CClause

Clause as RepresentationClause as Representationin in Hallidayan Functional EnglishHallidayan Functional English

By

Muhammad Sajid us SalamMuhammad Sajid us Salam

Mphil LinguisticsMphil Linguistics

Islamia University BahawalpurIslamia University Bahawalpur

Cupidlucid@gmail.comCupidlucid@gmail.com

Halliday’s concept of languageHalliday’s concept of language According to Halliday A language

evolves in response to the specific demands of the society in which it is used

“the nature of language is closely related to the functions it has to serve”

“It reflects aspects of the situation in which it occurs”

Representation of human experience

we use language as an instrument of thought or to conceptualize or represent the experiential or real world to ourselves, including the inner world of our own consciousness. Therefore, another name for clause as representation is clause as experiential construct

Halliday terms this aspect as the ideational function of language.

Halliday’s Functional Grammar

Functions(m etafuntions) of language accord ing to H al l iday

I deational function

I t is a m eans of refl ecting on th ings

I nterpersonal function

I t is a m eans of acting on th ings by m eans of a sym bol ic system

FU N C T I O N S O F L A N G U A G E A C C O R D I N G T O I T S U SE R S

Components of Clause as representation

F ig u re .2

Partic ipant1.subjects2.objects

ProcessVerbs

Circum istancesadjuncts and adverbs

T hey are also called the com ponents of Process

Ali gave me a book yesterday with a smile in the garden.

Process: gave

Participants: Ali ,me, a book

Circumstances: yesterday,with a smile,in the garden

What is centrally important in clause as

representation?

Process.It is so because it is process that largely determines the types of participants that are possible.Halliday refers to it as the system of transitivity.Transitivity is the overall resource for constructing goings on(experience). It means the kind of activity expressed by a sentence,participants and the manner of participants.The following figure shows the importance of process in

transitivity .

Transitivity structure

Process

participants

circumstances

Types of processes

E xis ten tia l p rocesses M ateria l p rocesses

M en ta l p rocesses R e la tion a l p rocesses

B eh aviou ra l p rocesses V erb a l p rocesses

Typ es o f p rocesses

1.Material process 2.Mental Process

3.Relational process

Behavioral process

Verbal processExistential process

Material ProcessesMaterial Processes(processes of doing)

They express the notion that some participant(called actor)does something(may be to some other entity,called goal).

Verbs of action like run,kick,climb,spring,etc are used.

Material process

ParticipantProcess

Participant

Actor Material process

Goal (optional)

Example The boy kicked The post

Example The mayor resigned (no goal)

Mental processesMental processes processes of perception,affection,cognition(thinking,knowing)

These are expressed by verbs of feeling,perceiving and thinking such as like,hate,love,know,think and understand.

Here, participants have different names of Senser(the conscious being animate or inanimate that is feeling,thinking or seeing) and Phenomenon(that which is sensed or felt)

Mental processParticipant

ProcessParticipant

Senser Mental process

Phenomenon

Example Mary liked The gift

Example I Can recognize

The king

Example Jim knows (Implied phenomenon)

Relational processesRelational processes(being and having)(being and having)

In these clauses a relation is being set up between two separate entities.

Relational clauses construe being and do this in two different modes – attribution and identification.These two types of this process have different sets of participants roles:(1)attributive clauses with Carrier+attribute, and (2)identifying clauses

Attributive clauses

Carrier Process Attribute

Your story

Mice

Sarah

My brother

Ali

sounds

are

is

is

is

complete nonsense.

timid creatures

wise

tall

a poet

Attributive and Identifying modes

In attributive mode we ascribe some quality to some entity and it means that entity is a member of the class having that quality. Ali is a poet. Poet is the name of a class.So Ali is a member of the class of poets.

1.My brother is tall. My brother(carrier=member)is tall(attribute=class) My brother belongs to the class of people who are

tall.It implies that there are other tall people besides. My brother is the tallest one in the family. My brother(identified)is the tallest one in the

picture(identifier)

Identifying mode

Identified Process Identifier

Mr. Garrick

Alice

Played

Is

Hamlet

The clever one

The difference of reversibility

The identifying clauses are reversible.It can be said The tallest one in the picture is my brother. But we can not say Tall is my brother.

Behavioral processesBehavioral processesphysiological and psychological,verbal and mental behavior

They are expressed by verbs such as cough,yawn smile,breathe,faint,sleep,,look,watch,stare,listen,think,worry,dream,sing ,dance,lie(down).sit up/down. chatter,grumble,talk,cry ,laugh, smile,frown,sing ,snarl,whine.

As distinct from other groups, only one participant is required ,the person doing the laughing,smiling and coughing or yawning.This participant is termed the BEHAVOR,a conscious being like the SENSOR but the process is more like one of “doing”

Participant

participant

Process

Behavior Behavioral process

Example They laughed

Example He frowned

Verbal processesVerbal processes(processes of saying)

This is a large category that not only includes not only the different modes of saying(asking,commanding,offering ,stating) but also semiotic processes that are not necessarily verbal(showing,indicating),as in His face tells stories untold.

The central participant is the SAYER. The VERBIAGE is what is said and TARGET or RECEIVER is the person it is said to

Verbal process

Sayer Verbal process

Receiver verbiage

Example He told me a story

Example Willie said it

Existential processesExistential processes

These represent that something exists or happens, as in There was a cat.or There was a solitary girl..In these cases what we are doing is affirming the existence of something,or someone.

As with behavioral verbs there is only one participant here.

In these clauses there acts as a grammatical subject but it doesn’t fulfill any function outside of its grammatical role.The only significant element is the thing ,or person,being affirmed as existing.This is termed the existent.

Existential verbs

Circumstance Grammatical subject

Existential process

Existent entity

Example On the wall there hangs A picture

Example There Was An old woman

Example There Seems to be

A problem

Processes and their components

process Participant 1 participant 2

Verbal Actor goal

Mental Sensor Phenomenon

Relational Carrier / identified Attribute/identifier

Behavioral Behavor

Verbal Sayer Receiver/target

Existential existent

Main types of Circumstance in EnglishType Specific categories Example

Extent Distance, duration For three hours

Location Place, time In June, from Paris

Manner Means, quality, comparison

With a hammer

Examples of circumstance

Ali had slept in the car.(location,place) See you in the morning(location,time) They pulled the ropes again(extent

frequency)

RecapRecap Significance of clause as representation Importance of process Components of process types of processes participants Types of circumstance

QuestionsQuestions

What do we mean by clause as representation ?

According to Halliday functions of language according to its users are of two types,

1 ideational function, 2.interpersonal function of language. In clause as representation we deal with

ideational functional.Speaker’s experience of the real world including his own inner world of consciousness is represented or conceptualized.

What is centrally important in clause as representation?

Answer: Process

What are the components of clause as representation?

1.Process 2.Participant 3.circumstances

What are the different types of processes? What are the main types of processes?

There are six types of processes Material processes(main)(doing) Mental processes (main)(thinking) Relational processes(main)(being and having) Behavioral processes Verbal processes Existential processes

What is VERBIAGE? What is PHENOMENON?

In verbal processes,main participant is SAYER,and VERBIAGE is what is said and RECEIVER or TARGET is the person it is said to.

PHENOMENON is the term used in mental processes it refers to the thing sensed or felt by the SENSOR

What are the three main types of circumstance?

Extent Location Manner

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