LIN 222

INTRODUCTION TO
FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

Professor Oye Taiwo (2023)

Department of Linguistics & African Languages,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
[email protected]; [email protected]
08053506069; 08024661260
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Basic tenets 2
Basic Concepts in Functional Grammar 2
The Concepts of Clause and Sentence 3
System vs Structure (Paradigmatic Organization) 3
Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations 3
Paradigmatic Relation 4
Syntagmatic Relation 6
The Goals of Functional Grammar 7
Classes and Functions in Functional Grammar 7
Subject and Theme 8
There types of subjects: Theme, Subject and Actor 8
FG Metafunctions 11
Textual Metafunction – Clause as Message 12
Interpersonal Metafunction: Clause as Exchange 13
Ideational/Experiential Metafunction: Clause as Representation 13
Processes 14
Functional Analysis 17
The Mood Element of a Clause 19
The Subject 19
The Finite 19
The Residue Element 20
The Predicator 20
Complement 20
Adjunct 20
Other Kinds of Adjuncts 21
Vocative 21
Mood Types 22
Indicative Mood 22
Imperative Mood 23
Theme 23
Group/phrase complexes as Theme 24

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 FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

A language is regarded in the first place as an instrument by means of which people can enter into
communicative relations with one another. Halliday’s grammar begins from the premise that
language has certain functions for its users as a social group, so that it is primarily sociolinguistic
in nature.

Functional grammar (FG) is a form of grammatical description originated by Michael A.K.

Halliday. It is part of a social semiotic (the study of signs and symbols and how they are used)
approach to language called functional linguistics (FL). FG is the interpretation of the
grammatical patterns in terms of configurations of functions relevant to the analysis of text, (text
is. everything that is said or written). The focus of FG is on language in use, and, indeed, Halliday
defines a functional grammar as essentially a ‘natural’ grammar, in the sense that everything in
it can be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used.

Basic tenets
The key terms in this approach to grammar, which forms part of the account of how language
works are: system, (meta)function, and rank. Another key term is lexicogrammar. In this view,
grammar and lexis are two ends of the same continuum. Analysis of the grammar is taken from a
trinocular perspective, meaning from three different levels. So to look at lexicogrammar, we can
analyze it from two more levels, 'above' (semantic) and 'below' (phonology). This grammar gives
emphasis to the view from above. Grammar is described as systems not as rules, on the basis that
every grammatical structure involves a choice from a describable set of options.

Basic Concepts in Functional Grammar

Functional Grammar focuses on the functions of language. It is one of the two major schools of
Linguistics (the other is Transformational Generative Grammar, TGG). Systemic Functional
Grammar (SFG) is a grammar that sees language as a system for making meaning. Functional
Grammar (FG) believes that every time we make a choice, we are doing so in order to fulfil a
communicative purpose. Grammar refers to the fact that there is an overall organization of all these
available options. SFG seeks to know how language is used in social contexts to achieve certain
goals.

Language in SFG is seen as a social phenomenon which is functional. The functions of language
include both the use of language (how and why people use language) and the linguistic functions
(the grammatical and semantic roles assigned to part of language) thereby examining language in
relation to the social interactions which a language encodes. It views language as a resource for
making meaning in understanding how text works. Text is the language expressed either by writing
or speaking though chunks of units from the grammar of the language. This theory is strongly
oriented to the description of how language makes meaning in context. It simply means text is
language doing some job in some contexts as opposed to isolated words or sentences.

The three fundamental theoretical claims of FG are:

• Language is functional
• The functions are to make meaning
• These functions are influenced by the social and cultural contexts in which they are
exchanged
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We can then summarize that the focus of FG is how people use language. The basic concepts in
Functional Grammar to be discussed are the concepts of clause and sentence, system versus
structure and the goals of Functional Grammar.

The Concepts of Clause and Sentence

A clause is any syntactic unit whose structure is seen as reduced from that of a sentence. A clause
within the Functional Grammar is classified into Subject (S), Finite (F), Predicator, (P)
Complement (C), and Adjunct (A). Finte (F) and Predicator (P) belong to the verbal group and the
first element in the group is known to be the F while the other element(s) in the group is P.
Traditionally, a sentence is any grammatical structure of language that has at least an independent
clause. That is a sentence may have more than one clause. Additionally, it means that a sentence
can have many predicators but a clause can only have one predicator or one subject. When a
sentence contains just an independent clause, it is called a simple sentence. Therefore, a sentence
can be analysed in terms of functional immediate constituent and if a sentence has more than one
clause, it is analysed based on the relationship existing between the clauses within that sentence
(clause complex). The technical term for this relationship is known as logico-semantics.

System vs Structure (Paradigmatic Organization)

Two kinds of relations can be observed when describing language. They are the syntagmatic
relation (structure) and the paradigmatic relation (system). A linguistic item in a system obtains its
meaning by entering into both paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations with other items. A
paradigmatic relationship is the relations of opposition or choice that exist between linguistic
features while a syntagmatic relationship captures both the linear relationship that exists in any
structural arrangement of words as well as the collocation that exists among particular lexical
items. It is the interconnection that results from signs simultaneously entering into both
paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationships that establishes a system network. Thus, a system
network represents a class of linguistic choices available to the language user and specifies how
these choices are realised as structure, which is a sequence of ordered linguistic items. A
syntagmatic relation has to do with the ordering of linguistic elements within a larger unit with
patterns or regularities, in what goes together with what. The ordering principle as defined in the
systemic theory is that of rank while a paradigmatic relation has to do with language elements that
can be substituted for each other in a particular context. It is the ordering on the other axis: patterns
in what could go instead of what.

Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations

Words we use are related both individually as they belong to the same group, and structurally as
they have to select other words they combine with in a construction. These two relations are known
as paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations. These relations are also known as system and structure
or choices and chains. On the syntagmatic axis, words are linked, or chained, together according
to grammatical rules, but we make choices about which words to link together on the paradigmatic
axis, the axis of choice.

The signs in the language system are interdependent. Each sign has a value, by which we mean
something like meaning. Each sign has the value it has just because this is the value that all of the
other signs have not got. The signs in the language system are related to each other in two ways:
there are rules for their combination, and there are contrasts and similarities between them.
These are also known as system and structure. The former relates to the concept of paradigmatic

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relation and the latter to the concept of syntagmatic relation, two concepts commonly ascribed to
the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913). The following diagram is often used to
indicate the concepts of system and structure.

Linguistic units function in terms of the interaction between system and structure. In so far as
linguistic units follow and precede one another, they form sequential syntagmatic structural
relations with each other. Simultaneously, they form paradigmatic relations with each other, since
a linguistic unit is significantly, i.e., differentially, replaceable with another or others at that
specific place in the structure, where all of the mutually replaceable linguistic units form a system.

These two dimensions of language, combination and contrast/similarity, are commonly illustrated
diagrammatically as two axes, the syntagmatic and the paradigmatic. The syntagmatic relation is
the structure in the diagram above while the paradigmatic relation is the system. On the
syntagmatic axis, words are linked, or chained, together according to grammatical rules, but we
make choices about which words to link together on the paradigmatic axis, the axis of choice. The
relationship a given sign has with those with which it is combined on the syntagmatic axis is
evident in any given sentence. The syntagmatic axis is solely concerned with structure.

Paradigmatic Relation
A paradigm is a set of all the different forms of a word; a set of associated signifies or signified
which are all members of some defining category but in which each is significantly different. In
natural language, there are grammatical paradigms such as verbs, articles, nouns, or pronouns. A
paradigm could be further defined as the system of morphemic variations which is correlated with
a parallel system of variations in environment. In other words, a paradigm is the changes in the
shape of linguistic form which matches a series of changes in position. E.g.: go, going, went, gone
There is a system of morphemic variations in these words; this variation is correlated with a parallel
system of variation in linguistic environment. However, these morphemic changes go hand-in-
hand with a series of grammatical positions hence go can constitute the word in grammatical
environment. For instance:

Present: Should I go to that school?

Progressive: Are you going to that school?
Past: I went to that school.
Perfect: I have gone to that school.

This shows that members of each of the set of verbs listed above are said to be in paradigm relation.
A paradigmatic relationship is also defined as one where an individual sign may be replaced by
another. Thus, for example, individual letters have a paradigmatic relationship with other letters,

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as where one letter is used; another may replace it (albeit changing meaning). Letters and numbers
do not have a paradigmatic relationship. Paradigmatic relationships are typically associative, in
that both items are in a single membership set. Paradigmatic relation can be viewed when a space
is left to be occupied in a sentence. The choice of word that can occupy such position (on vertical
level) is what is termed paradigmatic relationship. Example:

The snake bit the boy The cat bit the boy
The dog bit the boy The fox bit the boy
Paradigmatic relations are those contracted between items that are mutually substitutable in some
context. Form classes are paradigmatic classes. For example, in the English NP we have a
paradigmatic class of determiners including a, the, some etc. and a paradigmatic class of nouns
including man, boy, house.
A book/ the book A man/ a boy/ a house

Paradigmatic relations are those which belong to the same set by virtue of a function they share.
A sign enters into paradigmatic relations with all the signs which can also occur in the same context
but not at the same time. In a given context, one member of the paradigm set is structurally
replaceable with another. Signs are in paradigmatic relation when the choice of one excludes the
choice of another. The use of one signifier (e.g. a particular word) rather than another from the
same paradigm set. Paradigmatic relations can thus be seen as contrastive.

Paradigmatic Relation is a relation that exists between elements that are replaceable, elements that
can be substituted for each other at a particular point in a structure. For example,

The _______ is smiling

There are constraints on the possible elements that can occur in the blank space in the example
above. Verbs cannot occur in the blank space. The most likely element is a noun. But there are
also strict constrains on the possible type of noun that can be used. The possible options are an
animate noun. Also, the animate nouns must have a semantic component of human. Furthermore,
the noun must be in the singular to co-occur with ‘is smiling’. In summary, only singular human
nouns like boy, girl, man, woman, student are capable of occurring in the blank space in the context
above. All these identified words can be said to be in a paradigmatic relation because they can
substitute for each other without the violation of any syntactic rules. Words occurring in a
paradigmatic relationship can only be compared in terms of syntax, which means they have the
same syntactic features. But they cannot be replaced with each other semantically because they do
not have the same meaning as obvious from the words boy, girl, man, woman and student. The
table below is an illustration of both syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships.

Syntagmatic
o̩mo̩kùnrin náà gbá bó̩ò̩lù ye̩ n
Paradigmatic Àwo̩n obìnrin ye̩ n kun ilé náà
Àwo̩n o̩mo̩dé náà jó bó̩ò̩lù náà

Paradigmatic relationship indicates words that are likely to belong to the same word class:
o̩mo̩kùnrin, Àwo̩n obìnrin, Àwo̩n o̩mo̩dé in the table above are all nominal elements, gbá, kun, jó
are all verbs. Syntagmatic relationship enables the formation of co-occurrence restrictions
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indicating compatible combinations. For instance, the verbs gbá, kun, jó have to be followed by
nouns.

Syntagmatic Relation
A syntagm is a unit of language consisting of sets of phonemes, words, or phrases that are arranged
in order. It is an orderly combination of interacting signifiers which forms a meaningful whole
within a text, sometimes called a ‘chain’ such combinations are made within a framework of
syntactic rules and conventions. In languages, a sentence, for instance is a syntagm of words.

In the formation of utterances, a number of linguistic units are joined in a structural bond according
to the rule of utterance formation in that language. The units are said to be in syntagmatic
relationship. Illustrations abound at the level of morphology, phonology and syntax. At the
phonological level, these words read / ri:d /, /fate /feit/. keg /keg/ consist of three phonemes each.
Each of these is joined together in a structural bond to give phonetic shape of the whole word.
They are all in syntagmatic relationship.

At the morphological level, words are also structurally bond, for instance, strategically is made
up of morphemes; strategy; -cal and -ly. The three morphemes give the word strategically which
are joined together in a structural bond. This shows a syntagmatic relationship at the morphological
level. At the syntactic level, words are joined together in a bond to express thought. The NP, the
best writer, is a syntactic unit exhibiting syntagmatic relationship between the words, the, best,
and writer. If the same three words order in reversed form, we have writer best the; but in
syntactic rules of English, these words are not bounded together structurally. There is no
syntagmatic relationship, thus they cannot be regarded as an English phrase.

Syntagmatic relations are the various ways in which elements within the same texts may be related
to each other. Syntagms are created by the linking of signifiers from paradigm sets which are
chosen on the basis of whether they are conventionally regarded as appropriate or may be required
by some rule system (e.g. grammar). Syntagmatic relations highlight the importance of part of the
whole relationships. Syntagmatic relationships are often governed by structures such as spelling
and grammar. They can also have less clear relationship, such as those of fashion and social
meaning. Examples:
1. The cat ate the mouse. 2. !The mouse ate the cat. 3. *Cat the mouse ate the.

Structurally, examples (1 & 2) are grammatical i.e. in terms of SVO structure of sentence.
Semantically (by meaning relation) only example (1) is acceptable or meaningful. It is absurd to
believe that a mouse will eat a cat. So, example (2) is semantically faulty or bizarre, hence the
mark ! before it. Example (3) violates word order (syntax) in English because it is the article that
comes before a noun. So, ‘cat’ cannot occupy or fit in the position it is found in example (3), it is
ungrammatical hence the mark * before the sentence to show ungrammaticality.

Syntagmatic relations are those contracted between forms or form classes within some structure.
These may include relations of order e.g. in English NPs, the determiner must precede the noun.

A man/ *man a
But in Yorùbá NP, it must follow the noun

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 ọkùnrin náà/ *náà ọkùnrin
man the the man

It may be the relations of dependency e.g. the Yorùbá NP ọmọ pupa ‘light-skinned child’ have the
obligatory head ọmọ ‘child’ and the adjective pupa light-skinned’ dependent on the noun within
the NP.

Both syntagmatic and pragmatic analyses treat signs as part of a system – exploring their functions
within codes and sub-codes. We can further see in the table below:

R e l a t i o n s h i p s
Syntagmatic
A dog fell in this chair
Paradigmatic The cat sat on the mat
That man ate under that hut

In the above table, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships are illustrated. The horizontal items
have syntagmatic relationships as they follow on from one to another. The vertical items have
paradigmatic relationships as in each column; items can be substituted for one another.

In general, syntagmatic analysis is the analysis of syntax or surface structure, syntagmatic means
one element selects the other element either to precede it or follow it. E.g. the definite article ‘the’
selects a noun and not a verb.

Paradigmatic analysis is the analysis of paradigms embedded in the text rather than of the surface
structure. It often uses commutation tests i.e. analysis by substituting words of the same type or
class to calibrate shift in connotations.

Syntagmatic – words are linked according to grammatical rule

Paradigmatic – mutually substitute items e.g. form classes

The Goals of Functional Grammar

The goals of functional grammar can be described as follows:
• to describe the functions of language.
• to explain the relationships between semantic and syntactic functions. For instance, the
function of agent is the same as the syntactic function of subject in a clause and both are
realised by a nominal group.
• to classify both social meaning and linguistic forms to construct a functional grammar. For
example, nouns can be decomposed into three classes; proper, common and pronoun. In
each class, different meanings or functions are realized by the relevant grammatical
structures.

Classes and Functions in Functional Grammar

In FG, the clause is the basis of any grammatical analysis; it is the unit where different kinds of
meanings are integrated into a single syntactic string. Before exploring the various types of
meaning, an examination of the concept of grammatical class and grammatical function should be

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considered. A grammatical class refers to a set of items that are in some respect alike. The most
familiar are our classes of words traditionally known as ‘parts of speech’ like noun, verb, adverb,
pronoun, preposition, conjunction. The word classes in Yoruba language is given below.

common
noun proper Relative clause
pronoun
nominal adjective
qualifiers
numeral
determiner
Action, stative, descriptive, Serial, splitting, echo, report,
word verbal subject/object selecting, symmetrical, complement selecting,
verb transitive/intransitive, simple, compound
impersonal verb preverbal
Verbal modifier
postverbal
modifier Modifying qualifier
sentential modifier
conjunction
conjunction
disjunction

Word Classes in the Functional Grammar of Yorùbá

The class of an item indicates its potential range of grammatical function. It is observed that the
class label of a word does not show what part the item is playing in any actual structure that is, the
function as exemplified below

Subject and Theme

The concept of Subject is argued to be a complex one, consisting of at least three possible elements.
These elements are summarised as follows (Halliday2014). The Subject is:
➢ that which is the concern of the message
➢ that of which something is being predicated (on which rests the truth of the argument)
➢ the doer of the action

There types of subjects: Theme, Subject and Actor

Psychological Subject (Theme)
Psychological subject meant ‘that which is the concern of the message’. It was called
‘psychological’ because it was what the speaker had in his mind to start with, when embarking on
the production of the clause.

Grammatical Subject (Subject)

Grammatical Subject meant ‘that of which something is predicated’. It was called ‘grammatical’
because at the time the construction of Subject and Predicate was thought of as a purely formal
grammatical relationship; it was seen to determine various other grammatical features, such as the
case of the noun or pronoun that was functioning as Subject, and its concord of person and number
with the verb, but it was not thought to express any particular meaning.
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Logical Subject (Actor)
Logical Subject meant ‘doer of the action’. It was called ‘logical’ in the sense this term had had
from the seventeenth century, that of ‘having to do with relations between things’, as opposed to
‘grammatical’ relations, which were relations between symbols.

In the sentence below all the three functions are conflated i.e. brought together, on to one another,
as shown below
The lecturer gave my sister the textbook
The lecturer gave my sister the textbook
psychological subject
grammatical subject
logical subject

In the table above, same item, the lecturer is functioning as psychological grammatical and logical
subject. However, in the sentence below, all the three are separated

The textbook my sister was given by the lecturer

The textbook my sister was given by the lecturer
psychological subject grammatical subject logical subject

The psychological Subject is the textbook, the grammatical Subject is my sister, while the logical
Subject is the lecturer.

These three have to be interpreted as three separate and distinct functions which they are and not
three kinds of Subject. In order to take account of this, the earlier labels are replaced by separate
ones that relate more specifically to the functions concerned:

psychological Subject: Theme; grammatical Subject: Subject; logical Subject: Actor

my sister was given the textbook by the

lecturer
Theme Actor
Subject
The textbook my sister was given by the
lecturer
Theme Subject Actor

The textbook The lecturer gave my sister

Theme Subject
Actor

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 by the lecturer my sister was given the textbook
Theme Subject
Actor

The above show different conflations of Subject, Actor and Theme

We need to take note of all these possible forms in any interpretation of the grammar of English
and explain how and why they differ. Often, of course, there are not three distinct elements that
could carry the functions of Theme, Subject and Actor, but only two as we show below.
(a) (b)
PSG conceded the first goal They were beaten by the third
Theme Theme Actor
Subject Subject
Actor
(c) (d)
The fifth they couldn’t stop By the sixth they were eliminated
Theme Subject Theme Subject
Actor Actor
While explaining all the series of clauses in (a) to (d) above, we also have to explain the fact that
the typical, unmarked form, in an English declarative (statement-type) clause, is the one in which
Theme, Subject and Actor are conflated into a single element.

The significance of there being three distinct functions of the clause is that each of the three forms
part of a different functional configuration, making up a separate strand in the overall meaning of
the clause.
➢ The Theme functions in the structure of the clause as a message. A clause has meaning as a
message, a quantum of information; the Theme is the point of departure for the message. It is
the element the speaker selects for ‘grounding’ what he is going on to say.
➢ The Subject functions in the structure of the clause as an exchange. A clause has meaning as
an exchange, a transaction between speaker and listener; the Subject is the warranty of the
exchange. It is the element the speaker makes responsible for the validity of what he is saying.
➢ The Actor functions in the structure of the clause as representation. A clause has meaning as
a representation of some process in ongoing human experience; the Actor is the active
participant in that process. It is the element the speaker portrays as the one that does the
deed.

These three headings – clause as a message, clause as an exchange, and clause as a representation
– refer to three distinct kinds of meaning that are embodied in the structure of a clause. Each of
these three strands of meaning is construed by configurations of certain particular functions.
Theme, Subject and Actor do not occur as isolates; each occurs in association with other functions
from the same strand of meaning

Three lines of meaning in the clause

Metafunction Clause as … System Structure
textual message THEME Theme ^ Rheme

interpersonal exchange MOOD Mood [Subject + Finite] +

Residue [Predicator
(+Complement) (+Adjunct)]
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 experiential representation TRANSITIVITY process + participants(s)
(+circumstances) e.g. Process +
Actor + Goal

The significance of any functional label lies in its relationship to the other functions with which it
is structurally associated. The function Actor, for example, is interpretable only in its relation to
Process and Goal. So, if we interpret the nominal group PSG as Actor in PSG conceded the first
goal, this is meaningful only because at the same time we interpret the verbal group conceded as
Process and the nominal group the first goal as Goal. It is the relation among all these that
constitutes the structure. In similar fashion, the Subject enters into configurations with other
functional elements as realization of the clause as exchange; and likewise, the Theme, in realizing
the clause as message.

Function structure of the Clause

Bàbá olòṣì rán ọmọ yìí lọ sí ọ̀run This unfortunate
yìí father sent this child to
an early grave
Function Actor Process goal
Class Nominal Verb Nominal Verbal group
group group group

However, some elements of the clause can have more than one function in the structure of the
clause. An example is the subject. Subject refers to the label for some grammatical functions
comprising the facts stated below which leads to its various definitions:
• The concern of the message. (Theme)
• Something which is being predicated. (subject)
• The doer of the action. (Agent)

Halliday opines that it is possible to have an element serving these three functions as in the example
below:
Àjàní fún Àṣàkẹ́ ní lẹ́tà Ajani gave Asake a letter
Theme
Subject
Agent

FG Metafunctions
Language is structured to make three kinds of meanings simutaneously under the theory of
Functional Grammar (FG). These three types of meanings are also called the language
metafunctions or the three meta functional lines of meaning. Metafunctions is defined as the mode
of making meanings in language. The meanings evolved around three (3) dominant elements
namely the metafunctions of textual, interpersonal and experiential.

These grammatical systems play a role in the construal (interpretation) of meanings of different
kinds; hence, the justification of language is meaning in social life, and for this reason all languages
have three kinds of semantic components.
➢ Ideational component: all languages have resources for construing (interpreting) experience
➢ Interpersonal component: resources for enacting humans' diverse and complex social relations
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➢ Textual function: resources for enabling these two kinds of meanings to come together in
coherent text

Metafunctions
Halliday’s functional grammar is based on the premise that language has two major functions,
metafunctions, for its users; it is a means of reflecting on things, and a means of acting on things.
Halliday calls these two functions the ideational ‘content’ function and the interpersonal
function. Both these functions rely on a third, the textual function, which enables the other two
to be realized, and which ensures that the language used is relevant. The textual function represents
the language user’s text forming potential.

The systemic theory of grammar is a theory of meaning as choice, and grammar is always seen
as meaningful. A language…is a system for making meanings: a semantic system, with other
systems for encoding the meanings it produces. The term semantics refers to the entire system of
meanings of a language, expressed by grammar as well as by vocabulary. In fact, the meanings are
encoded in ‘wordings’: grammatical sequences, or syntagms. Halliday argues that language is
inherently functional. He refers to his functions of language as metafunctions and he proposes
three general functions: the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual. These are functional
components of the semantic system that is language. The grammar enables all three of them to
come into play at every point of every text: it receives meanings from each component and splices
them together in the wordings of the clause. The clause is chosen because it is the grammatical
unit in which three distinct structures, each expressing one kind of semantic organization, are
mapped onto one another to produce a single wording.

The functional layout of the three lines of meaning that constitutes a meaningful grammatical
structure is set in table (4) as follow:

Metafunctions Clause as System Structure

Ideational Represent- i. Relationality Taxis: Logical & semantic
ation ii. Transitivity (Experiential) Participant, Process and
circumstances
Interpersonal Exchange Mood Mood- Residue
i. Indicative: Declarative,
interrogative
ii. Imperative
Textual Message Theme Theme- Rheme
Cohesive device
The key system of semantic level of clause lines of meaning

Textual Metafunction – Clause as Message

Textual metafunction refers to the process of using language to organise the text itself and it sees
the clause as a message. Two important elements of the textual metafunctions are Theme and
Rheme. Theme refers to the point of departure of the message carried by a clause; it tells what the
clause is all about and it always occurs at the beginning of the clause. One unit of the clause is
given the special status of Theme by occurring in the first position in combination with the other
elements of the clause to constitute the message of that clause. Theme is usually followed by the
Rheme which is regarded as the rest of the message. The main contribution made by textual

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metafunction is the actualization of a range of different textual structures which operate at all levels
of the text, and whose function is to enable the ideational and interpersonal meanings we have
chosen to make to be realized in a cohesive text (Eggins 2004).

Interpersonal Metafunction: Clause as Exchange

Apart from being organized as a message, the clause is also organized as an interactive event
involving the speaker and the audience. The interpersonal metafunction is focused on the use of
language as a form of interaction between people. Analysis at the level of interpersonal
metafunction is concerned with the clause as exchange and on its function in social interaction.
This metafunction reveals the observable attitudes towards a particular discourse as a means of
dialogue. Halliday (2014) describes the process of exchange as ‘giving’ which means ‘inviting to
receive’ while demanding means ‘inviting to give’. According to Halliday, human beings
exchange abstract (information) and concrete (goods and services) commodities through the use
of language. The main elements of the interpersonal metafunction are the Mood and Residue.
Mood comprises the subject (a nominal group) and the finite (the first element of the verbal group).
The residue is made up of the predicator which is the rest of the verbal group, complements and
adjuncts. For example:

Àjàní yóò fẹ́ràn Sadé Àjàní will love Sadé

Mo lè jẹ ẹ̀bà I can eat ẹ̀bà
Subject finite predicator complement

The finite element refers to the verbal operators expressing tense (past, present, future) and
modality. However, in some instances like we mostly have in Yoruba language, finite elements
and the lexical verb are fused into a single word. This usually occurs when the verb is an action
verb indicating either the past or present tense which has no definite marker in the language.
Example:
Àjàní fẹ́ràn Àsàkẹ́ Ajani loves Asake
Subject finite+verb complement

Ideational/Experiential Metafunction: Clause as Representation

The third line of meaning in the organization of the clause is known as the experiential line. It has
to do with ‘ideation’, a grammatical resource for interpreting our experience of the world around
and inside us. A clause in its experiential function is a means of representing our experience and
building a mental picture of reality. This metafunction is employed by people to make sense of
their experience of what goes on around them and inside them: these goings on referred to as
processes are sorted out in the semantic system of the language and it is expressed through the
clause.

The metafunction is analyzed through the process of the Transitivity system, that is, a choice
between the identified six processes and their participants together with circumstances associated
with these processes. Therefore, we conclude that the system that works out the process types,
participants in the processes and circumstances associated with the processes is known as the
Transitivity system. Transitivity is a major component in experiential function of the clause
dealing with the “transmission of ideas “representing ‘processes’ or ‘experiences’: actions, events,
processes of consciousness and relations”. Transitivity as a semantic system used to analyze
representations of reality in a linguistic text and create the same experience through various lexico-
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grammatical options influenced by different mind styles or authorial ideology. It also functions as
a rich analytic tool utilized in critical discourse analysis, dealing with “who or what does what to
who, whom or what, where and when, why and how?” where actor, action and goal as affected are
highlighted. We find that ‘what’ is the process, ‘who’ and ‘whom’ are the participants while
‘where’, ‘when’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ are the circumstances. Transitivity works with other related
options to represent different types of experience (process) and participants with different labels
such as Actor, Goal; Senser, Phenomenon; Carrier, Attribute; and circumstance including Cause,
Location, Manner, Means and Instrument.

Processes
Process refers to a verb of doing, being, feeling, saying, behaving, and existing. When used in the
semantic system of the clause, these verbs are classified into material, relational, mental, verbal,
behavioral, and existential processes. (Halliday 2014). These linguistic processes are seen as the
products of our perception of the world which are socially constructed with participants (animate
or inanimate nominal group) in circumstances expressed by adverbial and prepositional phrases.
In conclusion, these elements are realized as follows: processes are realized by verbal groups;
participants by nominal groups; and circumstances by adverbial or prepositional phrases.

The following processes have been identified in the literature (Halliday 2014):

(1) Material Process: this process is known as the process of doing. It construes doings and
happenings which include activities, actions and events. The process always has an Actor, realized
by a nominal group. The process may be directed at someone or something, meaning there is a
Goal as well.

For example,
ọlọ́pàá náà (Actor) lé (Process) ọ̀daràn yẹn (goal)
‘The police chased the criminal’

or there may be no Goal as we have below:

ọlọ́pàá náà (Actor) sáré (Process).

‘The police ran’

If the process is directed, it may be ‘benefactive’, and if it is not, there may be a Recipient e.g

adájọ́ náà (Actor) fún (Process) agbẹjọ́rọ̀ (Recipient) ní ìwé òfin (Goal).
‘The judge gave the lawyer a law book’

(2) Mental process: it has to do with sensing, perception, cognition and emotion; this process
involves a participant endowed with consciousness known as a Senser, which is realized by a
nominal group.
For example, Adé in
Adé rí wọn
‘Ade saw them’.

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(3) Relational process: this process is usually used to characterize and identify. This process
models our experience as ‘being’ or ‘having’ rather than as ‘doing’ or ‘sensing’ like we have in
the material and mental processes. Relational process is concerned with the relationship set up
between two entities. For example,
Adé jẹ́ dókítà ‘Ade is a doctor’.

Relational processes have two modes of expression: attributive and identifying modes. In the
attributive mode, an Attribute is imputed to a particular entity (participant) which is the carrier,
while in the Identifying mode; an entity (identifier) is used to identify another entity (identified).

In the example,
Táyọ̀ gbọ́n ‘Tayo is clever’,

Tayo is the Carrier; the verb signifies an Attribute Relational process and gbọ́n ‘clever’ is the
Attribute.

But, in the example,

Adé jẹ́ dókítà ‘Ade is a doctor’,

Ade is the Identified element, ‘is’ represents an Identifying Relational process, and the doctor is
the Identifier.

(4) Behavioural Processes: They are processes of physiological and psychological behaviour like
sneezing, smiling, coughing, laughing, and so on. They usually have one participant, the Behaver;
for example,
Àṣàkẹ́ (Behaver) rẹ́rìn-ín músẹ́ ‘Asake smiled gently’.

They are actions in-between both material and mental processes, because the Behaver is a
conscious entity like the Senser but the process functions more like one of ‘doing’.

(5) Verbal Processes: they are processes of ‘saying’. It is a cover for any kind of symbolic
exchange of meaning. The message itself is termed as the ‘verbiage’ and the participants associated
with the process are ‘sayer’, the one who gives out the message, and ‘Receiver’, the one to whom
the message is directed.
For instance, in
Ladé sọ ìtàn kan fún mi ‘Lade told me a story’.

Lade is the Sayer, the verb sọ ‘told’ represents a ‘Verbal Process’, mi ‘me’ is the ‘Receiver’ of
the message, and finally ìtàn kan ‘a story’ is the ‘Verbiage.’

(6) Existential Processes: These are processes that show that something exists. The third person
singular pronoun which has no identified antecedent is frequently used in such clauses; it merely
acts as subject filler. The typical verbs used in these clauses are verbs expressing existence.

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Summary of the Process Types, Meanings and Participants (Adapted from (Halliday, 2014)

Process Type category participants, participants,

meaning directly involved obliquely involved
Material: Recipient, Client;
action Doing Actor, Goal Scope; Initiator;
event Happening Attribute
Behavioural Behaving Behaver Behaviour
Mental: Sensing Senser, Phenomenon
Perception Seeing
Cognition Thinking
Desideration Wanting
emotion feeling
Verbal Saying Sayer, Target Receiver, Verbiage
Relational Being Carrier, Attribute, Attributor,
Attribution Attributing Identified, Identifier; Beneficiary, Assigner
identification Identifying Token, Value
Existential Existing Existent

Clause with three metafunctional lines of meaning

Àjàní gbọ́dọ̀ fẹ́ràn Àṣàkẹ́ Ajani must love Asake
Textual Theme Rheme
Interpersonal Mood Residue
Subject finite predicator Complement
Experiential process
Class Nominal Verbal group Nominal
Group Group

As the table above suggests, the three metafunctions function simultaneously in a clause. This
means that MOOD (interpersonal), TRANSITIVITY (experiential), and THEME (textual) are
simultaneous strands of meaning within the clause and they can also function interdependently in
the language system.
Thompson (2004) gave a summary of the types of metafunction as follows:
(1) We use language to talk about our experience of the world, including the worlds in our own
minds, to describe events and states and the entities involved in them.
(2) We also use language to interact with other people, to establish and maintain relations with
them, to influence their behaviour, to express our own viewpoint on things in the world,
and to elicit or change theirs.
(3) In using languages, we organize our messages in ways which indicate how they fit in with
the other messages around them and with the wider context in which we are talking or
writing

To sum up, the clause can be viewed through the systems of transitivity (experiential), mood and
modality (interpersonal), and theme (textual). Transitivity has to do with the type of processes
expressed in the clause, the participants in the process and the circumstances of the process and
the participants. (Halliday, 2014). The principal options included in the Mood are declarative,
Introduction to Functional Grammar
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interrogative (yes/no and wh-types), imperative and others. The area of Theme is concerned with
the structuring of the clause as a message.

Functional Analysis
Language provides numerous varieties of grammatical resources to convey an author’s intended
message. In literary texts, incidents that take place out there in the real world are expressed through
the linguistic choices made by the authors. That is, events are presented as text through discourse.
This presentation involves linguistic choices made at different levels in the unfolding of the
discourse.

Functional Grammar is a linguistic approach to the study of language which allows the analyst to
shed light on how the choices made interact with the social and cultural context to give texts the
meanings that are intended. One of the main beliefs of FG is that language serves three functions:

➢ the experiential (or ideational), through which language functions to express the view of
the world;
➢ the interpersonal, in which language functions to establish and maintain social contact; and
➢ the textual, which allows for the coming together and the organization of the first two in a
way that is communicatively efficient.

I shall now focus on how Akinwumi Isola employs all the metafunctions in Ó le kú, Ṣaworoidẹ
and Ogún Ọmọdé to make linguistic choices to express the message of the novels. In the generation
of a sentence, at least a subject and a finite verb called predicate are required. A sentence is not
only seen as an ordered list of words but also as a semantic representation. Sentences can be
represented through the use of syntactic and semantic functions. The semantic functions stand for
the meaning of the elements in the sentence as shown in the table below.

Àjàní dìmọ́ Àṣàkẹ́ ‘Àjàní embraced Àṣàkẹ́’

Agent Process beneficiary
Representation of the sentence with Semantic Functions

The syntactic function is the grammatical role of these elements as shown in the table below.

Àjàní dìmọ́ Àṣàkẹ́ ‘Àjàní embraced Àṣàkẹ́’

Subject predicate complement
Representation of the sentence with Syntactic Functions

The semantic functions can be unified with the syntactic functions as shown below:

Semantic Functions Syntactic Functions Syntactic Structures

Process Predicate Verbal Group
Participants Subjects and complements Nominal Group
Circumstances Prepositions and adjuncts Prepositional Phrase
Adverbial group

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Based on the identified functions, sentence in this study is redefined as a configuration of
participants and circumstantial elements around a process. All languages have the three
metafunctions:
• Textual
• Interpersonal
• Experiential

These metafunctions serve as the realizations of the significant functions of language.

Experiential metafunction
Under the experiential metafunction, language construes human experiences by giving the
language users an opportunity of telling their experiences of the world. This metafunction answers
the question: Who does what to whom under what circumstances? An example of the experiential
analysis of a sentence is cited below:

participant process participant circumstance gloss

Agent action goal location
Ajani kọ́ Ṣade ní ilé bàbá rẹ̀ Ajani taught Sade in her father’s house

Textual metafunction
When we study language from the point of view of the textual metafunction, we try to see how
messages are built to express one particular action. Textual metafunction refers to the use of
language in the organization of a text and presents the clause as a message. The main point in the
textual settings of a discourse is what will appear in the Theme position. The textual function of
the clause is that of constructing a message and the Theme/Rheme structure is the basic form of
the organization of the clause as message.

The main elements of the textual metafunctions are Theme and Rheme. Theme is the point of
departure of the message expressed by one clause or sentence; it tells what the clause is all about
and it is always placed at the beginning of the clause. One element of the clause is given that
special status of being the Theme by being the first element and it then unites with the rest of the
clause to establish the message. Theme is followed by the Rheme which is the rest of the message.
For example:

1. Àjàní + ri pé ọ̀rọ̀ náà ń fẹ́ èrò. Àwọn méjéèjì + ti ṣetán báyìí. Àṣàkẹ́ + ń sọ fún
un pé kó má ṣe dọ́dọ̀ Lòlá mọ́. Àjàní + ń ṣírò àǹfààní tó wà lára oníkálukú
wọn. (Ó lé kú)

Ajani +observed that he needs to think about the issue. Both of them+ are
ready now. Asake+ is telling him not to visit Lola again. Ajani+ is mentally
calculating the benefits he could derive from each of them.

Example 1 above is a short passage from Ó le kú, illustrating how the choice of Theme functions
to organise and carry forward the discourse. The boundary between Theme and rheme is shown
by +... The Theme is usually realized by nominal groups (examples (2) and (3), prepositional
phrases (4) or adverbial groups (5).
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 Theme Rheme
2 Lọlá rí Àṣàkẹ́ lọ́ọ̀ọ́kán. p.33 (Lola saw Asake afar)
3 Àwọn ìpàtá ọmọ ni wọ́n máa ń wà nínú ẹgbẹ́ yin. p.27(touts are usually in your
group.)
4 Ní ọjọ́ kan báyìí, Àjàní dé ọ̀dọ̀ Àṣàkẹ̀. p.76 (on a fateful day, Ajani got to Asake’s place.)
5 Láìpẹ́, onítọ̀ọ́jú aláìsàn ẹ̀ẹ̀kan pe Àṣàkẹ́. (very soon, that nurse called Asake)

Themes may, however, also be realized by clauses, as in the case of:

Theme Rheme
6. Ohun tó wà níbẹ̀ ni pé má wulẹ̀ jẹ́ kí á fa ọ̀rọ̀ gùn. p. 95. (the point there is that, do
not let us prolong the matter)

Interpersonal Metafunction – Clause as Exchange

In interpersonal metafunction analysis sentence is considered as a piece of interaction between the
speaker and listener. In interpersonal analysis, meaning is considered based on its function during
social interaction, acting as an interactive agent, an exchange between speakers. Interpersonal
function is usually organized in terms of mood and residue (something that remains after a part is
taken). The mood element in this metafunction is further analysed into Subject and Finite while
the residue is broken into the predicator, complement and adjunct. The Subject and Complement
are realized by nominal groups. The Finite is actualized by the tensed element of the verb. The
Predicator materializes through the element or elements of the verbal group. The Adjunct is
realized by an adverbial group or prepositional phrase.

The Mood Element of a Clause

Mood is the element employed in distinguishing the form of the inflectional forms of a verb to
state whether the action or state it marks is seen as fact or as command, possibility, or wish. Mood
simply stands for the relationship that exists between the subject of the clause and the finite item
of the verbal group together with the remaining part of the clause known as the residue. The mood
of a clause is recognizable from its structure, statement is realized by the declarative mood,
question by the interrogative mood, and command is realized by imperative mood.

The Subject
The Subject may be represented by a nominal group or a personal pronoun. It depicts the
authenticity of the existence of the clause proposition that can be affirmed or denied.

The Finite
The Finite is one of the verbal operators expressing tense, modality, and polarity.
➢ Tense expresses the time an event did/does/will or should happen.
➢ Modality indicates the speaker’s judgment of the probabilities in what he/she is saying.
➢ Polarity shows whether a proposition is positive or negative.

An event can be presented in terms of time (Ade jumped; past time/tense), modality (Ade might
have jumped; probability), or polarity (Ade did not jump; negative polarity).

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Based on these, the Finite can be expressed through three features: temporal operators, modal
operators, and polarity.
The table below shows the list of finite verbal operators with regards to temporal operators and
polarity in the Yoruba language.

Finite Verbal Operators in Yoruba

Temporal Operators
Past Present Future
Positive ti, á ti, ti máa ń, ń, máa ń á, yóò, máa ‘will’
Negative Kò, kì í, kọ́, ‘not’ Kò ní ‘will not’

Below is an example of mood analysis at the level of mood element.

ẹ̀rù àrùn ibà ń bà mí. (Ó le kú:8) ‘ I am scared of malaria’

ẹ̀rù àrùn ibà ń bà mí I am scared of malaria

subject finite
Mood Residue

The Residue Element

The residue consists of three kinds of functional elements: predicator, complement, and adjunct
There can be only one predicator in the residue element.

The Predicator
The predicator refers to the verbal group. There are four functions of the Predicator:
➢ to specify the ‘secondary’ tense;
➢ to specify various other aspects and phases, e.g., seeming, trying, and hoping;
➢ to specify the voice; and
➢ to specify the process (action, material, mental, relation process).

Complement
A complement is a nominal group that completes “the argument set up in the clause”. There could
be one or two complements occurring in the residue. The complement is any entity that could have
occurred as the subject of the clause, but which does not. It includes the nominal groups referred
to as direct and indirect objects, and the attributive complement. The complement usually answers
the questions “to whom” and “did to what”.

Adjunct
An adjunct could be an adverbial group, nominal group, or prepositional phrase that serves as a
circumstance in the experiential meaning but has no potential of being a Subject. Four types of
adjuncts have been identified:
➢ mood adjuncts,
➢ circumstantial adjuncts,
➢ comment adjuncts, and
➢ conjunctive adjuncts.
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The adjuncts that are found in the residue element are the circumstantial adjuncts which answer
the questions how, when, where, and by whom. The sentence below is an example of mood
analysis in the level of mood element and residue element.

A máa sùn lọ́tọ́ọ̀tọ̀ ni o. (Ó le kú:8) ‘we will sleep separately o’

A máa sùn lọ́tọ́ọ̀tọ̀ ni o
subject finite predicator adjunct
Mood Residue

The main difference between complement and adjunct is that a complement is an element within
the Residue that has the potential of being Subject but is not ... It is typically realized by a nominal
group. An Adjunct is an element that has not got the potential of being Subject ... An Adjunct is
typically realized by an adverbial group or a prepositional phrase.

Other Kinds of Adjuncts

Besides circumstantial adjuncts, there are three more kinds of adjuncts: mood adjuncts, comment
adjuncts and conjunctive adjuncts.
Mood adjuncts and comment adjuncts entails an interpersonal meaning and therefore fall within
mood elements. Therefore, both of them are regarded as modal adjuncts. On the contrary,
conjunctive adjuncts occur outside the mood analysis because they function as discourse markers
that are related to textual function, not interpersonal function. The table below presents the
relationships among the language metafunctions, the three types of adjuncts, and the Mood
structure.

Metafunctions and Types of Adjuncts

Metafunction Type of Adjunct Location in Mood Structure
experiential circumstantial adjunct in Residue
interpersonal modal adjunct in mood or comment
Textual conjunctive adjunct (not in mood structure)

Vocative
Vocative refers to another item that that can be found in the structure of the sentence as exchange
but it is outside the scope of the mood and the residue. Vocative is a nominal group which ensures
the participation of the addressee in the clause. There are two functions of the vocative:
➢ to mark the interpersonal relationship and
➢ to be a text signal.

Although the function of a vocative is to state the interpersonal relationship in interpersonal

analysis, it is not to be considered as a part of Mood element or the Residue element because it
belongs to interpersonal Theme.

Below are two examples of sentences from Ó le kú which use vocative. In the first example uses
Àǹtí as its vocative; the second example uses Dọ̀tun as its vocative.
Àǹtí, ẹ wò wá. ‘Aunty, look at us’
Ó dàbọ̀ ná o, Dọ́tun. ‘see you later, Dotun’
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The vocatives in the examples above function to achieve a foregrounding of the characters and to
focus on them.

Mood Types
There are two main classifications of mood types: indicative and imperative moods. Each of them
has different arrangements and functions.

Indicative Mood
Indicative mood is employed in the exchange of information. It is derived from the arrangement
of Subject and the Finite. Ther are two possibilities from the arrangement of Subject and Finite.
They are declarative and interrogative moods.

Declarative is the characteristic expression of a statement. In the declarative mood, the Subject is
followed by Finite, as illustrated by the example below where the Subject ‘mo’ I is followed by
the Finite ‘ti’had.
Mo ti sọ fún èkèjì mi tí a jọ ń gbélé pé kó jáde mo fẹ́ ní àlejò.
‘I had told my roommate to leave the room that I’m expecting a visitor’
Mo ti sọ fún èkèjì mi
subject finite predicator Complement
Mood residue

Interrogative: The second type of mood found in the indicative mood is the interrogative mood.
Interrogative mood is the characteristic expression of a question. There are two types of
interrogative mood block identified in the selected texts: polar (yes/no questions) and CW-
questions (Content word). Polar type is an adjunction of the question markers ṣé, ǹjẹ́, ṣèbí/ṣebí,
followed by the Subject, as illustrated by the example below in which the Question marker ‘ṣé’
precedes the Subject ‘O’ ‘you’ followed by the finite fused with the lexical verb.

ṣé o mọ̀ pé irú ìwà bẹ́ẹ̀ kò dára? ‘Do you know such behaviour is not good?’
ṣé o mọ̀ pé irú ìwà bẹ́ẹ̀ kò dára
QM subject Finite + predicator complement
Mood residue

CW-question is a type of question in which Wh elements in English language, and its correlates in
Yoruba language, express the same meaning serves as either the Subject, the complement, or the
adjunct and is located at the initial position of a clause. The example below illustrates an
interrogative clause which uses ta ni ‘who’ serving as the Subject of the clause

ta ni ó na ara wọn? ‘who became victorious among them’

Ta ni ó na ara wọn
CWQ- subject subject Predicator +finte complement
mood residue

The example below illustrates an interrogative clause which uses Èwo ni’ ‘which’ as the
Complement.
Èwo ni tàìjáde? ‘which one is not going out?’’
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 Èwo ni tàìjáde
CW-complement predicator
residue mood
This other example illustrates an interrogative clause which uses níbo ni ‘where’ serving as the
Adjunct.
‘níbo ni ó fẹ́ sùn? ‘where do you want to sleep?’
Níbo ni o fẹ́ sùn
CWQ- adjunct subject Predicator +finte
Residue mood residue

Imperative Mood
Imperative mood is used to exchange goods and services (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 165). In
this third type of mood, the subject is often covert, as in face the wall! This absence of the subject
is regarded as a case of ellipsis of the subject, that is, the subject is understood to be there, but is
not overtly expressed; but the hearer can supply it mentally.

Lọ sùn sórí àga. ‘go and sleep on the chair’

Lọ sùn sórí àga
Finite +predicator adjunct
Mood residue

Yes/no
Interrogative
Wh/CWQ
Indicative
declarative
Sentence

imperative

Network of Mood Systems

Theme
The Theme is the element that serves as the point of departure of the message; it is that which
locates and orients the clause within its context. The speaker chooses the Theme as his or her
point of departure to guide the addressee in developing an interpretation of the message; by
making part of the message prominent as Theme, the speaker enables the addressee to process
the message. The remainder of the message, the part in which the Theme is developed, is called
the Rheme. As a message structure, therefore, a clause consists of a Theme accompanied by a
Rheme; and the structure is expressed by the order – whatever is chosen as the Theme is put first.
The message thus unfolds from thematic prominence – the part that the speaker has chosen to
highlight as the starting point for the addressee – to thematic non-prominence.

The Theme always starts from the beginning of the clause. It is what sets the scene for the clause
itself and positions it in relation to the unfolding text, the Theme is not necessarily a nominal
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group; it may be some other class of group or phrase. The Theme of a clause is the first group or
phrase that has some function in the experiential structure of the clause i.e. that functions as a
participant, a circumstance or the process.

The most common type of Theme is a participant, realized by a nominal group. Such Themes are
sometimes announced explicitly, by means of some expression like as for ..., with regard to ...,
about ... ; this has the effect of focusing the Theme. For example:

As for the Dean himself, + he is known for his amiable and humble character

Compare:

As to that textbook, + my sister was given it by the student.

The Themes in the two examples are in bold and italics separated from the Rheme by the + symbol.

Group/phrase complexes as Theme

We have observed that the Theme of a clause consists of just one structural element, and that that
element is represented by just one unit – one nominal group, adverbial group or prepositional
phrase.

A common variant of this elementary pattern is that in which the Theme consists of two or more
groups or phrases forming a single structural element. Any element of clause structure may be
represented by a complex of two or more groups or phrases. This is illustrated below.

The Dean and the Head of Department were discussing in the office

Ọpẹ́, Jude, the class rep came for the assignment

From lecture room to lecture room We were searching for the venue

On the mountain or in the valley The Lord is my portion

Theme Rheme

Group complex or phrase complex as Theme

The Themes above still fall within the category of simple (as opposed to multiple) Themes. Any
group complex or phrase complex constitutes a single element within the clause; for example, two
nominal groups joined by and, like the Dean and the head of Department, make up a nominal
group complex. This is just one element in the clause, and therefore constitutes a simple Theme.
The two prepositional phrases from lecture room to lecture likewise make up a prepositional
phrase e complex, and this is also therefore one simple Theme.

In the examples below, the Theme consists of two nominal groups in apposition, hence they are
nominal group complex.

The University of Ibadan, established in 1948, is the first university in Nigeria

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The Theme in the above sentence is the nominal group complex The University of Ibadan,
established in 1948. Another example of apposition in the Theme is in bold in the following
complex sentence.

Three years ago, on 20 April 2014, Salvation and sssPraise Assembly – located at Ajibode,
University of Ibadan extension- was opened, a church which has changed the spiritual
environment of that society.

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