Tuesday 17 December 2019

Surprise Gift


Agent Phenomenon
Process: mental
Medium Senser

it
surprised
me

it
gave
me
a surprise
Agent Actor
Process: material
Beneficiary Recipient
Medium Goal

Note that if a surprise were interpreted as Scope: process, the Actor must then be incongruously interpreted as the Medium of the Process gave.

Monday 18 November 2019

Circumstantial Attributive Clause With Assignment?


the living area
extends
from the lounge room to the billiard room
Carrier
Process: circumstantial
circumstantial Attribute

the living area
has been extended
from the lounge room to the billiard room
Carrier
Process: circumstantial
circumstantial Attribute

the living area
has been extended
from the lounge room to the billiard room
by the new owners
Carrier
Process: circumstantial
circumstantial Attribute
Attributor

the new owners
have extended
the living area
from the lounge room to the billiard room
Attributor
Process: circumstantial
Carrier
circumstantial Attribute

However, ASSIGNMENT is a system that is restricted to intensive relations. Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 288):
Both ‘identifying’ and ‘attributive’ clauses of the ‘intensive’ kind have the option of ASSIGNMENT: they may be configured with a third participant representing the entity assigning the relationship of identity of attribution – for example, they in they made Mary the leader and they made Mary happy. In the case of ‘identifying’ clauses, this is the Assigner; in the case of ‘attributing’ clauses, this is the Attributor. In a ‘receptive’ clause, this participant may be left implicit.
If this is true, then it suggests a different analysis of the 'assigned' clauses above.  Given what would be the unmarked present tense, these clauses are material:
  • the new owners are extending the living area from the lounge room to the billiard room, not
  • the new owners extend the living area from the lounge room to the billiard room.
On this basis, the analyses are reinterpreted as follows:

the living area
extends
from the lounge room to the billiard room
Carrier
Process: relational
circumstantial Attribute

the living area
has been extended
from the lounge room to the billiard room
Goal
Process: material
Extent

the living area
has been extended
from the lounge room to the billiard room
by the new owners
Goal
Process: material
Extent
Actor

the new owners
have extended
the living area
from the lounge room to the billiard room
Actor
Process: material
Goal
Extent