28 Labels

However, one point that we want to make is that there are good reasons
why one linguistic realization (word, group of words, and so on) may carry
more than one label even within the same model of grammar. Therefore, we
will suspend discussion of word classes and look further at some functions of
nouns and the groups in which nouns and other word classes play a key role.

2.4 Subjects

A traditional term (not a word class) still widely used is Subject. In (2),
repeated here, Wedgwood is the Subject. It is also a noun.
(2) Wedgwood experimented ceaselessly.
To say out of context that Wedgwood is a noun is quite viable. The quality of
being a noun is a feature of the word Wedgwood in virtually all circumstances.
We cannot say out of context that Wedgwood is a Subject, however, since
being a Subject is not an intrinsic feature of the word Wedgwood but only a
function which it sometimes realizes. Now consider (16).
(16) Money is the root of all evil.
What we just said about Wedgwood is equally true of money. It is always a
noun and in this example it is a Subject. It is not always a Subject, however.
For instance, in (17) and (18), money is a noun but it is not a Subject.
(17) They offered money.
(18) He is obsessed with money.
It is only in some specific instance of a clause that an item can be labelled
Subject. In SFG, money in (17) is said to be the Complement (see Chapter 3),
and the pronoun they is the Subject. In (18) he is the Subject and money is part
of a prepositional phrase (with money).
Not all the personal pronouns in Fig. 2.2 can function alone as Subject in
Standard English clauses. I, you, he, she, it, we, they, from the left-hand col-
umn, and mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs may do so. For example, in
Standard English, we say They offered money but not *Them offered money.
In fact, I, she, he, we, they nearly always realize the function of Subject (one
exception is intensive structures like It is I, which most native speakers avoid
as pedantic). Me, her, us and them never realize Subject in Standard English
(though they do in some dialects).
How do we decide then whether some word or group of words is the
Subject? With pronouns, as we have just seen, the form of the word itself (its
morphology) often reflects its function. I, he, she, we and they are all forms
which realize the Subject function, and me, him, her, us and them realize
Complements. However, pronouns are untypical in this respect. In some
 Subjects 29

languages, most words consistently vary according to their function, but in

English most words do not. So what formal clues are there to help in iden-
tifying the Subject? One is that it often determines the form of the verb. Thus
we say He is obsessed with money but They are obsessed with money or I am
obsessed with money. As we have already seen, the verb be has more forms
than other English verbs and so this agreement (or concord) with the Subject
is noticeable more frequently than with other verbs, where evidence tends to
be more restricted. Most verbs require an -s in the third person singular form,
so that a third person singular Subject such as The computer chip co-occurs
with the verb form uses as in (19), but with a plural Subject as in (19a) there
is no -s inflection on the verb. (It is a strange quirk of English morphology
that -s is the suffix denoting singularity in verbs and plurality in nouns. No
one, presumably, would wish to suggest that the -s on verbs is grammatically
the same morpheme as the -s on nouns even though they look and sound the
same.)
(19) The computer chip uses this battery of information [. . .]
(19a) Computer chips use this battery of information [. . .]

However, once again, English does not always display even these limited dis-
tinctions, and, as already mentioned, verbs like can, may and should (the
modal operators) and most past tense main verbs do not vary according to
Subject – or for any other reason.
IFG (Section 4.2) proposes one diagnostic test (or probe) for Subject which
works fairly well. The Subject is the item in the clause which is picked up in
the pronoun in a mood tag (also known as a question tag). A tag question is a
question which is made up of a clause with a short form interrogative tagged
on at the end; for example, (19b) or (19c). The mood tag is the bit at the end,
after the comma.
(19b) The computer chip uses this battery of information, doesn’t it?
(19c) Computer chips use this battery of information, don’t they?

It in the first example is the pronoun equivalent of the computer chip and they
in the second example picks up from computer chips. Hearing a sentence like
(20), we can deduce not only the Subject but also the gender of the person the
Subject refers to:
(20) The doctor prescribed these pills, didn’t she?

The choice of she is not intrinsically identified with the word doctor, but
determined by an aspect of the situation, in this case the sex of the doctor in
question. If the doctor were a man, the pronoun would reflect the fact. This is
further evidence that grammar is intimately bound up with context of situ-
ation and not just relationships within the clause.
Even given a declarative clause without a tag, the analyst can easily
30 Labels

imagine a tag and thereby identify the Subject. We look at this issue again in
Chapter 3.

2.5 Groups

2.5.1 Nominal groups

Not all nouns can stand alone in the way that proper nouns and many person-
al pronouns usually do or as some common nouns may, for example, money
in (16). The nouns computer and microchip, for example, when they occur in
the singular form, are always modified in some way by a word such as the or
a (a determiner) or the numeral one. (Such nouns are labelled count or count-
able nouns. Nouns like money are non-count or uncountable.)
Nouns can also, of course, occur with more extensive modification. We can
speak of a sophisticated computer or a computer with an external drive, or, if
we are being more expansive, a sophisticated computer with an external drive
that meets all the requirements. In a modern analysis we would say that, in
(21), the Subject is a computer with an external drive, and not just the noun
computer.
(21) A computer with an external drive works in the same way.
It is not quite right therefore to say that a noun can realize the Subject. It is
rather a nominal group that has this potential. Thus, in (21), a computer with
an external drive is a nominal group functioning as Subject of the clause. In
fact, in all the examples the Subject is realized by a nominal group, regardless
of the number of words involved. The Great Khan, current from one input,
this microprocessor, these two groups of figures, the greater danger, a micro-
processor, such a picture, the number of molecules consumed, the Air Force,
the doctor, a computer with an external drive are all nominal groups, but so
are Wedgwood, money, and he.
It may seem surprising that we should label a simple unmodified noun
(Wedgwood, money or he) as a nominal group, but this is in keeping with the
hierarchical, paradigmatic structure of the grammar. According to the rank
scale (introduced in Chapter 1), a group is made up of one or more words and
a clause is made up of one or more groups.
The key grammatical item in the group is called the Head. The remaining
elements are Modifiers. Some of the nominal groups functioning as Subject
that we have already considered are (with the Head in italics): current from
one input, this microprocessor, these two groups of figures, the greater dan-
ger, a microprocessor, such a picture, the number of molecules consumed, the
Air Force, the doctor, a computer with an external drive; Wedgwood, money,
and he.
 Groups 31

To sum up, a nominal group is typically a group with a noun (or pronoun)
as its Head, and that noun may be modified, but it does not have to be
modified in order to constitute a group in this technical sense. To make an
analogy with a non-linguistic situation: a boat has a crew, and one person is
the captain of that boat, but a boat may have a crew of one, and that one is by
definition the captain. We have also seen that one of the functions which a
nominal group can realize is that of Subject. We can now deal very briefly
with other groups.

2.5.2 Verbal groups

Just as a nominal group may consist of a simple noun, a verbal group may
consist of a simple verb; for example directs in (5), is in (8), works in (9). A
verbal group may also be more complex, as with was developed in (1); is
obsessed in (18); must be based in (22) or had been developing in (23).
(22) Price movements must be based on the beliefs of the investing public.
(23) They had been developing a similar process before this.
Finiteness is a quality which is not exclusive to the subclass of finite opera-
tors. Where the verbal group is a single word (e.g., directs, uses, prescribed,
works in the previous examples), it may be referred to as a simple finite verb.
That word is the Head of its group. Where the verb is more complex, the Head
is the finite: must in must be based in (22), had in had been developing (23).
The verbal group may have been being written has five elements. The
breakdown here is as follows:
may: (modal operator)
have: auxiliary (bare infinitive)
been: auxiliary (past participle)
being: auxiliary (present participle)
written: lexical verb (past participle)
In fact, a more abstract analysis would cut across most of the words to give:
have plus the past participle morpheme (-en), which together indicate per-
fect aspect (completion)
be plus present participle morpheme (-ing), which together indicate con-
tinuous (i.e., progressive) aspect
be plus past participle morpheme (-en), which together indicate passive
voice.
So, on this analysis, this verbal group is modal perfect progressive passive. In
(22) must be based is modal passive, and in (23) had been developing is past
perfect continuous. There is further discussion of the verbal group in Chapter 3.