Text

A coherent structure of words that presents a message

A continuous piece of language spoken or written with recognizable start & end

Language beyond the sentence

Communicative linguistic units embedded in social & cultural practices

Register

The impact of the dimensions of context of a language event on the way language is used in
terms of vocabulary & grammar. Register is determined by:

1. Mode (how): medium of language use: written vs, spoken, in-person vs.
virtual/electronic, etc. (we will not use language in the same way to write as to speak).
2. Tenor (who): participants & their relationship (e.g. to talk to our boss as to talk to our
friend).
3. Field (what): topic and activity (to talk about linguistics or to talk about jogging).

How these three variables combine & interact gives us register, which can be:

▪ Frozen
▪ Formal: official
▪ Informal: ordinary, polite
▪ Colloquial: casual, personal
▪ Slang: impolite

So, REGISTER is the right language (words & structures) for the right situation.

SFL

'Real world' or ideational meaning: how we represent experience in language. Whatever use
we put language to, we are always talking about something or someone doing something.
e.g. I suggest we attack the reds.

This sentence makes meanings about bottles of wine and what we should do with them. It
makes meanings that focus on the actions we, as human agents, should carry out, and the
entities our actions will affect (the reds). Had the speaker said instead I suggest the reds are
very good a very different reality would have been represented through language: a reality
where one entity (reds) is ascribed with some quality (good) through a process merely of
'being'.

Interpersonal meanings: meanings about our role relationships with other people and our
attitudes to each other. Whatever use we put language to we are always expressing an attitude
and taking up a role.

To return to the above example, it makes a meaning of friendly suggestion, non-coercive, open
to negotiation; the kind of meaning we might make with friends, whose opinions we are
interested in and whose behavior we do not seek to dominate. Compare it to We have to attack
the reds or Attack the reds or I wonder whether it might not be possible to attack the reds
perhaps?, each of which constructs a very different relationship between the interactants.

Textual meaning: refers to the way the text is organized as a piece of writing or speech. It’s
about

how what we're saying hangs together and relates co what was said before and to the context
around us. Whatever use we put language to we are always organizing our information. For
example, the sentence I suggest we attack the reds takes as its point of departure the speaker's
intention (only to suggest, not to impose) and the interactants (we). It is a possible answer to
What should we do now? Compare it to The reds should be attacked now, I'd suggest, which
would be more likely as an answer to Which should we drink next?, since it takes as its point of
departure the reds rather than we.

Transitivity

In analyzing transitivity structure in a clause, we are concerned with describing three aspects of
the clause:
1. the selection of a process: the process choice will be realized in the verbal group of the
clause;

Last year Diana gave blood.

2. the selection of participants: participants will be realized in the nominal groups:

Last year Diana gave blood

3. the selection of circumstances: circumstantial meanings are expressed through adverbial

groups or prepositional phrases:

Last year Diana gave blood.

Material processes

Consider the following clauses:

• Diana has donated blood 36 times.

• Diana went to Geneva.
• Diana stayed up all night.
• The Swiss men left their dinner.
• They gave Diana a cognac.

All these clauses are describing processes of doing, usually concrete, tangible actions. Processes
of doing ate what we call material processes. The basic meaning of material processes is that
some entity does something, undertakes some action. This is the semantic definition of
material processes.

One identification criterion for material processes is that they can be examined by asking:

What did x do?

What has Diana done? Diana has donated blood36 times.

What did Diana do? Diana went to Geneva.

❖ Two types of participants in Material processes:

 Type Example Test
Intransitive She came. what did x do?
Transitive He wrote a book. what did x do to y?
They ate apples daily.

Actor & Goal

She came.
Actor Material process

He wrote a book.
Actor Material process Goal

A book was written (by him).

Goal Material pr. (Actor)

Goal vs Range

Marg served the dinner.

Actor Material pr. Range

You give me a whistle.

Actor Material pr. Range

He plays the piano.

Actor Material pr. Range
While it is not always easy to distinguish a Range from a Goal, the following examples mayhelp
to emphasize the distinction:

RANGE GOAL
shoot a gun shoot a kangaroo
kick a goal kick the dog
serve dinner serve the ball
give a smile give a present
make a mistake make a cake
take a bath take a biscuit

Recipient & Client (Beneficiary)

Recipient: the one to whom something is given.

Client: the one for whom something is done.

I gave you the piano.

Recipient
Actor Material pr. Goal
(Beneficiary)

She made me dinner.

Actor Material pr. Client (Beneficiary) Goal
Circumstance

Mental processes

Consider the following clauses:

• I hate injections.
• She believed his excuses.
• I don't understand her letter.
• I don't know her name.
• They don't give a shit about it.

We can recognize that these are different from material processes because it no longer makes
sense to ask 'What did x do to y?'
Halliday divides mental process verbs into three classes: cognition (verbs of thinking, knowing,
understanding, for example I don't know her name), affection (verbs of liking, fearing, e.g. I hate
injections), and perception (verbs of seeing, hearing, e.g. Simon heard it on the news).

She Believed bis excuses.

Senser Mental pr. Phenomenon

The Phenomenon is that which is thought, felt or perceived by the conscious Senser.

Senser Mental pr. Phenomenon Circumstance

I Hate liars.
I don't understand her letter.
I don't know her name.
They don't give a shit about it.
She was convinced (by his excuses)
You must’ve felt a lot of pain after that.
Phenomenon Mental pr. Senser
His excuses convinced her.
His excuses were believed by her.

Behavioral processes

Halliday describes these processes semantically as a 'half-way house' between mental and
material processes. That is, the meanings they realize are mid-way between materials on the
one hand and mentals on the other. They are in part about action, but it is action that has to be
experienced by a conscious being. Behaviourals are typically processes of physiological and
psychological behavior. For example:

breathe, cough, dream, frown, gawk, grimace, grin, laugh, look over, scowl, smile, sniff, snuffle,
stare, taste, think on, watch . . .

Indicating their close relationship with mental processes, some behaviorals in fact contrast with
mental process synonyms, e.g. look at is behavioral but see is mental, listen to is behavioral but
hear is mental. Prticipant is called the Behaver.
 Behaver Behavioral Circumstance
She sighed with despair.
He coughed loudly.
The poor woman cried for hours.

Behaver Behavioral Behavior

He smiled a broad smile.

Verbal processes

A verbal process typically contains three participants: Sayer, Receiver and Verbiage. The Sayer,
the participant responsible for the verbal process, does not have to be a conscious participant
(although it typically is), but anything capable of putting out a signal. The Receiver is the one to
whom the verbal process is directed: the Beneficiary of a verbal message, occulting with or
without a preposition depending on position in the clause. The Verbiage is a nominalized
statement of the verbal process: a noun expressing some kind of verbal behavior (e.g.
statement, questions, report, answer, story, etc.)

Sayer Verbal pr. Receiver Verbiage

I asked him a question.
She told the kid a story.

Sayer Verbal pr. Circumstance

They are talking about you.

Sayer Verbal pr. Receiver Material pr. Goal

I asked him To close the door.

Senser Mental pr. Phenomenon Sayer Verbal

“I want money,” she replied.

Existential processes

Existential processes are easy to identify as the structure involves the use of the word there. For
example:

There was snow on the ground.

There were these two wonderful Swiss men.

Existential processes typically employ the verb be or synonyms such as exist, arise, occur. The
only obligatory participant in an existential process is called the Existent.

Relational process

These examples are taken from lecture’s file. I tried to describe the Functional components
correctly to my best in case one comes in the test, but I can’t explain further.

The performance is great.

Carrier Intensive Attribute
Mr. Biden is the President.
Token1 (identified) Intensive Value (identifier)
The lecture is on a Wednesday.
Carrier Circumstantial Attribute
Today is twenty-first.
Token (identified) Circumstantial Value (identifier)
John has two cars.
Carrier/possessor Possessive Attribute/possessed
The two cars are John's.
Token/possessed Intensive Value/possessor

1
A Token (that which stands for what is being defined) and a Value (that which defines).