ENGLISH GRAMMAR

UNIT 1: BASIC CONCEPTS

Module 1: Language and Meaning

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UNIT 1: BASIC CONCEPTS

MODULE 1: LANGUAGE AND MEANING

There are 3 strands of meaning that form the basis of a FUNCTIONAL

INTERPRETATION OF GRAMMAR. Each of them derives from a different
approach to the subject:

1. THE INTERPERSONAL MEANING represents the communicative

exchange between people.
2. THE REPRESENTATIONAL MEANING is related to the linguistic
representation of our experience of the world.
3. THE TEXTUAL MEANING derives from the consideration of the
clause as an organised message or text.

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1.1. THE INTERPERSONAL MEANING

The Interpersonal Meaning…

– …represents the communicative exchange between people.
– It is encoded through the COMMUNICATIVE ACTS or SPEECH ACTS.

COMMUNICATIVE ACTS / SPEECH ACTS

– Speech Acts are the acts by which people communicate with each other
with the aim of getting the hearer to carry out some action.
– There are 4 basic categories of Speech Acts:
Statements, Questions, Exclamations and Directives,
but the range of communicative acts is very wide: offers, reminders, echo
questions, promising, thanking, ordering, instructions, warning, advising,
requests, asking a favour, invitations, prohibitions, asking for/giving
permission, suggesting, refusing...
– The CLAUSE is the major grammatical unit used by speakers in their SPEECH
ACTS.
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1.1. THE INTERPERSONAL MEANING

MOOD STRUCTURES
Each of these basic SPEECH ACTS is associated in the grammar with a
TYPE OF CLAUSE or MOOD:
• DECLARATIVE > Statements
• INTERROGATIVE > Questions
• IMPERATIVE > Directives
• EXCLAMATIVE > Exclamations
– It is very important to distinguish the different categories of speech
acts from their grammatical realization by different types of clauses.
– Example:
Janice will give Chris the bill tomorrow
Interpersonal Subject Finite + predicator Indirect Direct Adjunct
Object Object
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1.2. THE REPRESENTATIONAL MEANING

(Representational = Experiential meaning!!!)

– Written and spoken speech acts take place in a social context.

– They reflect the speaker’s conceptualization of “what’s going
on”, which can be expressed through TRANSITIVITY
STRUCTURES that encode SITUATIONS or STATE OF AFFAIRS.

SITUATIONS or STATE OF AFFAIRS

The STATE OF AFFAIRS represent the speaker’s
conceptualization of any happening or state in real life
or in an imaginary world of the mind. The components of this
conceptualization are the SEMANTIC ROLES or FUNCTIONS.

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1.2. THE REPRESENTATIONAL MEANING

SEMANTIC ROLES and FUNCTIONS
The elements of the semantic structure are the following:
– PROCESSES: Actions, events, states, types of behaviour.
– PARTICIPANTS: Entities of all kinds, not only human, concrete and abstract, that
are involved in the process.
• AGENT (The participant that carries out the action described.)
• RECIPIENT (The one who receives the “good” or “information” encoded as
“affected”.)
• AFFECTED (The “good” or “information” received by the “recipient”.)
– ATTRIBUTES: Qualities and characteristics of the participants.
– CIRCUMSTANCES: Any kind of contingent fact or subsidiary situation which is
associated with the process or the main situation (Locative, temporal, conditional,
concesive, causative, resultant…).
Janice will give Chris the bill tomorrow
Experiential Agent Process Recipient Affected Circumstance

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1.3. TEXTUAL MEANING

The textual meaning is the meaning derived from the consideration of the
clause as an organised message or text. The clause elements can be
reordered in certain ways to facilitate the creation of textual meaning.

The way elements in a clause are ordered…

….creates / permits a coherent meaning (representational and

interpersonal).

… coheres a message, not simply as a sentence in isolation, but in

relation to what precedes in the discourse.

…derives from different textual motivations and strategies.

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1.3. TEXTUAL MEANING

THE THEMATIC STRUCTURE

The speaker organizes the informational content of the clause
so as to establish whatever point of departure is desired for
the message. The THEME coincides with the initial element or
elements of the clause. The rest of the clause is the RHEME.

Janice will give Chris the bill tomorrow

Textual Theme Rheme

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COMBINING THE THREE TYPES OF STRUCTURE

In these tables the three types of structure we have introduced are mapped
simultaneously.

Janice will give Chris the bill tomorrow

Experiential Agent Process Recipient Affected Circumstance
Interpersonal Subject Finite + predicator Indirect Direct Adjunct
Object Object
Textual Theme Rheme

Chris will be given the bill by Janice tomorrow

Experiential Recipient Process Affected Agent Circumstance
Interpersonal Subject Finite + predicator Direct Object Adjunct Adjunct
Textual Theme Rheme

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SUMMARY
In module 1 we have seen 3 different approaches to a
FUNCTIONAL INTERPRETATION OF GRAMMAR.

1. THE INTERPERSONAL MEANING which is encoded by MOOD STRUCTURES.

(The communicative exchange between people - Chapter 5)

2. THE REPRESENTATIONAL OR EXPERIENTIAL MEANING which is encoded by

THE TRANSITIVITY STRUCTURE.
(The linguistic representation of our experience of the world - Chapter 4)

3. THE THEMATIC STRUCTURE which encodes THE TEXTUAL MEANING

(Derives from the consideration of the clause as an organised message or
text - Chapter 6)

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