The Idea of Transitivity: Analyzing

Clause by Halliday’s Transitivity

System
Presented by:
Ivy J. Antonio and Angelica Chilos
M.A. English Studies: Language
University of the Philippines
 Background

 According to Halliday (1985a), there

are three major functions of
language
 ideational
 textual
 interpersonal
 Background

 The ideational function is the use of language

to express content and to communicate
information.
 The ideational function involves two main
system
 transitivity
 ergativity
 Background

The textual function

 use of language to signify discourse
 Can be classified into two structures
thematic structure
information structure
 Background

 Interpersonal function
 Use of language to establish and maintain
social relations
 Background

 Transitivity is normally understood as the grammatical

feature, which indicates if a verb takes a direct object;
and we know some of the terms below:
 If the verb takes a direct object, then it is described as
transitive, and
 It is called intransitive if it does not
 An extension of this concept is the ditransitive verb,
which takes both a direct and an indirect object
 Halliday’s transitivity: a brief
introduction

Grammatical transitivity - concerned with the

relations between elements in a clause

I walked INTRANSITIVE CLAUSE

I walked the dog TRANSITIVE CLAUSE

 Halliday’s transitivity: a brief
introduction

 In his Introduction to Functional Grammar, whether

the verb takes or does not take a direct object is not a
prime consideration.
Halliday: The system of transitivity in language is
concerned with representing patterns of experience,
“of goings on” and “happenings” in the world….It
construes the world into a manageable set of
PROCESS types and of PARTICIPANTS.
Halliday’s transitivity: a brief
introduction

PROCESS
Material
PARTICIPANT Verbal PARTICIPANT

Mental etc.
 Halliday’s transitivity: a brief
introduction

 There are three components of what

Halliday calls a
“transitivity process”
 The process itself
 Participants in the process
 Circumstances associated with the process
 Halliday’s transitivity: a brief
introduction
 Halliday, however, found the new concept of
transitivity.
In traditional grammar:

I walked the dog

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

In systemic functional grammar:

I walked the dog

PARTICIPANT PROCESS PARTICIPANT
 Halliday’s transitivity: a brief
introduction

 In connection with the transitivity, let us see the

definition of clause below:
 “A clause in English is the simultaneous realization of
ideational, interpersonal and textual meanings.”
(Halliday, 1981:42)
 A clause is the product of three simultaneous
semantic processes. It is at one and the same time a
representation of experience (ideational), an
interactive exchange (interpersonal), and a message
(textual) (Halliday, 1985: 53)
 Theoretical Review

 There are three kinds of grammar

 Theme is the grammar of discourse
 Mood is the grammar of speech function
 Transitivity is the grammar of experience
Halliday also defines transitivity as “the grammar of the clause”
as a “structural units” for “expressing a particular range of
ideational meanings.”
 Theoretical Review

 In the transitivity system, there are six types of

process, namely: material, mental, relational, verbal,
existential and behavioral.
 Theoretical Review

 Material (‘doing’ ): kick, run, paint, repair, send, burn)

 Mental (‘experiencing’ or ‘sensing’): see, hear, know, like
 Verbal (‘saying’): say, tell, warn, argue, ask, …
 Relational (‘being’ or ‘becoming’): be, have, become, ...
Sometime also recognized:
 Behavioral (laugh, talk, cry, breath),
 Existential (‘exist’. “there is…”)
A. Material Process: Processes of
Doing

 Material Processes: physical actions in the real world.

Participants:
 Actor: the one who does the action
 Goal: The one who is affected by the action
 Recipient: the one who receives something
 Beneficiary: the one for whom something is done
 A. Material Process: Processes of
Doing
Actor Process Goal
Apparently, when Vice President Jejomar negotiated with his college classmates Nur to try to end the fighting in Zamboanga City,
Binay Misuari last Friday, he did so on his own behalf.

He did not represent President Aquino but acted as his own

principal.

...his next sentences places the President of the Philippines outside the
framework of discussion --

as though Binay negotiated with Misuari without the President's

objectives or conditions in mind.

In the first place, his statement suggests that President Aquino was a third party,
rather than the person Binay was
representing
 B. Mental Processes: Process of
Sensing

 Mental Processes: processes of

perception, cognition, affection
 Senser: the one who does the mental
action
 Phenomenon: The thing that is
perceived, thought, appreciated
 B. Mental Processes: Process of
Sensing

Senser Process Phenomenon

We wish to make an important

distinction

But I know the president

He would not like that

C. Relational Processes: Processes of
Being

 Relational Processes: expressing possession,

equivalence, attributes...
C. Relational Processes: Processes of
Being

Carrier Process Attribute

There was a good start

Both are for peaceful settlement

 D. Behaviorial Processes

 physiological and psychological behaviour

 borderline between material and mental processes
 Behavioral processes “represent outer manifestations of inner
workings, the acting out of processes of consciousness and
physiological states”
 least salient of Halliday’s six process types
 the boundaries of behavioral processes are indefinite
 Behaver - the participant who is behaving, conscious being
 intransitive
Behaver process
Binay did right (in offering to talk to Misuari)

He did not represent Pres. Aquino

Binay negotiated (with Nur Misuari)
Binay and his communication erred (in crafting their message)
team
 E. Verbal Processes

 process of saying
 borderline between mental and relational processes
 expresses the relationship between ideas constructed
in human consciousness and the ideas enacted in the
form of language
 Sayer - The participant who is speaking
 Target - addressee to whom the process is directed is
 Verbiage - what is said is
Sayer Process Receiver Verbiage

Binay told him “What if we talk about a ceasefire?”

Defense Secretary said “But I know the President, he will not like
Voltaire Gazmin that”

He told the world an agreement had been reached between

the two college classmates
 F. Existential processes

 processes of existing and happening

 Existential sentences typically have the verb be, and
the word there is necessary as a Subject although it
has no representational function.
 Existent- The object or event that is being said to exist
 Process existent
There was a good start
President Aquino was a third party

One of Misuari’s conditions was safe passage for all his followers
involved in the adventurist
incursion in Zamboanga
 Analyzing “Si Malakas at Si Maganda”
using the Transitivity System

 Si Malakas at si Maganda
 Retold by: Teofilo del Castillo
 Material processes
Actor Process Goal
A bird was then flying in the sky
She made the sea throw rocks up at the sky

And the sky turned very dark and poured down water

Now the waves break on the shore and can never rise up as high as the
sky again

…the bird flew away as fast as he could

She saw the land that was created

She could see tropical tress, throwing up their naked

shoulders

She could not quench her thirst with the salty water

She, therefore, looked for rivulets

She alighted and started to peek on the bamboo clumps
 Material processes
Actor Process Goal
She wanted to know that voice really was.

She snatched a piece of rock nearby

and dropped it on the bamboo

The bamboo was broken and split in two.

A man and a woman stepped out of the bamboo joint

The woman gave recognition to the man

The appearance of the human frightened the bird.

beings

She forgot her thirst

 Relational process
Carrier Process Attribute

These green things were merely bamboos.

The bird was extremely frightened

As she was smart…

She became thirsty

The bird became more curious

Realizing that some water was stored in the bamboo joints

 Verbal Processes
Sayer Process Verbiage
A weak voice cried “Peck harder, peck harder,”

The weak voice complained again “Peck harder, peck harder,”

 Behavioral Processes
Behaver process
She restrained herself.
She pecked, pecked, and pecked.

She pecked and pecked (with all her might.)

They walked away (hand in hand.)

She could not

She flew away
 Existential Processes
Process existent

There was no land

There were only the sea and the sky

That was How the island came about

Unfortunately, there was none