Language, text & Context - City University of Hong...

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T e x t

FieldTenor

Mode

Language, text & Context

What’s going on?

Who is involved?

How is language used?

Interpersonal meanings

Textual meanings

Ideational meanings


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His wife was working inside the house

units of lexicogram

mar

group group group

c l a u s e

word word word wordword wordword

The rank scale

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We have looked at the clause from the perspective of experiential meaning – how we

construct our experience of the world

clauseClause

transitivity

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FieldTenor

Mode


What’s going on?

Who is involved?


Experiential meanings

grammar

of

transitivity

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Grammar of experience

• EVENTS – what happened (doings, happenings,

sayings, states etc)

• WHO and/or WHAT was involved in the events

• CIRCUMSTANCES surrounding events – when,

where, why etc6

expressing our experience

we talk about:

Participants,

processes

circumstances,

who

did what

to whom

when, where, how, why etc

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Now in addition…

1. to interact with others in particular ways,

2. to express our attitude towards what we

are talking or writing about;

3. and to evaluate what we are talking or

writing about

we use language

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interpersonal

meaning

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Field

Mode


What’s going on?

Who is involved?


Experiential meanings

TenorInterpersonal meanings

grammar

of Mood

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So we will look at the clause from a secondperspective - the perspective of

interpersonal meaning

clause

experiential interpersonal

clause

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1 How we use language to interact

Consider what the mother is doing in the following clauses?

Mother I’m having a sandwich for lunch

Mother Stephen, what are you having for lunch?

giving

seeking

informationasserting /

stating

information asking / questioning

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What is the mother doing in the following clauses?

Mother I’ll get you a sandwich for lunch.

Mother eat your sandwich Stephen

offering

Demanding a service (or behaviour) commanding

giving a service (or behaviour)

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What is the mother doing in the following clauses?

Mother Do you like sandwiches?

Mother What a delicious sandwich! exclaiming

seeking information asking / questioning

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Mother I’m having a sandwich for lunch

Mother Stephen, what are you having for lunch?

Mother I’ll get you a sandwich for lunch.

Mother eat your sandwich Stephen

Mother Do you like sandwiches?

Mother What a delicious sandwich!

stating

asking

offering

ordering

exclaiming

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So when we interact via language with others we exchange something ;

What we exchange is

1. some information, or

2. some commodity (goods or services),

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The role of a speaker in an exchange involves either

1. giving, or

2. Demanding

If we put together what is exchanged with

the role in the exchange

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interpersonal meaning 1

Exchanging involves

giving demanding

Goods/services

information

offercommand /instruction

statement question18

demanding

• Mother now Stephen, do you want a sandwich for lunch • Stephen yes (I want a sandwich for lunch)• and (I want) some passion fruit


A goods/services exchange involves

giving

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demanding

• Stephen Do you know where the passionfruit is? • Mother No (I don’t know where the passionfruit is)


An information exchange involves

giving

But what is given or demanded may be EITHER

Information

or

Goods/services

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• Mother now Stephen, do you want a sandwich for lunch • Stephen yes (I want a sandwich for lunch)• and (I want) some passionfruit

• Stephen Do you know where the passionfruit is?

• Mother No (I don’t know where the passionfruit is

• you were walking around with it

• what did you do with it?

offer

command

question

statement

Exchange labels

question

statement

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role

commodity

give demand

Information

Goods/

services

command; (request; order;

instruction)offer

statement question

Speech functions

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The grammar of interpersonal meanings

• Each move in an exchange - each speech function - offer; question; statement; command - happens over a single clause.

Stephen where is the passionfruit?

question

Circ Process Participant

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grammar of interpersonal meanings

2 grammatical features of the clause

express its speech function. These

featureas are called..

e.g.Subject Finite

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Did you?

I didn’t

You did!

I didn’t

Bernard did

F S

FS

FS

FS

FS

Mother: someone spilt coffee on the mat?

Subject & Finite

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Did you (spill coffee on the mat)?

She did (spill coffee on the mat)

F S

F S

Interpersonal grammar

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Interpersonal grammar

Mother: Someone spilt coffee on the mat

Did you?

Stephen: I didn’t

Mother: You did!

Stephen: I didn’t

Did Bernard?

Bernard: I didn’t

Stephen did.

question

statement

statement

statement

question

statement

statement

F S

F S

S FS F

S F

F S

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the Mood structure

This 2-element structure – S F - that expresses the speech function of the

clause is called ….

= Subject and Finite

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Mood

the Mood structure of the clause consists of the elements:

Subject

Finite

nominal group

auxiliary verb

expressed by

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FAQ: which nominal group is the Subject?

The Subject is the nominal group that

1. usually comes first in the clause;

2. appears in a question tag because….

3. It functions as the thing (person, object, idea) that can be argued about

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Which nominal group is the Subject?

The Subject is the nominal group that

1. usually comes first in the clause, e.g.

• Mother do you want a sandwich• Stephen yes • and (I want) some passionfruit

• Stephen Where is the passionfruit?

• Mother I don’t know

• you were walking around with it.

• what did you do with it? 32

The Subject nominal group is usually first, except:

in most WH- questions

Question words that begin with

Wh-

What are WH-questions

who, which, what, where, when, why, how

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The Subject nominal group is usually first, except:

in WH- questions

• Stephen Where is the passionfruit?

• Mother I don’t know

• you were walking around with it.

• What did you do with it?

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Which nominal group is the Subject?

2. The Subject is the nominal group that

turns up in a question tag

you were walking around with it,

question tag

weren’t you.

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Question tags

Your parents don’t like him,

Peter’s been ill,

That pen isn’t yours,

We are early,

do they?

hasn’t he?

is it?

aren’t we?

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Subject turns up in the tag because it

is the thing (or person or idea) that

can be argued about

Question tags

Mother: You spilt coffee on the mat, didn’t you?

Stephen: I didn’t

Mother: you did, didn’t you?

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Subject is…

• the Thing that can be argued about, i.e.

• the resting point of the argument

e.g.

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A scorpion and a frog met on the bank of a stream

No they didn’t (meet on the bank of a stream)

Yes they did (meet on the bank of a stream)

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A scorpion and a frog were meeting on the bank of a stream

No they weren’t (meeting on the bank of a stream)

Yes they were (meeting on the bank of a stream)

What else turns up in the argument?

i.e. a part of the verbal group, - the Finite

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Question tags

the Finite

also turns up in the tag

Mother: You spilt coffee on the mat, didn’t you?

Stephen: I didn’t

Mother: you did spill it, didn’t you?

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The Finite is..

the part of the verbal group that expresses:

1. the tense (time) of the event, or

2. the speakers’ opinion (modality)

Another name for the Finite is “auxiliary verb”

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Temporal Finite - expressing tense (time)

Finding the Finite

e.g. They will come up to me

Since the Finite occurs as part of the verbal

group before the lexical verb, first locate the

verbal group and then locate the Finite

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M I wonder what your teachers are doing today

S Mm .. maybe they are having a meeting

M Yes ..

they were having a meeting on Friday

S they're having a day off today ..

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Finding the Finite

Identify the verbal group and then the Finite element

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Identify the Subject in each clause

M I wonder what your teachers are doing today

S Mm .. maybe they are having a meeting

M Yes ..

they were having a meeting on Friday

S they're having a day off today ..

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the Mood structure (S & F) in each clause is therefore:

Mother I wonder what your teachers are doing today

Stephen Mm .. maybe they are having a meeting

Mother Yes .. they were having a meeting on Friday

they're having a day off today ..

S F

S F

S F

S F

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Add a question tag and then identify the Subject and Finite in each clause

I have found this penguin.

Today I am taking him to the movies.

Didn’t you take him to the zoo

haven’t I?

aren’t I?

did you?

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warning

Sometimes the temporal Finite is

“fused” with the lexical verb, e.g.

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As soon as they had eaten, Mrs Piggott

washed the dishes… washed the

clothes… did the ironing… and then

she cooked some more.

Finding the Finite

Locate the verbal groups

only 1 verbal group has a Finite that is separate from the lexical verb

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As soon as they had eaten, Mrs Piggott

washed the dishes… washed the

clothes… did the ironing… and then

she cooked some more.

Finding the Finite

Finite fused with lexical verb

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How to separate the Finite when it is fused with the lexical verb

1. Turn the statement….

Mrs Piggott washed the dishes

Did Mrs Piggott wash the dishes?

into a question, e.g.

F

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2. Put a question tag on the end of the statement…

Mrs Piggott washed the dishes didn’t she?

How to separate the Finite when it is fused with the lexical verb

FF

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As soon as they had eaten,

and then she cooked some more.

did the ironing…

washed the clothes

Mrs Piggott washed the dishes

S F

S F

F

F

FS

Note the ellipsis of the

Subject

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• We left Monkey Mia

• and headed south to Kalbarri.

• The entrance to this town is lined with wild

flowers, banksia, wattles etc.

• It’s an avenue of magnificent bouquets

Use a question tag to find the Finite

didn’t we

didn’t we

isn’t it

isn’t it

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• and as you look down the long stretch of road

• you see the most aqua blue water everywhere.

• We did a lot of whale watching on our first day there

• and saw lots of whales [[heading south]].

Find the Finite

Note the ellipsis of the Subject

we

don’t you

don’t you

didn’t we

didn’t we

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The Finite element…expresses tense or modality

Mr Piggottlived

with his two sons, S & P

in a nice house with a nice garden, and a nice car in the nice garage.

has (lived)

did (live)

will (live)

must (live)

might (live)

tensem

odality

S F

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Modals express the speaker’s opinion in terms of:

obligation/

necessity

is required to

•must

•should

•need to

•ought to

•have to

You must leave early

You should leave early

You need to leave early

You ought to leave early

You have to leave early

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ability

is able to

•can/could

volition/

prediction

is willing to

•shall/should

•will/would

You can leave early

You shall leave early

You will leave early58

possibility

° of certainty

• must

• may/might

• could

• would


You must be tired

You might be tired

You could be tired

You would be tired

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permission

is allowed to

•can/could

•may/might

Modals express the speaker’s opinion in of:

You can go early

You may go early

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Find the Finite and indicate whether it expresses tense or modality

• When you are leaving the building

• you must turn the alarm on.

• You will find the alarm switch near the door.

• You should not enter the code

• in order to set the alarm Non-Finite clause

Ftense

Fmodality

Fmodality

Fmodality

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Non-Finite clauses

do not involve ellipsis

After eating our dinner

we headed to the beach

to escape the heat

S Ftense

Non-Finite clauses

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Mood elements - Subject and Finite

tend to stick together even though they move about and change their

order in the clause

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either Subject or Finite may come first

Mother: Who spilt coffee on the mat?

Did you?

Stephen: I didn’t

F ^ S

S ^ F

Subject and Finite

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When Subject comes before Finite, (S ^ F)

the clause is said to be declarative in form,

Mood

When Finite comes before Subject, (F ^ S)

the clause is said to be interrogative in form

e.g. I didn’t spill coffee on the mat.

e.g. Did you spill coffee on the mat

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So the order of S and F is what expresses the Mood of the clause

S F

SF

= declarative clause

= interrogative clause

I didn’t

Did you?

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give demand

Goods/

services

information

command; offer

statement question

Structure and function of clauses in

information exchanges

Declarative(S ^ F)

Interrogative(F ^ S)

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S F

We left Monkey Mia we past

and headed south to Kalbarri we past

The entrance to this town is lined with wild

flowers, banksia, wattles etc.

The entrance to

this townpresent

It’s an avenue of magnificent bouquets It present

and as you look down the long stretch of road you present

you see the most aqua blue water everywhere you present

We did a lot of whale watching on our first day we past

and saw lots of whales [[heading south]]. (we) past

Summary of Mood analysis of travelogue text

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Other elements of the Mood structure of the clause

Mood block = Subject and Finite

+

a negative expressing negative polarity

and/or

a modal Adjunct

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polarity

All English clauses have positive or negative polarity, i.e. an event did or did nothappen

•positive polarity is assumed and so is unmarked;

•negativity is marked (by the negative not)

S Fneg

Stephen didn’t spill coffee on the mat,

F S

did he?

S F

Stephen spilt coffee on the mat,

F S

did he?

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Modal adjuncts

As well as (or instead of) using a modal at Finite position to express opinion, we can use an Adjunct such as:

possibility e.g. perhaps; certainly; probably; I think

obligation e.g. definitely; absolutely; at all costs

usuality e.g. usually; always; never; sometimes

willingness e.g. willingly, readily; gladly;

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Perhaps he did spill coffee on the mat

She didn’t spill coffee on the mat

Mood = Subject and Finite +

a negative and/or modal Adjunct

Subject Finite +neg

Mood

Modal Subject Finite

Mood

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some clauses contain no S or F

Be careful will you?

Sit down will you?

these clause forms are known as imperative forms

imperative forms typically function as commands (but may also function as offers)

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summary• interpersonal meaning involves the speech function

of clauses – statement, question, command and offer

• these speech functions are typically expressed by the presence and the ordering in the clause of the elements of Mood structure –

Subject and Finite

• S ^ F = declarative Mood form

• F ^ S = interrogative Mood form

= statement

= question

• F ^ S = imperative Mood form = command or offer 74

• To find the Subject and the Finite, add a question tag to the clause because S and F always turn up in the tag.

• the Finite element is the first word in the verbal group. It expresses tense (time) or modality (opinion). Some clause may have no Finite element – they are non-finite.

• opinion can be also expressed by a modal adjunct

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• “Sir,” said the young man, //“I ’d like to marry your daughter.”//

• “So,” replied the father, //“You want to become my son-in-law, ?”

Find the Subject

•“Not really, //but I don’t have much choice, ?

do you

do I

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Find the Finite

• “Sir,” said the young man, “I ’d like to marry your daughter.”

• “So,” replied the father, “You want to become my son-in-law, ?”

•“Not really, but I don’t have much choice, ?

do you

do I

the polarity in the tag may be the same as in the main clause or it may be the opposite

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“Sir,” said the young man

“I ’d like to marry your daughter.”

F S

FS

in the first clause the order of the Mood elements is the ordering associated with interrogative clauses

(F ^S). Nevertheless, this is a declarative clause because it expresses the speech function statement.

Only certain verbs can be involved in this ordering of S and F to form a declarative clause, i.e. verbs of

saying.

declarative Mood form

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Mood block

Subject Finite

“ Sir,” said the young man The young man Tensepast

“I ’d like to marry your

daughter.”I (=young man) Modalpossibility

“So,” replied the father, the father Tensepast

“You want to become my son-

in-law, do you?”You (=young man) Tensepresent

“(I do) Not really (want to

become your son-in-law),I (=young man) Tensepresent neg

but I don’t have much choice,

do I”?I (=young man) Tensepresent neg

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