Scribd
Upload
4 views4 pages

Lecture 13

The document outlines Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar, focusing on the functional analysis of clauses in English. It explains the three meanings associated with clauses: as messages, exchanges, and representations, emphasizing the importance of themes and rhemes in sentence structure. The document provides examples of how themes can vary in different sentence types, including declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences.

Uploaded by

gaddemmit02
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4 views4 pages

Lecture 13

The document outlines Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar, focusing on the functional analysis of clauses in English. It explains the three meanings associated with clauses: as messages, exchanges, and representations, emphasizing the importance of themes and rhemes in sentence structure. The document provides examples of how themes can vary in different sentence types, including declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences.

Uploaded by

gaddemmit02
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

KARATINA UNIVERSITY

ENG 410 MODULE – ADVANCES IN THE DESCRIPTION OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR


LECTURE 13: Systemic Functional Grammar

Purpose –To equip the learner with knowledge on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar

Outcomes
By the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:
 Explain the tenets of Systemic Functional Grammar
 Analyze sentences using the tenets of Systemic Functional Grammar

A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE CLAUSE


Earlier, we saw that functional grammar is both functional and semantic in approach.
For this reason, the analysis of a clause is based on the function it plays in language. In
turn, the function determines the interpretation/meaning the clause is given. There are
three meanings associated with the clause in Functional Grammar. These are:
 Clause as message
 Clause as exchange
 Clause as representation.
We will look at each of these in turn.

CLAUSE AS MESSAGE/ TEXTUAL FUNCTION


The clause is said to be a message if it is organised as a communicative event. In
English for example, the clause is organised as message by giving one of its parts
special attention. This part is called the theme and it is the element that serves as the
point of departure for the message. It expresses what the clause is concerned with and is
placed first in the sentence. For instance, in the sentence: “Her children are studying
abroad”, the theme is ‘her children’ because it is what the speaker wants to say
something about. After the theme comes the rheme. This is the remainder of the
message in which the theme is developed. In the sentence above, ‘are studying abroad’
is the rheme because it gives us information about the theme.
In most cases, the theme is a nominal group (noun phrase). However, there are
instances in which it is a prepositional phrase or an adverbial group. Consider the
following examples in which the theme is in boldface.
Theme Rheme Type of theme
1) The dog chased the boy. Nominal group
2) The boy was chased by the dog. Nominal group
3) In the dark, the dog chased the boy. Prepositional phrase
4) Suddenly, the dog chased the boy. Adverbial group

Sometimes, special expressions such as ‘as for’ ‘with regard to’ and ‘about’ are used to
introduce a nominal theme. Here are examples:

Theme Rheme
5) As for the boy, he was chased by the dog.
6) With regard to the dog, it chased the boy.
7) About the dog, it chased the boy.

It is possible for the theme to consist of two or more elements forming a single complex
element. In such cases, the theme is represented by two or more phrases. In (8) below,
two nominal groups are used in apposition (side by side and referring to the same person)
and jointly function as theme.

Theme Rheme
8) The party leader, a true democrat, is respected by many.
9) Odhiambo, a father of twins, won the award.

In all the examples above, the sentences are declaratives. How then is the theme rheme
structure represented in interrogative and imperative sentences? Examples follow:

WH- INTERROGATIVES
Theme Rheme
10) Who took my keys?
11) How many sodas did you take?
12) With whom have you arrived?

As is evident in the examples above, the theme is either the wh- word or the group in
which the wh- word occurs (note: ‘how’ falls in this group because it is used in much
the way as the wh- words). With yes-no interrogatives, the theme includes the finite verb
but it extends over to the subject as in the examples below. The finite verbs are ‘did’ and
‘must’.
YES-NO INTERROGATIVES
Theme Rheme
13) Did they make it on time?
14) Must she leave now?

There are two ways of analysing an imperative sentence. One, it can be assumed that since
there is no subject, there is no theme. Two, since the theme is associated with the first
position, the verb can be considered the theme. We illustrate the alternative analyses:

IMPERATIVES
Theme Rheme
15) Ø recite the poem.
16) Recite the poem.

(Note: the symbol in (15) means null/nothing).


To wind up this section on clause as message, let us consider examples in which the
theme is a whole clause.

CLAUSES AS THEME
Theme Rheme
17) What you bought is a valuable asset.
18) Whoever comes will be received warmly.

References
1. Collins, P. (2000). English Grammar. Palgrave: Macmillan.
2. GreenBaum, S. (1991). Introduction to Grammar of English. Longman Burnt Mill Harlow.
3. Leech, G. and Svartvik, J. (1994). A Communicative Grammar of English Longman: London and
New York.
4. Burton, S.H. (1984). Mastering English Grammar Macmillan, London

3
4

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy