The Grammar of Experiential Meaning TRANSITIVITY Widhiyanto Universitas

The Grammar of Experiential Meaning: TRANSITIVITY Widhiyanto Universitas Negeri Semarang widhiaistuti@staff. unnes. ac. id

Introduction l From MOOD system: In order to sustain a dialogue successfully, participants must keep negotiating, they must keep exchanging commodities, playing the roles of demander or giver, initiator or responder, as they either argue about information or transfer goods and services.

Introduction With the benefit of MOOD SYSTEM, it is possible to suggest how interactants are creating and clarifying their role relationship with each other. l In fact, it would not be possible for them to create relationships WITHOUT talking about something. Their talk has CONTENT; it makes representational, or experiential meanings. l

Introduction Thus we need to recognize that in order to take parts in texts, participants must make not only Interpersonal meaning but also experiential meaning. l We must also recognize that these type of meanings are being made simultaneously. l This simultaneous encoding of experiential and interpersonal meanings is achieved through the simultaneous structuring of the clause which together are making up the text. l

Example: But George In Switzerland they Adj: Conj Adj: Voc Adj: Circum S Re. Circum: location THEME give F P you a cognac Complement Mood Actor -sidue Process: Material Beneficiary RHEME Goal

Experiential meaning: Clause as Representation How phenomena of the real world are represented as linguistic structures. l There are three semantic categories used: 1. Circumstances 2. Processes 3. Participants l

Circumstances Answer such question as when, where, why, how many, and as what. l They realise meaning about: l o o o Time: when; is probed by when, how often, how long. Place: where; is probed by where, how far. Manner: how • • • Means: by what means; is probed by what with. Quality: how; is probed by how. Comparison: like what; is probed by what like.

Circumstances o Cause: why • • • o o o Reason: what causes the proces; is probed by why or how. Purpose: the purpose; is probed by what for. Behalf: for whose shake; is probed by for whom. Accompaniment: with(out) who or what; is probed by who or what else. Matter: about what or with reference to what; is probed by what about. Role: what as; is probed by as what.

Processes are central to TRANSITIVITY l Kinds of goings on. l Seven different type of Processes: l o o o o Material Behavioral Mental Verbal Relational Existential Meteorological

Ideational Function One way to describe a clause in functional terms is in relation to how it represents our experiences of the world. l This is called the ideational function. l This ideational function of language involves representing three main aspects of our experiences. l

3 Main Aspects of Experiences 1. 2. 3. People, things or ideas in the world – called Participants Physical activities, mental activities or states of being – called Processes Conditions or circumstances in which these activities are occurring – called Circumstances

Participants The people, ideas or things participating in the process Processes Physical activities, mental and verbal activities, states of being and having Circumstanc es Conditions such as when, where, why or how the process takes place

Functional and Grammatical Labels Functional Participants Processes Circumstanc Labels es Grammati Noun group Verb group Prepositional phrase (Prepcal (NG) (VG) Phr), Adverbial Classes group (Adv-G), NG A VG is based A prep-phrase Descriptio A NG can consist of one on a single consists of a n or more verb and may prep and a NG. nouns, include An Adv-G adjectives auxiliaries, consists of one numerals or non finite or more Advs. determiners elements A NG consists of one or more

Group and Phrase The linguistic structure of a noun group, verbs group, prepositional phrase or adverbial group may involve a single word or group of words. l Examples … l

Participant Process Her baby daughter Noun group was born The team Noun group completed Verb group Phoebe Ran Noun group Verb group Participant Circumsta s nce in the hospital. Preposition al phrase the very quickly. document Adverbial Noun group five miles. Noun group

Summary Ideational Meaning Participants Realisation Examples Noun groups Dogs, the redhaired lady, a tree with ripe fruit, poverty and honesty, veritable humility, he, Sydney Processes Verb group Do, going to do, was, will be, used to like Circummstance Prep. Phrs Down the stream, s over the moon,

PARTICIPANTS

Participants can be categorised in various ways: Human Girls and boys must go to school. Non-human Trees provide shades from the sun. Concrete The buildings were destroyed. Abstract Love conquers all. Specific The dog barked all night. Non-specific A banana is a healthy fruit. (generalise

People and things, ideas

Noun Group A NG is a group of words with noun as the focal point. l It may include Classifiers and Describers, Numeratives, Determiners, Embedded phrases or clauses, or Nominalisations. l NG may also be referred to as nominal group l A NG may comprise a number of nouns linked together, referred to as a noun complex. l

Noun Group Within a NG, different classes of words serve different functions. l Classifiers • Typically classify the Participants • They place the Participant into a particular category or classification. • They can be nouns, adjectives, e. g. stean trains, primary colours, almond trees.

Noun Group l • • Describers They are adjectives that serve the functions of describing more precisely. They provide information such as size, colour, shape or qualities, e. g. large, red, round, huggable,

Noun Group Numeratives They provide information about number or measurement such as five or first. l Determiners They serve the function of pointing out, querying or indicating ownership, such as which, whose, that. l

Noun Group Embedded phrase or clauses They serve the function of defining more precisely the Participant being referred to, e. g. the girl with dark hair, the book which I lost. l Nominalisation They are a form of abstraction in which a process is turned into a thing, e. g. the killing of the dolphins. l

Noun Group Those two large scienc books e Deter miner Numer Descri Classifi Thing ative b er er With Which I hard lost covers yesterday Embed ded phrase Embed ded clause

Noun and Pronoun l Nouns and pronouns are classes of words which may represent a single participants, a group or class of Participants, or a number of Participants. Single Participa nt Class of Participa nts A number of Participa She loves to sing. Owen is tall. Flowers grow wildly. People are coming for dinner. They came late. Crowds flocked to the seaside.

‘Mass’ and ‘Count’ Nouns ‘Mass’ noun Use less water during bushfires. ‘Count noun’ Fewer students proceeded to university this year.

Proper Nouns Proper nouns refer to names of particular people, places or events. l They mark the status with the use of a capital for the first letter of the word. l The Round Table Conference New South Wales The Prime Minister Beverly and Geoffey The 2008 Olympics Holden and Ford

Classifiers l l Classifiers function to categorise a participant by allocating it to a particular class or subclass. They indicate what ‘type of thing’ it is in relation to other classes. The tennis match (as opposed to ‘the football match’) The igneous rock (as opposed to ‘the sedimentary rock’) Human communities (as opposed to ‘animal communities’) l Classifiers can be distinguished from describers in that it is not possible to insert the word ‘very’ the classifiers, e. g a very long match, but not a very tennis match.

Describers in noun group are generally adjectives. l They describe attributes of the Participants such as size, colour, shape or qualities. l They may indicate degree of comparison within their form - known as comparative and superlative -, e. g. little – less – least; beautiful – more beautiful – most beautiful l

Big, little, Huge, size Tiny, Microscopic, gigantic Maroon, blue, colour Pink, yellow A gigantic monster A microscopic virus Good, fair, quality Beautiful, kind A fair result Beautiful countryside A blue and maroon hat A yellow daffodil Circular, square, A round barrel shape round, octagonal An octagonal room

Numeratives in the noun group usually consist of either ordinal numbers (e. g. first, second, last) or cardinal numbers (e. g. some, one, fifty). l They may indicate precise and definite information about size, weight, or order or give indefinite information such as few, many. l

Determiners in a noun group are used to query or point to a particular Participant, or to indicate ownership or possession.

querying which whose what these those Which hat will you wear? Whose car is that? What music do you prefer? That big dog bites. pointing These shoes are too small. out Those tiny flowers smell sweet. ownership my, mine, My house is near hers. our, ours, His tail wags constantly. your, yours, Their cat and dog fight. his, her, etc.

Embedded Phrases or Clauses querying l which l whose l what l Which hat will you wear? l Whose car is that? l What music do you prefer? l l pointing out

Embedded phrase The man with the dog… The girl with dark hair… Embedded clauses The man who was walking the dog … The girl who had dark hair …

Nominalisations may also be a component of a noun group. l Nominalisation involves the transformation of a process into a thing. They breed wild birds The word breed represents a Material Process l The breeding of wild birds raises ethical issues The Material Process has been transformed into a Participant.

Examples His winning the race was quite remarkable. l The breeding of wild birds in captivity is morally questionable. l The slaughtering of seals is a sad affair. l

Nominalisations may be represented as abstract nouns, gerunds or participles. l Abstract nouns include those which commonly end in –ment, -tion, -al, -age, ity as in preferment, agitation, proposal, reportage, longevity. l They are commonly found in scientific writing. l

Noun Complex Two or more nouns or pronouns may be linked together to form a noun group. l This is referred to as a noun complex. l Sharks, whales, fish, crabs and coral live underwater. She and her friend want to come. Wind and waves beat on the rock. Love and duty matter most. My friend and I are not likely to come.

PROCESSES: Material, Mental, Verbal, Relational

Physical, mental, verbal activities, states of being

Material Processes are those when obvious action takes place. l Someone or something is carrying a physical action. l They are represented in the language by words such as walk, do, act or jump. l They are commonly found in texts such as recounts, procedures and explanations. l

Examples Material (doing, behaving) I’m going to drive to the movies tonight. Adrian carries the load. They had been going to walk to … Monkeys eat bananas.

Mental Processes l Mental processes are those which represent mental activities of thinking, perceiving or feeling. Mental (thinking, perceiving, feelings) I know how to make Laksa. Marianne considered her response. Duncan believes that story. I perceive a fault. I felt very unhappy about the decision.

Verbal Processes l l l Usually involve a participant who is human or who has been given human attributes. They are represented in the language by words such as say, ask, tell, etc. They are commonly found in narrative, exposition texts, among others. Verbal (Saying, asking, telling) Owen says it can be done. Her temperature showed that she was ill. Evelyn had told Phoebe.

Relational Processes are those which establish states of being or having. l They are concerned with who or what someone or something is or what they have. l They are represented by words such as be, seem, have, etc. l They are commonly found in information reports and exposition texts. l

Relational Processes Relational (being, having, becoming, representing) Her name is Jane. Apples are crunchy. Tadpoles have no legs. Two plus two equals four.

Verb Groups Processes of doing, thinking, and saying, and the state of being and having are represented in the clause by verb groups. l A verb group may comprise a single verb or a group of words. l It may include auxiliaries and non-finite elements such as participles. l

Single verb Auxiliaries and participles They ride bikes. Evan builds houses. She watches closely. They had been going to walk to the park. I will be able to serve you in a moment.

Auxiliary verbs may assist in marking the time in which a Process is occurring or in indicating voice or modality. l Auxiliary verbs which mark time or tense may be derived from verbs such as ‘to be’ or ‘to have’. l Ben and Alex are going to the park I had moved house. Sally is doing her work. Lynn has returned from

l Participles in the ‘-ing’ (present) or ‘-ed’ (past) form or in the base form may be included in the verb group. I have walked two kilometres. I’ve walked two kilometres. Past participle I was walking two kilometres. I shall be walking 2 kilometres. I’ll be walking 2 kilometres. I shall walk to the station. I’ll walk to the station. Present participle Base form of participle

Tense Verbs may contain information about the time of the action in relation to the speaker’s or writer’s time – the moment of speaking, before it or after it. l The term ‘tense’ is used to refer to the ways in which these different times are represented in the language. l Tense is described as past, present, timeless present and future. l Tense is marked in the verb form. l

Tense Past Action occurring Sally went … in the past Present Action occurring Sally is going … in the present Future Action to occur in the future Sally will go … Action that is generalised Sally goes … Timeless present

The timeless present (sometimes referred to as the ‘habitual’ present) is a common conventional pattern of verb in information reports, descriptions and expositions. l Example: l

Polar Bears live in the Artic. They have thick, w furry coats to protect them from the cold. Polar Bears are good hunters. They eat mainly and seals. They swim strongly using only their front legs. The thick layer of fat under their skin helps them to stay above the water and keeps out the cold.

CIRCUMSTANCES

Circumstances give information about the conditions in which a Process occurs such as where, when, how, with what, why, how far, how long, about what or as what. l Circumstances can be categorised in terms of the type of information they provide: space, time, manner, means, cause, extent, accompaniment, matter, role. l

Space Time Manner Means Cause Extent They work downstairs. (NG) She goes to church every Sunday. (NG) The dog barked extremely loudly. (Av. G. ) She goes there by taxi. (Prep. phr) The sheep died of thirst. (Prep. phr) We could see for miles and miles. Accompaniment I left without my briefcase. Matter The book is about functional grammar.

Last Saturday night (time), the local council he a fancy dress ball for charity (cause) in the tow Hall (place). The Lord Mayor, who came with h current lady (accompaniment), was dressed as Old King Cole (role). He pounced around regal (manner), and the made a politically correct speech about the homeless (matter).

Circumstances l l l Circumstances are realised / represented by prepositional phrases, adverbial groups or noun groups. A prepositional phrase is a word group that is introduced by a preposition such as with, in, after, for. Adverbial groups may contain one or more adverbs. Adverbial groups which include the adverb very usually indicate Circumstances. Noun groups may be used to represent Circumstances as well as Participants.

Prepositional We arrived after lunch. phrase They sang out of tune. They performed with great success. Adverbial We arrived early. group They sang softly. They performed very successfully. Noun group They will come next week. It happened the day before yesterday.