METAFUNCTIO COMPONENT QUESTIONS TO ASK

NS S
Experiential •what kind of processes take
place
• Processes
IDEATIONAL • who/ what iniciates the
process

• Participants • who/what is affected by the

process
• are the participants animate or
It construes inanimate, concrete or abstract
human
• what are the circumstances of
experience • Circumstances the process?

Logical
•Are there dependant clauses?
• Hypotaxis
• Parataxis • How are the clauses
combined?
• Embedded • How are groups / phrases
structured?
 PROCESS + PARTICIPANTS + CIRCUMSTANCES
HAVING
ATTRIBUTE

World OF ABSTRACT HAVING

RELATIONS IDENTITY
EXISTING
BEING
SYMBOLIZING

PHYSICAL World OF
World CONSCIOUSNESS

DOING SENSING
HAPPENING
CREATING SAYING

CHANGING
BEHAVING FEELING SEEING THINKING
DOING
ACTING
 Processes: Their Function in Context

I felt the wood and Material process (doing)

decided it
needed more sanding

I felt that I was at a Mental Process (thinking)

cross hands in my
life
Relational process
I felt tired (a kind of being)
 System of Transitivity (process type)

1. Doing (physical world)

a. Material (encode experience in the real, material world).
b. Behavioral (encode physiological or psychological behavior)

2. Sensing (world of consciousness)

a. Mental (encode experiences in the inner world of consciousness).
b. Verbal (encode experiences of bringing the inner world outside by
speaking)

3. Being (world of abstract relations)

a. Existential (set up the existence of a sole participant)
b. Relational (encodes relations of being and having between two
participants)
 Material Process + PARTICIPANT / GOAL (p 179)

TYPE OF DOING IMPACT

CREATIVE (Actor + happen / do)

What happened? Icicles formed INTRANSITIVE
What did they do? They built a house
TRANSITIVE

TRANSFORMATIVE (Actor + happen to)

What happened to the icicles? They INTRANSITIVE

melted
What happened to the icicles? The sun TRANSITIVE
melted them
They built ME a house (FOR ME / service)

ACTOR CLIENT GOAL

You need to cross THE MOUNTAINS now.
scope
The scope isn’t affected by the process like the other participants

Did Kerry give YOU those files there? (TO ME– I

receive)
RECIPIENT

Leave the door OPEN, please!

ATTRIBUTE
 MENTAL PROCESS (p 197)
 PARTICIPANTS: SENSER & PHENOMENON

SENSER: person, pet, human collective, product or human

consciousness, part of a person, some entity animate or inanimate.

PHENOMENON: A THING ( person, creature, institution, object,

substance or abstraction) ,

AN ACT (macrophenomenal – a non-finite clause) or A FACT

(metaphenomenal - a finite clause)
SENSING PROCESS
 PERCEPTIVE: He saw the car (thing)
He saw the car speeding (act)
He saw that they had left (fact)
 COGNITIVE: He knows the car (thing)
He thought that he had left. (fact)
 DESIDERATIVE: He wants the car (thing)
He wants them to leave (act)
 EMOTIVE: He likes the car (thing)
He likes the car speeding (act)
He regretted that they had left (fact)
 RELATIONAL PROCESS (p 210/219)
ATTRIBUTIVE IDENTIFYING
A is an attribute of X A is the identity of X
(not reversible) (reversible)

(epithets) (nominal group)

INTENSIVE Sara is wise. Sara is the leader
X is A The leader is Sara

POSSESSIVE Peter has a piano. The piano is Peter’s

X has A Peter’s is the piano.
CIRCUMSTANTIAL The fair is on Tomorrow is the
X is at A Tuesday. 10th
The 10th is
tomorrow.
 ATTRIBUTIVE INTENSIVE

CARRIER + PROCESS + ATTRIBUTE

He is generous. He has become/got rich.

semiotic domain: EMOTION / ATTITUDE: joy, sadness, goodness.

COGNITION / PROBABILITY: doubtful
DESIDERATION / OBLIGATION: important, desirable. (p 223)

They can be confused with MENTAL processes: This distresses him / I`m distressed..

material domain: where the attribute denotes a material quality equivalent to the process
of a material clause and may be formed as a participle from a material process.

Our disk was (very) corrupted.

But our disk had been corrupted when it arrived.

 IDENTIFYING INTENSIVE – TOKEN & VALUE

“X” IS IDENTIFIED BY “A” X :THE IDENTIFIED A: THE

IDENTIFIER
C-a-t spells cat He played Hamlet. Usually means mostly
These are the papers Today’s meeting represents the last chance
for a solution.
SUBTYPES
 EQUATION: Tom is my brother

EQUIVALENCE: This corresponds to 100 euros.

ROLE-PLAY: You will be our primary interface with the clients.

NAMING: I am Mrs Smith .

DEFINITION: Politics is the art of negotiation.

SYMBOLIZATION: This symbol means ‘stop’.

EXEMPLIFICATION: Frogs, toads are some anphibians we know today.

DEMONSTRATION: This theory /suggests/ that there should be a change in the …

indicates, shows
 POSSESSIVE CIRCUMSTANTIAL
ATTRIBUTIVE IDENTIFYING ATTRIBUTIVE IDENTIFYING
(nominal group)
John has a Operative My story is The time of
pet. The pet is about a poor the meeting is
John’s. shepherd Friday.
boy.

Receptive Circumstance Circumstance

as process: as process:
John’s is the
My story The fair takes
pet. =
concerns a up the whole
The pet is poor shepherd day.
owned by boy.
John.
 BEHAVIOURAL PROCESS p 248
(typically human – physiological & psychological
behaviour)

She’s crying, poor thing! BEHAVER + BEHAVIOURAL PROCESS

He gave a great yawn. BEHAVER + BEHAVIOURAL P. +BEHAVIOUR
VERBAL PROCESS p 248
I said it’s noisy in here. SAYER + VERBAL PROCESS + VERBIAGE
John said ‘I’m hungry’. John said he was hungry.
sayer process verbiage sayer process verbiage
quoting quoted reporting reported

Target (blame, criticize, chide, scold, flatter abuse, insult, praise, slander)
They blame ME for everything!
sayer process target circumstance
Receiver (nominal group that may be marked by prepositions ‘to’ or ‘of’,
e.g.: say to, demand of)
Tell ME the whole truth. (operative) - I was told the whole truth.
(receptive)
 EXISTENTIAL PROCESS p 256
(Presentative constructions – it allows the addressee
to prepare for new information)

On the wall there hangs a picture.

circumstance process existent

METEOROLOGICAL PROCESSES p 258

(related to the weather)

They have a single element , the process.

It’s raining/hailing/snowing, etc. (present in

present)
Type of Circumstance Answers the question Examples
Extent How long? (for) two hours
How Far? (for) two miles
How many times? Five times a week

Location Where? In the yard

When? After dinner

Contingency If what? In case of rain

In spite of /Despite the
rain
In the absence of fine
weather
Cause Why? Because of the rain
What for? For a rest
Accompaniment With whom? With a friend
And who else? As well as Henry
But not who? Instead of Michael

Matter What about? About suffering

Role What as? As a clown

Manner How? By car

means What with? With a stick

Quality How?
Comparison Quietly
What like? like a trooper

Angle According to whom? To Mary

According to Luke
 When you analyze texts for the experiential meaning
The participants (actors)
1.Who/what are the participants in the text?
2.Are they human, animal or inanimate?
3.Are the participants active/passive

Processes: micro-processes
4.What material, verbal, mental, relational, existential and behavioural processes
are represented?
a.What actions do the participants undertake?
b.What changes are there in facial expression?
c.Do the participants look at each other?
d.What physical changes occur? For example, do the participants bend over or lie
down? … hide or cover themselves up? … protect themselves? … become
temporarily deformed?
e.What mental changes occur?
f.What changes occur in behaviour? For example: do the participants start:
laughing, crying or become angry?
g.What changes occur in emotional states?

Circumstances (what, where, when)

5.What location or locations does the text represent?
6.What temporal scales are involved?