE
The unmarked present tense for mental Processes is
the PRESENT SIMPLE, whereas the marked option is
PRESENT CONTINUOUS, signalling the inceptive meaning
of the Process:
Ex. I don’t understand you.

Ex. I am not understanding you very well.
(inceptive, meaning ‘at the current time’)
Ex. I enjoy classical music.

Ex. I am enjoying this music, it’s performed greatly.
133
5)BIDIRECTIONAL SEMANTICS
Mental Processes can be realized in two directions, in
fact either the Senser or the Phenomenon can be
grammatical Subject, still keeping the clause in the
active voice. Compare:
Ex. I admired the piano performance.

I = Subj. + Senser the piano performance = Obj. + Phenomenon
Ex. The piano performance impressed me.

The performance = Subj. + Phenomenon I/me = Obj. + Senser
(i.e. I was impressed by the performance.)
In the two examples above, the grammatical roles

within the Mood-Residue structure change, while the
representational functions stay the same: the Senser
in both cases is the first person pronoun ‘I/me’
representing the voice of the speaker, while the
Phenomenon sensed is ‘the piano performance’.
134
In table 3 below some of the most common pairs are
given. Notice the difference between, for example,
Ex. People fear you.
Ex. You frighten people.
Verbs of like type Verbs of please type

like please
enjoy delight
fear frighten
wonder at amaze
not understand puzzle
believe convince
admire impress etc.
Table 3- Mental Processes (based on Halliday 1994: 117)
135
Task 3- Try to classify the following mental
Processes into sub-types, labeling them
according to their semantics, i.e. their
meaning.
See, feel, think, taste, admire, realize,

believe, need, baffle, like, understand,
please, puzzle, know, smell, worry, impress,
strike, imagine, doubt, notice, fancy, hear,
delight.
136
RELATIONAL Processes (of ‘being’)
Ex. Maxine is wise.
is= relational Process
Maxine= CARRIER
wise= ATTRIBUTE
‘x is a’, that is, ‘a is an attribute of x’
Ex. Stella is the leader.

Stella= IDENTIFIED
the leader= IDENTIFIER
‘x is a’, that is, ‘a is the identity of x’
What about?: Ex. Stella is a leader.

‘x is a’, that is, ‘x is a member of the
class of a’
Stella= CARRIER a leader= ATTRIBUTE
137
Relational Processes = a relation is set up between two
entities. There are 3 types of relation: INTENSIVE,
POSSESSIVE and CIRCUMSTANTIAL. Each type can be either
ATTRIBUTIVE or IDENTIFYING.
“x is a” –INTENSIVE ATTRIBUTIVE:
Ex. Stella is wise.
-INTENSIVE IDENTIFYING:
Ex. Stella is the leader.
“x has a” –POSSESSIVE ATTRIBUTIVE:
Ex. Stella has a grand piano.
–POSSESSIVE IDENTIFYING:
Ex. The grand piano is Stella’s.
“x is on, for, at, in, along, etc. a” –CIRCUMSTANTIAL
ATTRIBUTIVE:
Ex. The grand piano is in the corner.
–CIRCUMSTANTIAL IDENTIFYING:
Ex. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July
138
Relational attributive = an entity (CARRIER) has
some quality (ATTRIBUTE) ascribed or attributed to
it.
The NG functioning as Attribute is typically

indefinite: it has either an adj. or a common noun
as Head and no article at all, or an indefinite
article such as ‘a’.
The probe for relational attributive is

what…like?, or how?
Relational attributive clauses are not reversible.
The following examples of relational attributive

illustrate these points:
a. This cake is delicious!

b. He’s not a very good student.
c. These clothes are very expensive.
d. You are a fool.
139
Relational identifying = a relationship of identity is
being set up between two entities, an IDENTIFIED and an
IDENTIFIER.
The NG functioning as Identifier is typically
definite: it has either a common noun as Head, with the
definite article, or other specific determiner, or else
a proper noun or pronoun.
The probe for relational identifying is which?, who?

(or what? if the choice is open-ended).
Relational identifying clauses are reversible (if x =

a, then a= x).
The following examples illustrate these points:
e. Stella is my neighbours’ dog.

f. His dream was the World Cup.
g. My name is Bond, James Bond.
h. This sentence is the best example of an
identifying clause.
140
There are various verbs, apart from ‘be’, that realize relational
Processes:
Typically, the following verbs of the ‘ascriptive’ class realize

relational attributive:
Become, turn (into),
remain, stay,
seem, appear, look, sound, smell,
belong, etc.
Typically, the following verbs of the ‘equative’ class realize

relational identifying:
Act as, function as,
mean, indicate, suggest, imply,
equal, represent, constitute, form,
express, signify,
include, contain, consist of, etc.
Thompson
Thompson (1996:
(1996: 88)
88) points
points out
out that,
that, as
as aa rule
rule of
of thumb,
thumb,
we can say that the main stress in an identifying
we can say that the main stress in an identifying clause clause
typically
typically falls
falls on on the
the Identifier.
Identifier. In In fact,
fact, the
the
Identified
Identified is is considered
considered toto be
be aa participant
participant thatthat has
has
already been mentioned or given, whereas the
already been mentioned or given, whereas the Identifier Identifier
is
is typically
typically mentioned
mentioned for
for the
the first
first time
time oror new
new (notice
(notice
that
that the main stress typically indicates the new
the main stress typically indicates the new
information in a clause).
information in a clause).
141
Behavioural Processes
(of ‘psychological and physiological
behaviours’)
Ex1. No one’s listening.
‘s listening = behavioural Process

No one= BEHAVER, typically a conscious or
personified being.
Ex2. You’re dreaming.
Ex3. Why do you laugh?

Ex3bis. Why are you laughing?
142
At the intersection between material and mental
Processes are behavioural Processes. These share some
of the characteristics of material Pr.s and some
others of mental Pr.s: as we have said, the
Participant who is behaving is typically a conscious
being like the Senser, while the process is
grammatically more like one of ‘doing’.
There is sometimes overlapping between the material
and behavioural, e.g. sing, dance and sit, but also
between mental and behavioural, e.g. look, watch,
listen, dream, think.
On the other hand, the following list includes verbs
that are considered involuntary manifestations of
consciousness and thus to be somatic, or
physiological, behaviours:
cough, sneeze,
yawn, blink, laugh, sigh, etc.
143
The GRAMMAR of BEHAVIOURAL
Processes:
1)PARTICIPANT: BEHAVER
As said above, the typical participant is ONLY
ONE, i.e. the Behaver, a conscious or
personified being like the Senser.
2)TENSE
The unmarked pattern for behavioural Processes
is the PRESENT CONTINUOUS. However, the simple
present in its unmarked sense is a possible
alternative with basically the same
representational meaning (as in ex. 3 and 3bis
above, sl. 142).
144
Verbal Processes (of ‘saying’)
Ex1. She told me the story of her life.
told= verbal Process
She= SAYER, the one who/which says
me= RECEIVER, the one to whom the saying is
directed
the story of her life= VERBIAGE, what is said
Ex2. The notice tells you not to smoke.

tells= verbal Process
The notice= SAYER
you= RECEIVER
not to smoke= projected clause (indirectly
reported), very similar in function to the
Verbiage
145
Halliday (1994: 140-142) notices that these
Processes of ‘saying’ have to be interpreted in a
broad symbolic sense: the SAYER can be anything
animate or inanimate sending out a signal,
grammatically speaking, it can be an it, as much as
a he/she (see example 2 in the slide above).
More examples of verbal Processes and respective
participant roles would be:
1. The guidebook tells you where everything is.
2. The light says stop.
1. The guidebook= Sayer

You= Receiver
2. The light= Sayer
Stop= Verbiage
146
The Grammar of VERBAL Processes
1)PARTICIPANTS: verbal Processes can

accommodate up to 4 participants: Sayer,
Receiver, Verbiage and Target (see following
slide).
2)TENSE: the unmarked pattern for verbal
Processes is the PRESENT SIMPLE.
3)PROJECTION: verbal Processes are able
to project other clauses: either an
indirectly reported clause (see slide 181
ff.), typically a ‘that clause’, or a
directly quoted clause, a quote.
147
-The RECEIVER is an ‘oblique’ participant and often appears in
a Prepositional Phrase (PP): e.g. I’ll explain this to them.
-The VERBIAGE can either be

a) the content of what is said,
Ex. Please, don’t recount your troubles!
or, b) the name of the saying,
Ex. They asked a question.
He told her a silly story.
-The TARGET is the entity to which something is being

symbolically done through words,
Ex. You’re flattering me.
Ex. He insulted her to her face.
me, her= TARGET
to her face= RECEIVER
Ex. He praised her (when talking) to me
her= TARGET; to me=RECEIVER
148
Existential Processes
(‘there is/there exists’)
Ex1. There isn’t enough wine.
There= ‘dummy’ Subject
isn’t= existential Process
enough wine= EXISTENT
Ex2. There’s someone at the door.

There= Subject
is= existential Process
someone= EXISTENT
at the door= Circumstance of Location-Place
149
The Grammar of EXISTENTIAL Processes
1)PARTICIPANT: EXISTENT
The Existent can be an entity, whether
object or person, constructed as ‘thing’,
(see Ex1. and Ex2. on slide 149), but also an
event or action as in:
Ex3. There was another robbery last night.
The word ‘there’ has no representational

function, but it is needed as a Subject.
2)TENSE
The unmarked pattern for existential
Processes is the PRESENT SIMPLE.
150
Task 4– Choose the form of the present tense
appropriate to each clause. Explain whether the
choice is marked or unmarked with respect to the
process type and what structural differences there
are.
1)Excuse me, Sir_________(you/speak) English?

2)Where’s Anne?__________(she/have) a shower.
3)Listen! Somebody___________ (sing).
4)I’m sorry,______________(I/not understand)
5)Here ________(come) your husband. _______(He/be)
late as usual.
6)________(She/not like) to be disturbed when
____________(she/work).
7)The climate_________(get) warmer.
8)Martin usually_________(go) to work on Saturdays,
but today________(he/stay) at home because__________
(he/want) to watch the football match on TV.
151
The Grammar of CAUSATION
Let us conclude this section on Processes with a word
about CAUSATIVE VG complexes, i.e. ‘make sb do’, ‘make
sb sense’, ‘have sb do, behave, say sth’, etc. Such
structures are very common in English, so you need to
be able to analyse them in terms of the representation
of reality they build up.
How do we analyse such constructions?
Some examples:
You make me feel like a natural woman.
She won’t let you bring it along.
I had my mom collect the parcel for me.
Like many other semantic categories, causation has to
be thought of in terms of degree. A high value
causation is ‘force’ or ‘make’, a median, ‘got’, and a
low, ‘allow, let’. Notice that passive constructions
are also possible.
She was made to collect it.
152
Dust makes me cough
Initiator Actor
/Agent
Videos allow you to record programs

Initiator Actor Goal
/Agent
153
Circumstances
As we have already mentioned, circumstances
are
optional elements of the transitivity
system, i.e. peripheral to Processes
typically expressed as either PPs or AGs,
or, to a lesser degree, NGs

can contain minor, indirect participants,
e.g. Actor as in “The show has been
cancelled by them”, or Beneficiary as in
“I’ll find some paper for you”.
154
What are the functions, i.e. the
meanings that are construed as
circumstantial in the grammar of the
clause as representation?
TIME, PLACE
CAUSE (Reason, Purpose, Behalf)
MANNER (Means, Quality, Comparison)
ACCOMPANIMENT
CONTINGENCY
MATTER
ROLE
ANGLE
155
TIME:
These circumstances function to provide various kinds of

information about the time of the process. In bold below
are the questions the circumstances answer, the ‘probes’.
When? (Location)
They left yesterday morning. NG
Stella usually gets up at six o’clock. PP
How long? (Duration)

Stella has lived in Bologna (for) a couple of
months.
(PP) NG
We’ve been waiting here (for) nearly an hour. PP
How often? (Interval)

He goes for a run every day. NG
How many times? (Frequency)

I have asked you three times. NG
156
PLACE:
Where? (Location)
Freddie’s was in Baddeley Street, in the middle of
Covent Garden, which is in the exact middle or
heart of London. PPs
(from Penelope Fitzgerald, At Freddie’s)
How far? (Distance)

You will have to walk (for) five miles. (PP) NG
How often? (Interval)

There was a traffic light every two blocks!
157
CAUSE:
Why? (Reason)
Many children in Afghanistan are dying (because) of
starvation.
What for? (Purpose)

Stella has gone for lunch (in order to have lunch).
Who for? (Behalf)

I am writing on behalf of our representative.
158
MANNER:
What with? (Means)

Stella doesn’t mind traveling by train.
Stella was pleased with the gift.
Stella was pleased by the gift.
(where by the gift can be considered either Means or
Phenomenon sensed) PP
How? (Quality)
The Opera House rose majestically. AG
She loves her husband madly.
with –ly adverb as Head of the Group
What…like? (Comparison)
It went through my head like an earthquake. PP with
like (or unlike)
Notice that the preposition ‘with’ may also express Manner-

Quality as in The form must be filled out with great care.
(i.e. carefully)
159
ACCOMPANIMENT:
With whom/what?
Stella came with her sister.
Stella came without her briefcase.
CONTINGENCY:
Under what conditions?
Despite the rain, the trip was a success.
MATTER:
What about?
This course is about Functional Grammar.
(also circumstantial relational Process + Identifier)
ROLE:
What as?
Stella acted as a leader.
ANGLE:
Says whom? / According to whom?
From the standpoint of Sociolinguistics, Linguistics
proper is an asocial way of studying language.
(also functioning as Sayer)
160
George W. Bush campaigned for President...
…all over the U.S.A Where? - Place
…throughout 2000. When? - Time
…with abundant funds. By means of what? - Manner (Means)
…enthusiastically. How? - Manner (Quality)
…like no other candidate. What...like? – Manner (Comparison)
…as a result of ambition. Why? – Cause (Reason)
…with a view to power. What for? – Cause (Purpose)
…for the sake of his dad. Who for? – Cause (Behalf)
…with his wife and children. With whom/what? - Accompaniment
…despite exhaustion. Under what conditions? - Contingency
…with reference to domestic issues. What about? –
Matter
…as a ‘regular guy’. What as? - Role

…in line with America’s ‘hard work’ ethic. According
to whom/what? – Angle
from Miller, 2000-2001 161
4.2.Grammatical Metaphor
(ideational)
Metaphor has to do with VERBAL TRANSFERENCE of some
kind.
Ex. He received a flood of letters from his fans.
(i.e. a large quantity of letters)
Traditional rhetoric says that one word or expression
(e.g. flood) has two meanings, one is literal and the
other is metaphorical, or figurative. HOWEVER, in
functional terms, we can look at metaphor from the
perspective of the ways in which meanings are being
expressed, so that metaphor can be seen as the
expression of one and the ‘same’ meaning through
different wordings.
= a large quantity of letters...
CONGRUENT WORDING
Ex.‘a large quantity’<
MEANING = a flood of letters...
METAPHORICAL WORDING
162
Ex. My Name Escapes Me.
Analysis of the surface
structure would give us:
escapes= material Process

my Name= Actor
me= Goal
However, the meaning here is

something like ‘I don’t
remember my name’, so that a
more congruent realization
would be precisely that
wording, or ‘I’ve forgotten
my name’ with
I= Senser
don’t remember / have
forgotten= mental Process
my name= Phenomenon Sensed
163
So, we run up against problems
in deciding how to best label
certain wordings. And, in
fact, the example above is
analysed as an instance of
grammatical (ideational)
metaphor as:
Escapes = mental Process
My Name = Phenomenon sensed
Me= Senser
Task 5– Write up a clause containing: (i) a mental Process

of perception + Finite [Past], having (ii) a transitivity
configuration with Senser and Phenomenon, this being
realized as (iii) NG (conscious being) + VG + NG (any
thing or fact).
164
Nominalization as Grammatical
Metaphor
Nominalization= turning clausal patterns into
nominal ones.
PROCESSES are reworded metaphorically as
NOUNS, so that VGs, instead of functioning in
the clause as Processes, function as Thing in
the NG. The rewording is said to be
metaphorical or ‘less congruent’, i.e. less
close to the state of affairs in the
‘reality’ being construed.
GRAMMATICAL METAPHOR IMPLIES A DISCREPANCY

between SEMANTICS (meanings) and LEXICO-
GRAMMAR (wordings)!
GRAMMATICAL METAPHOR IS A MATTER OF DEGREE! 165

Nominalization cont’d
Nominalization is a very common phenomenon,
particularly in scientific and technical
writing, which have developed a more
metaphorical way of encoding ‘reality’ packaged
as THINGS, rather than unfolding as happenings
distributed over a number of clauses. Such
practice corresponds to a tendency to the
objectification of ‘reality’ (see also slide 15
on the notion of Medium). (Halliday and Martin 1993).
Although co-representational, the more
congruent and the more metaphorical versions
entail a different meaning (if “something said
differently is something different being
said”).
See the discussion of the example in the
following slides.
166
Prolonged exposure will result in rapid
deterioration of the item. (From Halliday 1999)
NG: Epithet ^ Thing Process: relational

Prolonged exposure will result in
NG: Epithet ^ Thing ^ Qualifier

rapid deterioration of the item
167
A more congruent formulation of the above clause would read
something like this (Halliday 1999):
If the item is exposed for long, it will deteriorate rapidly.
Why is this a more congruent formulation? Because, being less

‘packaged’, it makes explicit, it un-packs the following meanings:
a) a CAUSE-EFFECT logical relation between two clauses (IF…THEN);
b) The Processes, participants and circumstances involved. That is,
within the first clause the transitivity structure is as follows,
Goal - Proc.: material - Circumstance of Time (Extent), while the
transitivity structure of the second clause is Actor - Proc.:
material - Circum. of Manner. Notice the correspondences between the
metaphorical and more congruent versions:
Exposure (Thing) < Proc.: material

Prolonged (Epithet) < circumstance: Time
(of the item) (Qualifier) < Participant: Goal
will result in (Proc.: relational) < Clause-complex, if…then
Rapid (Epithet) < Circumstance: Manner

Deterioration (Thing) < Proc.: material
Of the item (Qualifier) < Participant: Actor 168
4.3.Clauses in combination:
The Clause-Complex
As we have already mentioned in Chapter 2, simple
clauses combine to form clause-complexes. Depending on
the kind of status relationship holding between
clauses, we can distinguish paratactic from hypotactic
sequences, which are known in traditional grammar as
coordination and subordination:
PARATAXIS = the relationship of coordination between

two independent clauses equal in status.
Ex. I went to the bar and got the beer and carried it
outside.
HYPOTAXIS = the relationship of subordination between

one dependent clause and one independent clause.
Ex. The man was old, when you saw him close.
(Examples from Roald Dahl, The Way up to Heaven and Other Stories)
169
The system of Interdependency, or
‘TAXIS’
Note that a clause-complex is typically a mixture of
paratactic and hypotactic sequences, as can be seen
in the following example taken from Halliday (1994:
218)
Ex. I would if I could, but I can’t
where the relationship holding between clause 1 (I

would) and clause 2 (if I could) is a subordinating
one, while the relationship between clause 1 and 3
(but I can’t) is coordinating: i.e. clause 1 and 3
are both independent clauses:
I would but I can’t.

if I could, paratactic
hypotactic 170
To practice identifying clauses, see how you can
split up the following mini-text, a weather forecast
report from The Times. Notice that a particular type
of notation is used to mark hypotactic relations
(α,β,γ, etc. the letters of the Greek alphabet).
TODAY’S WEATHER - North East Scotland will start
rather cloudy with some patchy rain, but this will
clear as the frontal system moves away. All areas
will then have sunny spells, although isolated
showers are possible, especially in the East.
North East Scotland will start rather cloudy with

some patchy rain, (clause 1 independent)
but this will clear (clause 2,α independent)
as the frontal system moves away.
(clause β dependent)
171
All areas will then have sunny spells, (clause 1,α
independent)
although isolated showers are possible, especially
in the East.
(clause β dependent)
Clause-complexing brings us back to the issue of
grammatical intricacy and the spoken medium, so, to
review some of what has already been discussed, go
back to Chapter 1, slide 15 ff.
Parallel to the Taxis dimension, and actually cross-
cutting it, is the type of logico-semantic relation
holding between clauses. In other words, one could
ask, what is the logical meaning signalled by the
connective ‘although’ introducing the subordinated
clause in the example above? And by reasoning on the
kind of semantics realized by it, the answer would
be: a sort of concession. Therefore, in the next few
slides, we will deal with the various types of
logical meanings there can be between clauses.
172
Clauses in combination:
Expansion
ELABORATION (=)
Salviati:(…) if the size of a body be diminished, the

strength of that body is not diminished in the same
proportion; indeed the smaller the body the greater
its relative strength.
(From Galileo Galilei, The Two New Sciences)
The secondary clause expands on the meaning

of what is already there by restating in
other words, further specifying, clarifying
or exemplifying, commenting.
173
Among the connectives (which include both
Conjunctions and Conjunctive Adjuncts) signalling
an elaborating clause are those which introduce:
Apposition
Or (meaning ‘rather’), In other words, That is to
say (i.e.)
Exemplification
For example (e.g.), In particular, etc.
Specification, Rectification or Comment

In fact, As a matter of fact, In actual fact,
Indeed, Actually, etc.
174
Sometimes, instead of having an explicit connective
signalling the elaboration, you can find Non-Defining
Relative clauses, functioning as a kind of gloss:
Ex. The movie, which is a remake of a famous one, isn’t

very good.
Ex. Have you been to Gouda, where the cheese comes
from? (Example taken from Halliday 1994: 228)
You can now contrast more easily defining relative

clauses which are always embedded into a group and do
not constitute separate newsworthy information (sl. 56
ff.), and non-defining ones, which, as can be seen in
the examples above, provide an extra bit of
information, a more incidental comment or gloss.
Notice
Notice that
that in
in written
written English,
English, aa non-defining
non-defining relative
relative clause
clause is
is marked
marked
off by punctuation, usually a comma, but sometimes a dash. In
off by punctuation, usually a comma, but sometimes a dash. In addition,addition,
the
the relative
relative pronoun
pronoun must
must be
be either
either ‘which’
‘which’ or
or ‘who’,
‘who’, never
never ‘that’,
‘that’,
which is typical of defining relative clauses.
which is typical of defining relative clauses.
175
The relationship between clauses is sometimes even
more implicit, when instead of the explicit marker of
the elaboration there is merely the Juxtaposition of a
Non-Finite clause:
Ex. I used to practice the piano on a regular basis,

struggling hard with the heat of the summertime.
The use of the gerund without any explicit connective

leaves the logico-semantic relation very difficult to
identify. However, since the non-finite clause is by
definition dependent on the dominant clause, there
must be some relation obtaining: here the clause
simply elaborates on what precedes it. We could
hypothesize a concessive meaning, something like:
I used to practice the piano on a regular basis,
although struggling hard with the heat of the
summertime.
176
EXTENSION (+)
Ex. They did a good job, only (= on the other hand) they
were so slow about it.
Ex. Asking him politely doesn’t work, nor do threats.
Ex. Some people speak in practical down-to-earth terms,

while others tend to be longwinded.
Ex. If the duke hasn’t given the teapot to my aunt, then it

is in the cupboard.
Ex. Instead of revising my notes for the exam, I went to

sleep.
The secondary clause expands on what is

already there by adding something new to it,
or offering an alternative, by means of an
addition, a replacement or subtraction.
177
Among the connectives signalling an extending clause
are:
-the additive and adversative conjunctions
And, Or, Nor, But
-the conjunctive Adjuncts allowing for either a

finite or a non-finite clause to follow:
In addition, Also, Moreover, Furthermore
Alternatively, Conversely, On the other hand
Whereas, While, Except that, If not…then
+ Finite Verbs
and:
Besides, Instead of, etc. + Non-Finite Verbs
178
ENHANCEMENT (×)
Ex. Alice didn’t want to begin another argument, so she
said nothing.
Ex. Alice was standing with her hands ready, for she was
any moment expecting him to fall.
(from Alice in Wonderland)
Ex. She likes the simple life, and so does he.

Ex. Keep going straight on, in that way you will arrive
directly at the station.
(from Halliday 1994: 234)
The secondary clause is a circumstantial

one, i.e. it expands on what is already
there by qualifying it with some
circumstantial feature of Time, Place,
Cause, or Condition (see slide 155 for a
complete list of PPs as circumstances).
179
The various types of ENHANCEMENT are expressed by:
Place- (And) There
Time- (And) Then, Next, First, Meanwhile, Finally,

Afterwards, Before that, Since, etc.
Cause- (And) So, Then, Therefore, Consequently,

Hence, For, Because of that, For, etc.
Concession- Yet, Still, Nevertheless, though
Matter- On that matter, etc.
Manner- Means
(In) that way
Manner- Comparison
Similarly, Likewise, By comparison, etc.
180
Clauses in combination:
Projection
Projection covers much of the same area as what is
known to traditional Grammar as ‘direct and
indirect speech’, but from a different
perspective.
Here you see one clause as projecting another, in
the sense that it indicates that the other clause,
the projected one, is not a direct representation
of reality, rather, a representation of a
(linguistic or mental) representation: this is why
you can call projected clauses locutions and
ideas, stressing their semantic status. Let us
consider the following examples.
181
QUOTING SPEECH.
The simplest form of
(Halliday 1994: 250)
projection is direct or QUOTED SPEECH:
Ex. She keeps saying to us: “I stay up till
12 o’clock every night”.
keeps saying= VG Complex with a verbal
Process
She= SAYER
to us= RECEIVER
I stay up till 12 o’clock every night=
projected locution, or direct (quoted)
speech. Notice
Notice that
that the
the quoted
quoted speech,
speech, or
or
projected locution, corresponds to what
projected locution, corresponds to what
would
would be
be VERBIAGE
VERBIAGE in
in aa single
single clause.
clause. It
It
is not considered Verbiage any
is not considered Verbiage any longer,longer,
but
but aa separate
separate clause
clause with
with its
its own
own
Transitivity structure.
Transitivity structure. 182
In quoting speech:
The projecting clause contains a verbal Process;
The projected clause represents what is said, the
wording, more or less exactly;
The tactic relationship is Parataxis, i.e. the two
clauses have equal status.
VERBAL Processes used in quoting speech include:
1) SAY, which is the general member of this class;
2) verbs specific to statements, e.g. tell, remark,
observe, point out, announce, report, etc. or
questions, ask, demand, inquire, query, etc.;
3) verbs combining say with some circumstantial
element, e.g. reply (‘say in response’), explain
(‘say in explanation’), protest (‘say with
reservation’), insist (‘say emphatically’),
cry/shout (‘say loudly’), boast (‘say proudly’),
murmur (‘say sotto voce’), etc.
183
QUOTING THOUGHT.
Ex. I saw an ad in the paper for a piano,

and I thought, ‘I’ll just inquire’.
(Adapted from Halliday 1994: 255)
thought= mental Process

I= Senser
‘I’ll just inquire’= projected idea, or
direct (quoted) thought.
184
In quoting thoughts:
The projecting clause contains a mental Process;
The projected clause represents what is thought of
as if it were a wording, but the implication is ‘I
said to myself’ recognising the fact that one can
think in words;
The tactic relationship is once again Parataxis.
Among mental Processes typically used to quote
thoughts are think, wonder, believe, reflect, etc. See
the examples below:
Ex. Stella wondered, ‘Is this for me?’
Ex. ‘She’s nobody’s fool’, I thought.
(example from Thompson 1996: 207)
Ex. ‘Sorry, but what’s curious?’, wondered Harry.

(Adapted from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)
185
REPORTING SPEECH.
As we know from traditional grammar, in addition to

quoting locutions and ideas, we can report them (cf.
indirect speech):
Ex. He said that he had originally planned

to be a lawyer.
said= verbal Process
he= Sayer
that he had originally planned to be a
lawyer= projected locution, or reported
speech
186
In reporting speech:
The projecting clause contains a verbal Process;
The projected clause represents the gist, the

general sense of what is said, i.e. the wording is
different from the original quotation, therefore the
grammar changes;
The tactic relationship is Hypotaxis, i.e. the two

clauses have unequal status (the projecting clause is
independent, while the projected is considered to be
dependent, often signalled by initial that);
Verbal Processes used in reporting speech include:

1) SAY, the general member of this class;
2) the same verbs specific to statements and questions
seen when talking about quoting speech (see slide
183);
187
3) verbs for communicative functions (speech acts)
used for reporting. These include insinuate,
imply, remind, deny, claim, maintain, suggest,
offer, request, order, propose, decide, agree,
promise, urge, warn, threaten, plead, persuade,
recommend, etc.)
Ex. He promised he would arrive on time.

Ex. The article insinuated that the President was
lying.
Ex. He threatened to leave.
(“I’ll leave!”, he threatened)
Ex. Remind me to buy a bottle of Martini.
Ex. Stella suggested that we should have a break.
Ex. He claimed that it was all a conspiracy
188
REPORTING THOUGHT.
Ex. Dr Godbole always thought (that) his

patient would recover.
thought= mental Process

Dr Godbole= Senser
(that) his patient would recover=
Phenomenon functioning as projected idea,
or reported thought
189
In reporting thoughts:
The projecting clause contains a mental
Process;
The projected clause represents what is
thought of, again the grammar changes (see
slides 191-92 below);
The tactic relationship is once again that of
Hypotaxis.
Mental Processes typically used in reporting
thought include: feel, hope, wish, think,
like, etc.
Ex. Maxine wished she could go to Sweden next
year.
190
Comparing QUOTING and REPORTING
As said, REPORTING presents the projected clause as
dependent, and the speaker/writer makes no claim to
be abiding by the exact wording.
Compare the two examples below and notice how the
grammar of the reported projected clause changes:
1. Stella said: ‘I will come back here tomorrow’.

2. Stella said she would go back there the next day.
In 1. the standpoint in the quote is that of the

Sayer, Stella; she is the point of reference for the
deixis (I, here, will come back, tomorrow).
In 2. on the other hand, the standpoint in the
projected clause is that of the speaker/writer of the
projecting clause (an omniscient narrator); the
deixis is that of the projecting clause (she, would
go back, there, the next day).
191
In other words, all deictic elements are shifted
away from reference to the speech situation,
personals are shifted away from first and second
person to third, demonstratives away from near to
remote, and the sequence of tenses needs be
followed.
Notice, however, that even in 2. here and come
could be kept if the speaker/writer happens to be
in the same place where Stella is, and similarly
tomorrow, if it hasn’t come yet. So, you would
have:
1. Stella said: ‘I will come back here tomorrow’

2.bis Stella said she would come back here tomorrow.
192
A final word on comparing QUOTING and
REPORTING
Quoting and reporting are not simply formal variants,
they differ in function, observes Halliday (1994:
256).
Quoting is more immediate and lifelike; it is
particularly associated with certain registers, e.g.
fictional or personal, and it is used both for
sayings (locutions) and thoughts (ideas). Ideas can
be projected by an omniscient narrator with or
without quotation marks:
Ex. ‘And what is the use of a book’, thought Alice,

‘without pictures or conversations in it?’
(from Alice in Wonderland)
193
A review of clauses in combination:
(From Halliday 1994: 220) 194

Keys to exercises
Task 1-
The ‘reality’ being represented in the short extract taken from

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is a game, namely
Quidditch, and in particular a Quidditch match. Here is some
vocabulary you might need to understand the passage:
The weather turned very cold= became very cold
Bundled up= wrapped up as when you dress in a lot of warm
clothes
Had leaked out, to leak= let a liquid/gas escape, e.g. The roof
leaked.
Lexical items that help us understand what Quidditch is

include: the pitch, the season, playing-play-playing, match,
training, versus, won, House Championship, Seeker. Notice that
some of these expressions are Nouns (or NGs), some are Verbs
(or VGs).
195
Keys cont'd
Task 2-
1. They= Actor
2. The boss= Senser
3. The empty house= Senser
4. Ø
5. Hardly anyone= Senser
6. I = Senser
7. The glass= Actor
8. (You) = Actor
9. People = Actor
10. You= Senser
Task 3-
Mental Processes can be of
Cognition:
think, realize, believe, baffle, understand, puzzle, know, imagine,
doubt, notice, strike, etc.
Affection:
feel, admire, need, like, please, worry, impress, (strike), fancy,
delight, etc.
and Perception:
See, feel, taste, smell, hear.
196
Keys cont'd
Task 4-
1) do you speak, verbal Process, unmarked present
2) She’s having, material Pr. with Range, unmarked present
3) Is singing, behavioural Pr., unmarked present
4) I don’t understand, mental Pr., unmarked present
5) Comes, material Pr., marked (for Theme) - He is, relational
Pr., unmarked present
6) She doesn’t like, mental Pr., unmarked present - she’s working,
material Pr., unmarked present
7) Is getting, relational Pr., marked present (inceptive meaning)
8) Goes, material Pr., marked present (habitual) - he’s staying,
material Pr., unmarked present - he wants, mental Pr., unmarked
present
Task 5-
Stella saw something wonderful.
Now compare with the less congruent wording:
A wonderful sight met Stella’s eyes.
197
Chapter 5 – Textual Meanings
Task 1- Why can you say that the following text is in fact a
text? How does the writer organise his text?
Picnicking in this country has never again reached the

dizzy heights of the Victorian era, when rigid rules
brought formal rituals, facilitated by swarms of servants.
The doyenne of Victorian cooking, Mrs. Beeton, waxed
lyrical on the does and don'ts of the subject. But her
recommendations required provisions equivalent to the
combined meat, bakery and deli counters of a Sainsbury’s
superstore just to feed a modest party. I would suggest
that less is more – a couple of salad or vegetable dishes,
a homemade tart or pie, a few skewers of marinated
chicken, lamb or seafood, bread, dips and fruit, and a
portable barbie for cooking should suffice.
(from The Sunday Times Style Magazine)
198
Clause as Message
Language functions as communication: the clause

is organised as message, i.e. a cohesive and
coherent whole, having its own structure as a
text, and being part of a larger textual unit.
Major questions throughout this section will
therefore be:
If the lexico-grammar is analysed in terms of its

construction of textuality and texture, what are the
conditions of textuality? Or, what makes a text a
text?
What are the typical realizations of textual
meanings in the lexico-grammar?
199
5.1.Structural cohesive devices:
THEME and RHEME
Take again the Subject Verb Object Adjunct (SVOA)
structure of the typical unmarked declarative clause:
The sequence in which the elements occur in the clause

is not totally free, but relatively constrained. You
could, indeed, have:
To my aunt the duke gave this teapot
with the Adjunct at the beginning of the clause
instead of the Subject, and you could also have:
This teapot the duke gave to my aunt
With the Object in initial position, but you cannot
really have, for example:
* Gave to my aunt this teapot the duke
200
Whatever element we decide to put at the beginning of
the clause is the THEME of the clause and the order in
which the elements follow each other is the thematic
structure. Thus, the Theme will be defined as:
that with which the clause is concerned, what the
message is about, what I – either speaker or writer –
choose as my point of departure of the clause. It is
realized in the lexico-grammar by the FIRST POSITION.
English allows for a certain amount of variation in
word-order, so that, as we saw in the preceding slide,
in a statement clause the Theme can be the Subject, but
also the Complement or an Adjunct. Although such
variation is possible, word-order (or, we should say
more properly group-order), is dictated by the
structure of the clause itself. This is why we say that
the Theme of a clause, although having a cohesive
potential if considered at a larger textual level, is a
‘structural’ device.
201
So, going back to Halliday’s example with the Subject
as Theme, we have:

THEME RHEME
where the RHEME = the rest of the clause
Notice that the element functioning as Theme of the

clause is also the Actor: all three functions (Subj.,
Actor and Theme) are taken on by the same NG, namely
‘the duke’ (see slide 63, language is multifunctional).
So, our next question will be: are Subject, Complement
and Adjunct the only elements that can go in clause
initial position? Or, what other elements can go into
the Theme?
The answers are discussed in slides 204 ff.
202
The Information Structure
From the point of view of the receiver of the message –
the listener/reader – the Theme is typically Given
information, i.e. what the speaker/writer is treating
as information that the listener/reader has access to,
while the Rheme is what the speaker is treating as New
information, and therefore tends to be put towards the
end of the clause (see also sl. 16). This organisation
of the message as Given-New is the INFORMATION
structure:
GIVEN= what you –listener/reader– already know about,
or have access to.
NEW= what I –speaker/writer– am asking you –
listener/reader – to attend to.
THEME RHEME
GIVEN NEW 203
The TOPICAL THEME
The Theme must contain a Participant, a
Process or a Circumstance, i.e. a component of
the transitivity structure.
Theme in declarative clauses:

in an unmarked indicative declarative clause,
the Theme is conflated with the (grammatical)
Subject and expressed by a NG or NG complex:
Ex. The duke gave that teapot to my aunt.

Theme = Subj. = Participant: Actor
Ex. Jack and Jill went up the hill.

NG complex = Theme = Subj. = Partic.: Actor
(Examples from Halliday 1994)
204
However, as we have seen, NGs functioning as Complement
can occur in thematic position, too, and also AGs and
PPs functioning as circumstances (= marked Theme, that
is, different from Subject). The examples below are
given by Halliday (1994: 38-39) to illustrate these
cases.
(Preface to Saussure’s Course in General Linguistics)

We are aware of our responsibility to our critics. We
are also aware of our responsibility to the author, who
probably would not have authorised the publication of
these pages. This responsibility we accept wholly…
Theme = Complement
(Forword to Whorf’s Language, Thought and Reality)

Once in a blue moon a man comes along who grasps the
relationship between events which have hitherto seemed
quite separate, and gives mankind a new dimension of
knowledge. Theme = Circumstance 205
Theme in interrogative clauses:
If it is a Yes/No question, a question about
polarity, then the Theme is the Finite
verbal operator embodying the expression of
polarity, together with the Subject :
Ex. Did you see my glasses?

Theme = Did you
If it is a Wh- question, asking for

information that is missing, then the Theme
is the wh- element requesting that
information:
Interrogative
Interrogative
clauses
clauses embody
embody the
the
thematic principle
Ex. Where are my glasses? thematic principle
in
in their
their
Theme = Where (= wh- element) structure!
structure!
206
Theme in imperative clauses:
If the clause is an unmarked imperative,

then the Theme is the Predicator:
Ex. Take my glasses!
With the unmarked negative imperative, the

Theme is the Finite carrying the polarity
together with the Predicator, as for yes/no
interrogatives:
Ex. Don’t take my glasses, please!
207
INTERPERSONAL and TEXTUAL THEMES.
The elements analysed so far as Theme also

function within the transitivity structure. They
constitute the TOPICAL THEME (TT).
However, there are also other elements that can
come first in the clause, thus preceding the
topical Theme, and which are also considered
thematic.
Take the following examples:
Ex. Probably Stella won’t come tonight.
Ex. John, Stella is not coming tonight. So, we

can book just for the two of us.
208
In the first example, the element put at the
beginning of the clause is the Adjunct ‘probably’
expressing modality (particularly the degree of
speaker’s certainty).
Thus, the Adjunct functions interpersonally within
one of the systems of interpersonal semantics (the
system of MODALITY). Its meaning has nothing to do
with the representation of reality: the next
element that gives us some representation of a
state of affairs is ‘Stella’, the Actor of the
clause.
A similar observation can be made for the element
occurring in initial position in the other
example: the Vocative ‘John’, functioning as a
form of address. Both elements are thematised, but
they are INTERPERSONAL THEMES, while the topical
theme is the first element that works within the
transitivity structure (the Actor in both
examples). 209
In the latter example, what we find in the first
position is the Conjunctive Adjunct ‘so’, which
relates the clause to the preceding text: it thus
functions as TEXTUAL THEME. The Topical Theme is
the Subject pronoun ‘we’, functioning within the
transitivity structure as Actor of the material
clause.
Notice that Interpersonal and Textual Themes are
optional elements of the clause, whereas Topical
Themes are not. Every clause has a TT.
To sum up this point, the Theme of a clause
extends from the beginning of a clause up to (and
including) the first element that has some
ideational-representational function (the first
participant, process or circumstance).
210
If the Theme is a structural element, i.e. an
element which is put obligatorily in the first
position such as a Conjunction, then what comes
next has a topically thematic function:
Ex. Stella enjoys literature, but grammar she can’t
stand.
Conjunction as Textual Theme ^ Topical Theme.
The Conjunction ‘but’, which is relating the clause
to a preceding clause in the same clause complex
here, is obligatorily thematic. It is followed by
‘grammar’ functioning as Complement (and Phenomenon
within the transitivity structure). This word,
‘grammar’ is thus the marked Topical Theme.
211
Multiple THEMES.
Thematic elements can follow in a sequence:
Textual Theme ^ Interp. Th. ^ Topical Theme

Ex. On the other hand, maybe Stella will come on
Wednesday.
(realised by Conjunctive Adjunct ^ Modal Adjunct ^

Actor)
Textual Theme ^ Interp. Th. ^ Topical Theme

Ex. Well, but then, John, Wednesday would be late.
(realised by Continuative ^ Conjunction ^ Conjunctive

Adjunct ^ Vocative ^ Subject + Carrier)
Notice
Notice that
that sometimes
sometimes the
the Topical
Topical Theme
Theme isis signalled
signalled explicitly
explicitly byby
means
means of
of expressions
expressions such
such as
as with
with regard
regard to,
to, as
as for,
for, as
as regards,
regards, about,
about,
etc.,
etc., which
which are
are then
then picked
picked upup later
later by
by aa pronoun
pronoun (see
(see the
the example
example
below from Halliday 1994: 39).
below from Halliday 1994: 39).
Ex.
Ex. About
About that
that teapot,
teapot, the
the duke
duke gave
gave it
it to
to my
my aunt.
aunt. 212
Task 2- Identify the Topical Theme in the following examples:
1. The protagonist of the film Being There is ‘Chance’.

2. I was originally attracted to the core disciplines of science
studies by a famous conference on knowledge.
3. Would it be unfair?
4. The reader will find other expressions of gratitude in the
footnotes.
5. What a brilliant talk he gave!
6. Recently, a much-needed introduction to philosophical history has
been published.
7. Where have all the flowers gone?
8. I shall return to a version of this argument later.
9. He wouldn’t have married her.
10. This book may be seen as a breakthrough.
11. I still have to do it.
12. Is that an excuse?
13. What were you doing there?
14. Don’t do it!
15. This trip sounds like a wonderful opportunity.
213
5.2. Non-Structural
cohesive devices: COHESION
In order that a sequence of clauses or clause complexes
should constitute a TEXT, it is necessary to also make
explicit the relationships between one clause and
another. These relationships are the result of the
cohesive strategies speakers/writers employ in
writing/speaking. As we mentioned, thematic choices
affect the cohesive potential of a text as well.
However, it is beyond the scope of this introductory
coursebook to deal with the thematic development of a
text. In the last section of this coursebook we will
introduce non-structural*** cohesive devices. There are
four kinds of Cohesion, the first three are grammatical
devices, and the fourth is lexical:
1)REFERENCE ***that
***that is,
is, not
not depending
depending on
on
the structure of the clause,
2)ELLIPSIS and SUBSTITUTION the structure of the clause,
but
but rather
rather on
on semantic
semantic
3)CONJUNCTION structure
structure across texts.
across texts.
4)LEXICAL COHESION 214
REFERENCE- a relation between an element of a
sentence and some other element, within or outside
the text, by reference to which the former is
identified. It can be:
EXOPHORIC, i.e. outside the text, deictic

(situational) and homophoric (cultural).
ENDOPHORIC, i.e. within the text, the options are:

anaphoric, i.e. pointing backwards, or cataphoric,
i.e. pointing forwards.
See Figure 8 on the following slide, for a complete

picture of the paradigm.
215
Deictic-Situational
Exophoric
Homophoric-Cultural
REFERENCE
Anaphoric
Endophoric
Cataphoric
Fig. 8- The paradigm of REFERENCE
216
EXOPHORIC REFERENCE:
DEIXIS- pointing to the external situation; the

meaning of the personal Pronoun/Demonstrative is
defined in the act of uttering, and is to be
interpreted by reference to the situation here and
now.
Ex.1 He loves his wife madly.
Ex.1a “Oh no, this is horrible!”
HOMOPHORA- pointing to the wider cultural context.
Ex.2 The prime minister introduced many reforms.
217
ENDOPHORIC REFERENCE:
ANAPHORA- backward pointing, it is to be interpreted by

reference to the preceding text.
Ex.3 Alice collapsed into the chair. She was exhausted.
Ex.3a “Could you pass me the salt?”-“Here it is”.
CATAPHORA- forward pointing, it is to be interpreted by

reference to the following text.
Ex.4 Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess.
The princess was very sad...
218
ELLIPSIS and SUBSTITUTION- with these devices,
discursive continuity is established by means of
leaving out information: a clause or a part of a
clause can be omitted (ellipsis) or a substitute form
provided (substitution). It is usually confined to
closely contiguous passages and characteristic of
dialogue, in particular of adjacency pairs (e.g.
question-answer pairs).
Examples of Ellipsis:
Ex. A: “Did you take my glasses?”

B: “I didn’t._____” (Ellipsis of Residue)
B1: “No. ______” (Ellipsis of Subj.+Finite+Res.)
B2 “Of course, not!”
Examples of Substitution:
Ex. A: “I’ve lost my voice.” - B: “Get a new one.”

Ex. Little sisters are a pain. So are big ones.
(Examples from Hasselgard and Johansson 2000) 219
CONJUNCTION- cohesion across stretches of text
may also be established by means of the logical
relations between clause complexes, or sentences
(inter-sentential connection).
We have already looked at such relations within

clause complexes (intra-sentential connection)
under the heading of (see chap. 4.3). The logico-
semantic relations between clauses produce clause
complexes (see ‘rank scale’, slide 37). A clause-
complex corresponds to a sentence in the writing
system, (see slide 40).
The relations between sentences over longer

stretches of language produce ‘texture’, or
cohesion, and are thus a condition of textuality.
So, one should look at the kinds of logical
relations that are there. (see slides 169 ff.)
220
The range of possible inter-sentential meanings
within the domains of Elaboration, Extension and
Enhancement (see slide 169 ff.) is expressed by
the choice of a Conjunctive Adjunct (an AG or
PP), or a Conjunction, – typically, or, in the
case of Conjunctions, obligatorily – in thematic
position at the beginning of the sentence. (See
Textual Themes, slides 211 ff.)
Examples:
She didn’t know the rules. Therefore, she lost.
Enhancement, Causal relation (Effect), realized by a
Conjunctive Adjunct
Stella was surprised that the day had stayed

fine. In fact, everyone warned her that it
frequently rained here.
Elaboration realized by a Conjunctive Adjunct
221
Task 3– Identify all instances of Reference and
Conjunction in the following text.
“Heat is only the motion of the atoms I told you

about.”
“Then what is cold?”
“Cold is only absence of heat.”
“Then if anything is cold it means that its atoms are
not moving.”
“Only in the most extreme case. There are different
degrees of cold. A piece of ice is cold compared with
warm water. But the atoms of a piece of ice are
moving – they are moving quite fast, as a matter of
fact. But they are not moving as fast as the atoms of
warm water. So that, compared with the water, the ice
is cold. But even the water would seem cold, if
compared with a red-hot poker. Now I’ll tell you an
experiment you ought to try one day.”
(From Halliday 1994: 330)
222
LEXICAL COHESION- continuity may also be established in
a text by the choice of words by means of:
Repetition (or, straight reiteration***)

Ex. I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not
die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted for
me. (From The Picture of Dorian Gray) ***Such reiteration, be it lexical
***Such reiteration, be it lexical
or merely structural, is also
or merely structural, is also
dealt with under the heading of
dealt with under the heading of
Grammatical
Grammatical Parallelism
Parallelism in
in the
the 3°3°
vol. of this series.
Lexical scatter vol. of this series.
This is a question of words having the same root, but

belonging to different word classes. Apart from their
root, the words have different morphological shape:
Ex. work, work-ing, work-ed, etc.
Ex. Sense and Sensibility.
Synonymy and Antonymy

Ex. clear, transparent, obvious, certain, manifest,
intelligible as opposed to unclear, opaque, obscure,
indistinct, uncertain, dimmed, unintelligible,
imprecise, ambiguous, etc. 223
Hyponymy and Meronymy are the general-specific and
part-whole relationship, so that if furniture is the
superordinate term, then chair, table, sofa are co-
hyponyms. And, trunk, branch, leaf are in a
relationship of meronymy to tree. It is often the case
that the distinction between these relations is clearer
with concrete things than with abstract entities.
See the example below for hyponymy over an extended
stretch of text.
A new fruit that looks like a lime, tastes like a grapefruit

and is triple the size of a peach has been launched.
The fruit, the result of 21 years' research by the Jaffa
company, is called a Sweetie. It will have an average cost of
39p. It is a cross between a grapefruit and a pomelo, yet
looks like neither and has dark-green skin and orange flesh.
It is the lowest-calorie citrus fruit on the market - apart
from lemons and limes - and yet also the
sweetest, with the lowest acidity. A spokesman from Jaffa
said: "We are hoping that it might take over from bananas,
apples and oranges as a snack."
224
(From Hasselgard and Johansson 2000)
Collocation the tendency of words to frequently co-
occur, so that pipe goes with smoke, snow with white,
cold with ice, etc. Notice that this frequency of co-
occurrence varies according to the register. See for
example, the kind of lexis chosen in newspaper’s
weather forecast.
THE WEATHER-
Greater London
Mainly dry with sunny spells, but isolated showers in
places. A gentle south-westerly breeze.
Orkney, Shetland
Cloudy with occasional rain at first, but becoming
brighter with sunny spells later. A brisk north-
westerly breeze.
Republic of Ireland
Dry during the morning with sunny spells, but cloud
will thicken to bring patchy drizzle in the West later.
(From The Times) 225
Task 4– Identify Lexical cohesion in the following
text:
THE SORTING HAT-

Harry had never even imagined such a strange and
splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands
of candles which were floating in mid-air over four
long tables, where the rest of the students were
sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden
plates and goblets. (..) The hundreds of faces staring
at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering
candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students,
the ghosts shone misty silver. (..) Harry looked
upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with
stars. (..) It was hard to believe there was a ceiling
there at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply
open on to the heavens.
(From Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling)
226
Keys to exercises
Task 1-
Some vocabulary you might need to understand the text:
The dizzy heights= a very high level of something
Swarms of servants= large groups of servants
Doyenne= the oldest and most experienced woman
Waxed lyrical= talked a lot in a lyrical way
Deli counters = delicatessen counters
Barbie= barbecue
One main lexical field is constructed throughout the extract,

beginning with “Picnicking” in the very first position, to
“barbecue” at the very end of the text, and realized throughout by
words and groups like cooking, meat, baker and deli counters,
Sainsbury’s superstore, feed, salad or vegetable dishes…dips and
fruit, portable barbie for cooking. This chain reflects the topic or
Field of the text and is achieved by the writer by means of the
choice of lexical items (lexical cohesion).
There are also other instances of texture, like for example, the use
of the conjunction ‘But’ in initial position to contrast the
sentence in which it occurs to what precedes it, and co-reference,
‘her’ (recommendations) referring back to ‘the doyenne…Mrs. Beeton’
(waxed lyrical on the…).
227
Keys cont’d
Also, some comments can be made on the thematic development of the
text, which is as follows:
the Theme of the first sentence is the qualified NG “Picnicking in
this country”. Then, the next Theme in the following sentence is
realized by another NG, the evoked protagonist of this short
extract on picnicking, that is, “the doyenne of Victorian
cooking”, namely, Mrs. Beeton.
The Rheme of the second sentence, the verbal structure “waxed
lyrical on the does and don’ts of the subject” becomes the
nominalised Theme of the next one, namely, “her recommendations”
(together with the conjunction ‘but’, which is obligatorily
thematic).
In the final sentence, the Theme changes and it becomes “I”, the
writer’s voice, the Sayer of the verbal Process “suggest”.
228
Task 2-
1. The protagonist of the film Being There

2. I
3. Would it
4. The reader
5. What a brilliant talk
(the Theme is the whole Complement)
6. Recently
7. Where
8. I
9. He
10. This book
11. I
12. Is that
13. What
14. Don’t do
15. This trip
229
Task 3-
Then = Enhancement: Cause/Effect, implying ‘if so...then’
But1 = Enhancement: Concession, meaning ‘and yet’
As a matter of fact = Elaboration
So that = Enhancement, Cause/Effect
Now = Enhancement, abstract Time, internal to the argument
Co-referential chains are: I-you, anything cold-its, the atoms-

they-they
“Heat is only the motion of the atoms I told you about.”
“Then what is cold?”
“Cold is only absence of heat.”
“Then if anything is cold it means that its atoms are not moving.”
“Only in the most extreme case. There are different degrees of
cold. A piece of ice is cold compared with warm water. But the
atoms of a piece of ice are moving – they are moving quite fast,
as a matter of fact. But they are not moving as fast as the atoms
of warm water. So that, compared with the water, the ice is cold.
But even the water would seem cold, if compared with a red-hot
poker. Now I’ll tell you an experiment you ought to try one day.”
230
Task 4-
Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place.
It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were
floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the
students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering
golden plates and goblets. (..) The hundreds of faces staring at
them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight.
Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty
silver. (..) Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling
dotted with stars. (..) It was hard to believe there was a
ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open
on to the heavens.
Strange and splendid = quasi-synonyms

Lit, candles, glittering golden, pale lanterns, flickering
candlelight, shone misty silver = all items in the lexical string
contribute to the construction of the same semantic field of
‘light’, they are collocates
Ceiling-ceiling, Harry-Harry, students-students = repetitions
Tables-plates and goblets = superordinate term and co-hyponyms
Ceiling-Great Hall = meronymy (part and whole)
Stars-heavens = collocates
Ceiling-heavens = textually construed as quasi-synonyms
Such a strange and splendid place-the Great Hall = quasi-synonyms
231
In short...
nearly
My work is now
finished
Subject Finite + Complement Adjunct
Predicator
Participant: Process: participant: Circumstance:
Carrier relational Attribute Time
attributive
Theme Rheme
The clause has been analyzed as the grammatical unit

in which three different kinds of meanings are
constructed simultaneously, the interpersonal, the
ideational and the textual.
232
As illustrated in the slide above, three distinct
structures, each expressing one kind of semantic
organization, clause as exchange, representation and
message, are mapped on to one another in a single
wording.
Each structure also reveals something of the context
in which the clause has been uttered and, in turn, it
is triggered by the context itself:
So, for example, the clause in sl. 232, when
considered as representation of a state of affairs, is
linked to the Field of discourse, i.e. the activity of
describing a model of grammar. If thought of as
exchange, it is linked to the Tenor, i.e. teacher
engaged in introductory, explanatory discourse with
students-novice, and, if considered as organised
message, to the Mode, i.e. a written coursebook whose
medium is mixed, whose rhetorical organisation
includes, among other things, sections, sub-sections,
graphics and colors, and whose rhetorical aim is both
explanatory and persuasive.
233
Traditional Grammar studies the forms and asks
“what do forms mean?”, while Functional Grammar
studies the functions and asks “how are meanings
expressed?” FG is indebted to rhetoric in its
emphasis on text, registers and discourse. It is
sociological in orientation, in that it aims at
developing awareness of the socio-cultural
contexts in which language is used.
It is descriptive and probabilistic more than
prescriptive and normative.
(Found in Hasselgard and Johansson 2000)
234
Appendix A- Test Sample Items
1. In: Stella didn’t say a word, the Finite is
A. didn’t say a word B. didn’t

C. didn’t say D. Stella didn’t
2. the Theme is
A. Stella didn’t B. didn’t
C. Stella D. didn’t say
3. Identify the Residue in: The other few questions about word formation are
answered in the last chapter.
A. The other few questions about word formation are
B. about word formation are
C. answered in the last chapter
D. answered
4. In: The patron himself cooked us a meal, the underlined element is the
A. Receiver B. Goal
C. Range D. Beneficiary
235
5. In: At the start of the week, hopes for a peaceful conclusion to the dispute
were quite high, the underlined element is
A. a non-finite clause
B. a non-modifying Prepositional Phrase
C. an embedded Prepositional Phrase
D. a Prepositional Phrase functioning as Circumstance
6. Can I help you? What is the speech function realized by the preceding
clause?
A. Question B. Offer
C. Statement D. Command
7. Identify the participants in: Journalists (1) are not a privileged class (2)
A. (1) Carrier and (2) Attribute
B. (1) Attribute and (2) Carrier
C. (1) Possessor and (2) Possessed
D. (1) Identified and (2) Identifier
8. In: On the other hand, in my view, the results do suggest a clear preference
for continuing some kind of bilingual program, the underlined elements are,
from left to right
A. Topical – Interpersonal – Textual Theme
B. Interpersonal – Textual– Topical Theme
C. Textual– Interpersonal – Topical Theme
D. Interpersonal – Topical – Textual Theme
236
9. In: The topic for the next session (1) will be “Projection” (2), the
participants are
A. (1) Identified and (2) Identifier
B. (1) Carrier and (2) Attribute
C. (1) Actor and (2) Range
D. (1) Attribute and (2) Carrier
10. In declarative clauses the Subject is the

A. Marked Theme B. Rheme
C. Unmarked Theme D. Interpersonal Theme
11. In: In my opinion, that is the best book on the subject, the underlined
Circumstance is:
A. Contingency B. Role
C. Matter D. Angle
12. The functional analysis of the Nominal Group Those fantastic old horror
movies, from left to right reads
A. Demonstrative + Epithet + Epithet + Epithet + Thing
B. Numerative + Epithet + Classifier + Epithet + Thing
C. Demonstrative + Epithet + Epithet + Classifier + Thing
D. Numerative + Demonstrative + Classifier + Epithet + Thing
237
13. Identify the kind of modality construed in the underlined clause: We may
be late, so don’t wait for us.
A. modalization-usuality B. modulation-willingness
C. modulation-obligation D. modalization-probability
14. In: What other problems (1) do you perceive? (2), the elements are
A. (1) Phenomenon (2) mental Process
B. (1) Senser (2) mental Process
C. (1) Goal (2) material Process
D. (1) Actor (2) material Process
15. According to Functional Grammar,

A. Grammatical structures have no reference to semantics
B. Grammar is a system of communication
C. Sentences should be analysed in isolation
D. Context has no significant relation to text
238
Appendix A- Keys
1. B. didn’t
2. C. Stella
3. C. answered in the last chapter
4. D. Beneficiary
5. C. an embedded Prepositional Phrase
6. B. Offer
7. A. (1) Carrier and (2) Attribute
8. C. Textual– Interpersonal – Topical Theme
9. A. (1) Identified and (2) Identifier
10. C. Unmarked Theme
11. D. Angle
12. C. Demonstrative + Epithet + Epithet + Classifier + Thing
13. D. modalization-probability
14. A. (1) Phenomenon (2) mental Process
15. B. Grammar is a system of communication
239
Appendix B – List of Texts
The KIER GROUP text ............................... sl. 8

DUBBING ........................................... sl. 16
The MRS. MOSS text ................................ sl. 17
TIT FOR TAT ....................................... sl. 69
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST .............................. sl. 82
TIPS FOR DRIVING .................................. sl. 89
DESPERATE TEENAGER ................................ sl. 102
QUIDDITCH ......................................... sl. 111
PICNICKING IN BRITAIN ............................. sl. 198
THE SORTING HAT ................................... sl. 226
240
Unless otherwise specified, most of the authentic examples
discussed are drawn from the following sources:
The Times
The Sunday Times Style Magazine
The Financial Times
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Way up to Heaven and Other Stories by Roald Dahl
Beauty and the Beast. A pantomime.
My Name Escapes Me by Alec Guinness
At Freddie's by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Picture of Dorian Gray by O. Wilde
Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences by Galileo Galilei
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Dialogue Analysis and Multimedia Translation by M. Freddi
Thomas Kuhn: a philosophical history for our times by S.
Fuller
241
References
Bloor, T. and M. Bloor (1995) The Functional Analysis of English. London:
Arnold
Butler, S. (2003) Structure and Function. Vol. 2. Amsterdam: Benjamins
Butt, D., R. Fahey, S. Spinks and C. Yallop (1995/2001) Using Functional Grammar.
An Explorer’s Guide. Macquarie: NCELTR
Christie, F. and A. Soosai (2001) Language and Meaning. Voll. 1-2. London:
Macmillan
Downing, A. and Ph. Locke (2002) A University Course in English Grammar. London:
Routledge
Gerot, L. and P. Wignell (1994) Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Sydney: AEE
Halliday, M.A.K (1978) Language as Social Semiotic. London: Arnold
Halliday, M.A.K. (1985/1989) Spoken and Written Language. Oxford: OUP
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold,
2nd ed.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1999) The Grammatical Construction of Scientific Knowledge.
In: R. Rossini Favretti, G. Sandri and R. Scazzieri (eds.) Incommensurability
and Translation. London: Elgar, 85-116
Halliday, M.A.K. (2002) On Grammar. London: Continuum
Halliday, M.A.K. and R. Hasan (1976/1994) Cohesion in English. London: Longman
Halliday, M.A.K. and R. Hasan (1989) Language, Context and Text. Oxford: OUP
Halliday, M.A.K. and J.R. Martin (1993) Writing Science. London: Falmer
Halliday, M.A.K. and C. Matthiessen (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar.
London: Arnold, 3rd ed. 242
Hasan, R. (1985/1989) Linguistics, Language and Verbal Art. Oxford: OUP
Hasselgard, H. and S. Johansson (2000) Systemic-Functional Grammar.
http://folk.uio.no/hhasselg/systemic//
Lipson, M. Exploring Functional Grammar. Lecture Notes, A.A. 2001-2002
Lock, G. (1996) Functional English Grammar. Cambridge: CUP
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Macmillan 2002
Malinowski, B. (1923) The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages,
Supplement 1 to C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards, The Meaning of Meaning,
London: Kegan Paul
Matthews, P.H. (1997) Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: OUP
Matthiessen C. and M.A.K. Halliday (1997) Systemic Functional Grammar: a first
step into the theory. http://minerva.ling.mq.edu.au/Resources/
Martin, J.R. (1992) English Text: System and Structure. Amsterdam: Benjamins
Martin, J.R. (1998) Linguistics and the Consumer: The Practice of Theory. In:
Linguistics and Education, 9(4), 411-448
Martin, J.R. (2000) Beyond Exchange: Appraisal Systems in English. In: S.
Hunston and G. Thompson (eds.), Evaluation in Text. Oxford: OUP, 142-175
Martin, J.R. and D. Rose (2003) Working with Discourse: Meaning beyond the
clause. London: Continuum
Miller, D.R. English Linguistics. Lecture Notes, A.A. 2000-2001
NSOED in CD-rom, The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary in CD-rom
OED On-line, The Oxford English Dictionary On-line 243
Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, G. Leech and J. Svartvik (1985) A Comprehensive
Grammar of English. London: Longman
Ravelli, L. (2000) Getting Started with Functional Analysis of Texts. In: L.
Unsworth (ed.), Researching Languages in Schools and Communities. London:
Cassel, 27-64
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Blackwell, 2nd ed.
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Linguistica Aplicada, 26, 15-27
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Prof. Donna R. Miller, Chair of English
Linguistics at the University of Bologna and editor of this
series, for her time and energy dedicated to commenting on this
handbook.
244

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Functional Grammar:

Functional Grammar Studies

Chapter 2 – Ways with Words ........................... sl. 35

Chapter 3 - Interpersonal Meanings .................... sl. 69

Chapter 5 - Textual Meanings ......................... sl. 198

• M. Freddi, Functional Grammar: An Introduction for the EFL Student

Bologna, 10 November, 2004

Why study grammar?

We at Kier recognise the importance in executing the

(Adapted from Martin 1992) 10

Fig. 2- The text-context connection II 11

FIELD is both the kind of social activity effected and the

TENOR is the people involved in the language event, the more

MODE is the function accorded to the text, the rhetorical aim.

Task 2- Compare the two extracts on slide 16 and 17

(From Freddi 1998 Dialogue Analysis and Multimedia Translation)

Well, Mrs. Moss, I think you should avoid

(From Lipson 2001-2002)

b) Well, Well, Mrs. Moss, I think you should avoid sleeping

d) Christmas Greetings and Best Wishes for the Coming

e) Subject: Fwd: Re: University meeting

>At 11.13 30/06/2003 +0200, you wrote:

Task 5- What aspects

Grammar is an abstract set of rules.

The primary concern is with the forms of

Grammar = morphology and syntax

Grammarians often use made up sentences to

Grammar is a system of human communication

of grammatical structures and with their

Grammarians aim at using sentences drawn

Language is a semiotic system:

‘Functional’ means that we are

(fro m Miller 2000-2001)

Fig. 3- The Grammar-Meaning connection

It is descriptive, more than prescriptive,

We at Kier recognise the importance in executing the

We at Kier recognise the importance in executing the

The sentence above is made up of just ONE clause,

The CLAUSE is the basic unit of analysis in this

We at Kier = 1 Nominal Group (1 pronoun + 1 embedded,

The process of developing a working structure with the

We should have recognised.

1- Stella got the first prize.

They left the room quickly.

or even of a modified Adverb, as in:

We at Kier = 1 NG, 3 words

More examples of words are:

Tall, a, book, serendipity, the, cross-

Execut-ing is formed from the lexical morpheme execut- and

Work-s is formed from the lexical morpheme work- and –s

A useful exercise to improve your command of lexis is

Safe Adjective (Adjectival Group)

Safe-ty Noun (NG)

Safe-ly Adverb (AG)

Un-safe Adjective (Adjectival Group), an antonym of

A, kindness, trees, soften, moisten,

These facts seemed to me to throw some light

Deictic | Thing = experiential relation

E.g. weak force, ecological problems, water pollution,

Notice the difference between:

Qualifier = often a prepositional phrase (PP) or a

The street [around the corner]

Stella, whom you met yesterday, is coming with us to