Passive Mentally Projecting Hypotactic Verbal Group Complex Serving As Existential Process

 

Goal vs Scope

 

Prepositional Phrase As Nominal Group Post-Deictic

cf.

'Mean' As Qualitative Process

See Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 271).

Theme vs Subject

Decoding A Text By Reference To A Variety Expression

'Smattering' As Numerative

Attribute As Marked Theme Of Dependent Clause

Being And Nothingness

Classifying Registers By The Context Features They Realise

Language — Not Context

'Sneak' As Happening, Doing, Behaving And Targeted Saying

The lexical choice of 'sneak' adds a Quality feature to the Process.

In The Absence Of Isochronicity Or Synchrony

This question was asked by Jim Martin on the asflanet discussion list. Strangely, he received no replies. Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 272): 

So the more the extent of grammatical metaphor in a text, the more that text is loaded against the learner, and against anyone who is an outsider to the register in question. It becomes elitist discourse, in which the function of constructing knowledge goes together with the function of restricting access to that knowledge, making it impenetrable to all except those who have the means of admission to the inside, or the select group of those who are already there. It is this other potential that grammatical metaphor has, for making meaning that is obscure, arcane and exclusive, that makes it ideal as a mode of discourse for establishing and maintaining status, prestige and hierarchy …

How SFL Theory Accounts For The Structure Marker 'Of'

The structure marker of is analysed as a constituent of the embedded prepositional phrase serving as Postmodifier in the logical structure of a nominal group:

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 425):

We noted above that prepositional phrases serve either as Adjunct or as Postmodifier. The exception is prepositional phrases with of, which normally occur only as Postmodifier; the reason is that they are not typical prepositional phrases, because in most of its contexts of use of is functioning not as minor Process/Predicator but rather as a structure marker in the nominal group (cf. to as a structure marker in the verbal group).

Korean Nominal Group With 2 Epithets

"The Reaction Object Construction (ROC)"

 

The lexical choice of verb adds a behavioural manner to the verbal Process.

Solar Electron Neutrinos

Serbian Nominal Groups

Extending Paratactic Adverbial Group Complex As Attribute

Decoding Revolution

Self-Consciousness Without Higher-Order Consciousness

Primary Consciousness Without Self-Consciousness

A Nominal Group With Two Epithets

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 388, 389):

Saussurean Sign As Expression-Content Metaphor

Mental Clause With Depictive Attribute?

Attributive Clause With Depictive Attribute?

Identifying Clause With Depictive Attribute?

Being Macbeth drunk:

Doing Macbeth drunk:

Existential Clause With Depictive Attribute

Verbal Clause With Depictive Attribute

Subject As Unmarked Theme And Unmarked New

// 13  ៱ she had a / delicate / taste had / Irma //

Existent As Marked Theme

Same Wording, Different Transitivity

Behavioural Clauses With Depictive Attributes

Material Clause With 2 Range Participants

As Naked And Blatant As A Pig In A Cathedral

Phonological Rule As Attributive Clause

Do Insects Have "Minds"?

Attributes Of Higher-Order Consciousness

Decoding The Content Plane Of Language By Reference To The Content Of Consciousness

Verbal vs Mental Texts

Negative Polarity: Finite vs Adjunct; Mood vs Residue

 Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 145):

you may not leave before the end (‘are not allowed to’): not is part of Finite

you may not stay right to the end (‘are allowed not to’): not is part of Residue

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 177):

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 176n):

The principle is rather complex, but it works as follows: if the agnate finite clause is negative (as shown by the tag; e.g. she was never given a proper chance, was she?) then the negative Adjunct functions as Mood element. If the agnate finite clause is positive (e.g. she could not have known about it, couldn’t she?) then the negative Adjunct forms part of the Residue.

Uncovering Congruent Agency By Undoing Ellipsis And Unpacking Metaphor

A.

 (1) Reinstating the elided Agent:

(2) Unpacking the metaphorical Agent:

B.

Here, despite the fact that adults are killing children in a refugee camp, no agency whatsoever is construed.

Halliday (2003 [1993]: 215):

… it is precisely in the "reporting" of pronouncements and speeches on the one hand, and of massacres, terrorist acts and nuclear disasters on the other, that linguistic analysis most clearly reveals the opposing ideologies that are being promoted in different organs. Construing events as news is a highly political act.