Module for Functional Grammar course

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Lesson 1: Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn the basic ideas of functional grammar.

Keyword for this lesson

 Language : a means to express and communicate oneself
 Context : a sentence that can add or support clarity of meaning
 Function
 Tense : a concept that describes the time of occurrence of a statement
 Text
 Metafunction
 Genre

What is language?
… for the questions we are interested in, especially educational questions,
the social dimensions seem particularly significant – and it is the one that
has been most neglected in discussions of language in education.
Learning is, above all, a social process; and the environment in which
learning takes place is that of a social institution… . Knowledge is
transmitted in social contexts through relationships, that are defined in the
value systems and ideology of the culture. And the words that are
exchanged in these contexts get their meaning from the activities in which
they are embedded, which again are social activities… .

(Halliday & Hasan, 1989, p. 5)

A negotiated and dynamic system of social behaviour by which we express, interpret,

and interact.

What is Functional Grammar?

Functional grammar is a grammar that acknowledges the three higher functions of language.
Grammar is seen as a system of choices rather than a set of rules, and these choices depend
on the context. When you start to see language in this way, you will improve your ability to use
the right language for the right purpose.

It is not a new concept. It began in the 1960s, through the work of Prof. M.A.K Halliday. Since
then, functional grammar has been developed around the world and continues to grow in
popularity. The main objective of a functional grammar is to explain language in terms of what
people do with it, how they use the language to live. The way in which Halliday has handled
this is to say that the grammar of all human languages is organized with respect to three
purposes or three different types of meaning, and he refers to these as metafunctions.
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Why Functional Grammar?
Most people learn grammar as a set of rules to remember. However, the problem is that there
are many exceptions to these rules and the examples are often out of context. This view of
grammar does not help you to improve your communication very well.

From Functional view, grammar is a system of choices for making meaning. When you use
language, you make choices from the system. Some choices are very common and other
choices are rare. But all choices are meaningful in the right context. For example, if I were
talking at a party, it would be unusual to say:
(1) I’m not liking cloudy weather.
In this context, “like” expresses my general preference. General preferences are not
connected to a certain time, so we should choose the “timeless” present tense:
(2) I don’t like cloudy weather.

However, imagine that I have planned a picnic lunch, at 11:00 I am looking at the dark clouds
through the window. In this context, I should say:
(3) I’m not liking cloudy weather.
It means, “cloudy weather is not my preference at this particular moment”.

Many people also think that grammar is separate from other skills such as speaking, writing,
listening, and reading, but this is not true. All communication is based on texts, and texts are
made using grammar. Texts can be written or spoken.

What is communication?
Communication is expressing and sharing meaning through texts. A text always occurs in two
contexts: context of culture and context of situation. When you think of the differences in
forms of address, in ceremonies, in politeness and in significant activities between one culture
and another, you get some idea of the importance of context of culture in shaping meanings.
This is context of culture. Within the context of culture, speakers and writers use language
in many more specific contexts or situations. Each of these is an inner context, which
functional linguists call the context of situation.

Context of culture

Context of situation

Text
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In order to communicate effectively, we must understand the three higher functions of
language, known as metafunction. They are:

Experiential How people represent things in the world; how people construct
reality in ways that seem natural to them

Interpersonal How people exchange meanings between people: the speaker's

resources for interacting in dialogue and for expressing his or her
opinions and attitudes

Textual How people put words and sentences together to make texts;
organizing what you have to say with respect to what you've said
and what you're going to say, and making what you've said
relevant to the context in which you're speaking

What is genre?
… a staged, purposeful, goal-oriented activity in which speakers engage as members of our
culture. (Martin, 2001, p. 155)

Genre can be defined as the relatively predictable patterns of language and other semiotic
resources (e.g. image, layout) observable across texts which are consistently used to achieve
social goals. (Knox, 2010, p. 34)

Exercise: have a look on the table below. Complete the order and the functional label
column.

Order Stages Text Functional label

A A: It looks like an allergic reaction to something,
probably something in the garden.
B B: Fine. Thanks [_____].
A: OK bye.
B: See you.
C B: I see. What should I do about it?
A: I’ll give you some capsules to take and cream for the
arm. Rub the cream in twice a day and it should clear
up. If not, come back and see me and we might run
some test to check for allergic reactions, okay?
D A: Come in and take a seat.
B: Thanks.
E A: Ok, roll up your sleeve and I’ll take a look. Turn
your arm over. Uh uh. Open your mouth and I’ll look
at your throat. OK now tilt your head back and I’ll
have a look at your eyes.
OK you can roll your sleeve down now.
F A: What seems to be the trouble?
B: I’ve got this rash on my arm.
A: Has it been itchy?
B: Yes.
A: When did it first appear?
B: About a week ago.
A: Any other symptoms? Like sore eyes?
B: Yes, my eyes have been stinging a little.
A: Have you been putting anything on the rash.
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B: Only some calamine lotion.
A: Can you think of anything that may have caused it?
Food or anything?
B: Well, it started after I’d been gardening on the
weekend.

Reference:
Butt, D., Fahey, R., Feez, S., Spinks, S., & Yallop, C. (2000). Using Functional Grammar: An
explorer’s guide (2nd ed.). Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching
and Research (NCELTR).
Halliday, M.A.K., & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, context, and text: Aspects of language in a
social-semiotic perspective (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Knox, J. S. (2010). Online newspapers: Evolving genres, evolving theory. In C. Coffin, T. Lillis,
& K. O’Halloran (Eds.), Applied Linguistics methods: A reader (pp. 33-51). London:
Routledge.
Martin, J. R. (2001). Language, register and genre. In A. Burns & C. Coffin (Eds.), Analysing
English in a global context: A reader (pp. 49-66). London: Routledge.
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Lesson 2: Class and Function

In this lesson, you will learn how part of speech, class, and function are seen in functional
grammar.

Keywords for this lesson

 Traditional
 Part of speech
 Class
 Function
 Participant
 Circumstance

From last week…

Functional grammar is a grammar that acknowledges the three higher functions of language.
Grammar is seen as a system of choices rather than a set of rules, and these choices depend
on the context. However, so far, students might only familiar with traditional grammar. In
traditional grammar, the view of language does not look very far past parts of speech. In
functional grammar, parts of speech are called classes because they classify the words. You
probably already know the basic classes, but let’s take a moment to review them.

Part of speech
1. Noun
How can you tell if a word is a noun?
If you can modify the word with articles and adjectives, then it is a noun.
Example of noun : _________________________________________________

But this does not work for pronouns such as “he”, “it”, “that”, and “which”, which are also
a type of noun.

2. Verb
Action words such as eat and run
Mental words such as want and think
Relational words such as be and has
Other words that express saying, behaving, and existing.
There are also auxiliary verbs that modify the main verb, such as can and would.

Verbs have many forms, such as:

 V (want, eat)
 to-V (to want, to eat)
 V-ing (wanting, eating)
 V-ed/V-en (wanted, eaten)

3. Adjective
is __________________________________________________________________
Example of adjective : _________________________________________________
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4. Adverb
is __________________________________________________________________
Example of adverb : _________________________________________________

5. Conjunction
is __________________________________________________________________
Example of conjunction : _____________________________________________

6. Preposition
is __________________________________________________________________
Example of preposition : _____________________________________________

7. Article
is __________________________________________________________________
Example of article : _________________________________________________

These classes are different from function. The importance of function, as well as the class, is
clearly seen in functional grammar, in a way that class words such as noun and verb tell us
about what the words are. Think about this sentence:
(1) A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day.

We can combine single words to make groups, as in these examples:

(2) A koala
Article + noun = nominal group

(3) each day

adverb + noun = nominal group,

so we have this classes of groups:

A koala eats half a kilogram of each day.
leaves
Nominal group Verbal group Nominal group Nominal group

Functional grammar looks both at the class (what the words are) and the function (what the
words do).

A koala eats half a kilogram of each day.

leaves
Nominal group Verbal group Nominal group Nominal group

Participant

In the sentence, “A koala” is not just a nominal group. It is something that participates in an
event, thus “A koala” has the function of a participant.
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Prepositional phrases are slightly different from groups. A prepositional phrase is a
preposition with a noun or nominal group.

Koalas are fussy eaters, choosing most of their from a few varieties
food of eucalypt.
Nominal Verbal Nominal Verbal group Nominal Prepositional
group group group group phrase
(4) from a few varieties of eucalypt.
Preposition + nominal group = prepositional phrase

Koalas are fussy eaters, choosing most of their from a few varieties
food of eucalypt.
Nominal Verbal Nominal Verbal group Nominal Prepositional
group group group group phrase
Circumstance

In the sentence, the prepositional phrase is circumstantial information about the event, so it
has the function of circumstance.

Note: there is no 1:1 relationship between class and function. The same function can be
expressed by different classes, and the same class can express different functions.
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Exercise: read the text and take note on their groups. With a friend, discuss whether it is a
participant or a circumstance.

Australia and Fast Food

Each month, 11.5 million Australians consume fast food.

Alongside traditional burger, fried chicken and pizza chains, new chains are positioning themselves
as healthier alternatives to the typical, energy-, saturated fat-, sugar- and salt-laden meals on offer at
traditional chains.

We know the fast food environment influences our food choices.

Promotions and marketing on labels and websites influence our decisions about the foods we buy.

Many chains are now using claims about nutrient content and health benefits on their websites

to create a marketing edge and perhaps make us feel less guilty about our next fast food purchase.

The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code defines nutrition content claims as those that state

the presence or absence of a nutrient, for example, “contains calcium”.

Foods with these claims must meet the minimum (or maximum) quantities for the nutrient in the claim,
called the qualifying criteria.

Health claims are those that relate to a food-health relationship, such as “contains calcium

for healthy bones”.

In addition to containing the minimum/maximum quantities of the nutrient, foods carrying these claims
must also meet the Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criteria, meaning they are healthier foods based on their
energy, saturated fat, sugars, sodium, protein, fibre and fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content.
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Lesson 3: Rank and Rank Shift

In this lesson, you will learn how unit of language have rank and how this rank might change
as unit of language move down the rank scale, event called as rank-shifting. Further, we will
see how rank-shifting adds meaning to nominal group.

Keywords for this lesson

 rank
 clause
 group
 sentence
 rank-shifting
 defining relative clause

Imagine, if you are the boss of a company, you have the highest rank. If you are a new
employee, you probably have a low rank to begin with. Unit of language also have rank. This
is called as the rank scale.
Higher rank Sentence

Clause

Group/Phrase

Lower rank Word

A group is made up of one or more words. A clause is made up of one or more groups. A
sentence is made up of one or more clauses.

How many unit of languages are there in “A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day.”?

A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day

Clause

Group Group Group Group

Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word

Answer: __________________________
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A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day

Clause

Group Group Group Group

Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word

A clause linguistically creates an event, so it almost always includes one verbal group. in
this case, the verbal group is “eats”. We can call it a group even though it only has one word.

A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day

Clause

Group Group Group Group

Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word

The next group is “A koala”, which has two words. There is no functional reason to separate
the words, because together they express a unit of language. Another group is “half a kilogram
of leaves”, this group also function as one unit.

A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day

Clause

Group Group Group Group

Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word Word

The final group, “each day”, has two words, functioning as one unit.

Rank-shifting
We can add information to a nominal group by adding a prepositional phrase after the noun.
The phrase then become part of the group. See this sentence:
(1) The southern cassowary is a large flightless bird with unusual feathers.

a large flightless bird with unusual

feathers
Noun Prepositional
phrase
Qualifier

The nominal group includes the prepositional phrase “with unusual feathers”, which qualifies
the noun “bird”. This is why the phrase is called a qualifier.
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We can also qualify the noun with a clause.
(2) Each heavy, strong leg has three toes. The inside toe has a large claw used for scratching and
fighting other birds.

a large claw used for scratching and fighting other

birds
Noun Clause
Qualifier

Here, the qualifier is not a phrase, but a clause. The clause is part of the nominal group and
cannot be separated. This means that the clause is functioning at a lower rank. In other words,
the clause is rank-shifted.

When rank-shifted clauses are qualifiers, they often define the noun.
(3) To survive, young koalas must find a suitable area which is not already taken by other dominant
male koalas.

a suitable area which is not already taken by other

dominant male koalas
Noun Clause
Qualifier

In this nominal group, the qualifier also defines the noun “area”. The qualifying clause answers
the question which area? This type of rank-shifted clause is also called a defining relative
clause.

However, rank-shifted clauses are not always qualifiers. Sometimes they just function at the
rank of group or word. Compare these two sentences:
(4) All I ever wanted to do was make a record.
(5) My only wish was to make a record.

In (4), “All I ever wanted to do” is functioning just like the group “My only wish” in (5). The
clause in (4) is functioning at a lower rank (from clause rank to group/phrase rank).

Exercise
Rank-shifting can be very difficult to understand, so, to hone your understanding, work with
the rank-shift analysis of the text Australia and Fast Food from the Lesson 2 Exercise.
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Lesson 4: Nominal Groups

In this lesson, you will learn how nominal groups can pack a lot of information in a small
package.

Keywords for this lesson

 Thing
 Epithet
 Classifier
 Numerative
 Qualifier

Nominal Group
… is made up of different functions. Nominal groups can be divided into three main functional
components: (Premodifier) Head (Postmodifier). The brackets here indicate that two of these
components are not always present; but a nominal group must have a Head. Look at the
nominal groups in this sentence:
(1) the southern cassowary is a large flightless bird with unusual feathers.

the southern cassowary

Numerative Classifier Thing
a large flightless bird
unusual feathers
Thing

“cassowary”, “bird”, and “feathers” are the head that we called as things. The thing is the
main noun in the group. Things are always nouns.

However, the same class can have different functions. In sentence (1), there are four
adjectives.

the southern cassowary

a large flightless bird
unusual feathers
Epithet Classifier

But these adjectives have different functions. You can say “a very large bird”, but not “a very
flightless bird”. Or you can say “very unusual feathers”, but not “a very southern cassowary”.

“Large” and “unusual” are describing adjectives (epithets) whereas “southern” and “flightless’
are classifying adjectives (classifiers). Starting with the thing, the words to the left give it new
meaning.
 What type of bird? – A flightless bird.
 Describe the flightless bird – a large flightless bird.
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What if there were two birds? We can add a numerative to the group.
two large flightless birds
Numerative
The function that comes before the numerative is the deictic. The deictic shows whether the
thing has the potential to be identified in the text or context. If the thing is already known or
can be known, we use specific deictics such as “the”, “this”, “these”, and “those”. Otherwise,
if the thing is unknown, we usually use a non-specific deictic such as “a” or “an”.

those two large flightless birds

Deictic

Exercise
Look at the Australia and Fast Food text on lesson 2. Mark the epithet, classifier,
numerative and deictic you find in the text.
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Lesson 5: Process Types

In this lesson, you will learn the types of processes that previously only known as verbs in
traditional grammar.

Keywords for this lesson

 Material
 Behavioural
 Mental
 Verbal
 Existential
 Relational

What are Processes?

Processes are events such as doing, happening, thinking, feeling, and being. They are
expressed by verbs.

Let’s take a look at this picture. What do you see, think, and believe from this picture?

You may answer:

 He is standing outside.
 He is leaning on a ledge and he is holding a bird.
 He looks lonely.
 He is brown and he has horns.
 Maybe he sees a ship and he thinks it will bring food.
 Maybe he feels sad.

Material processes
are the processes of doing and happening
 He is standing outside.
 He is leaning on a ledge What is he doing?
 He is holding a bird.
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Mental processes
are processes of seeing, thinking, and feeling.
 he sees a ship
 he thinks it will bring food.
 he feels sad
seeing is not actually an action process. Because it just happen as we open our eyes. Seeing
is more to an internal activity. Something that occur inside the mind. It flows from one’s
consciousness

Relational processes
are processes of being and having.
Look at these two sentences:
 He looks lonely.
 He looks at the ocean.

He looks lonely ≠He looks at the ocean. The verb looks can be replaced by is. So this ‘looks’
relate the participant to the entity of ‘lonely’. The same processes are found in:
 He is brown
 He has horns

Behavioural processes
 He is looking out to sea
Looking is similar to an action and also similar to mental process. So this process is kind of in
between the two process. Looking is less physical than standing, but more physical than
thinking. It is the doing version of mental process.

Existential processes
are processes of introducing the existence of new Participants.
 There is a bird in his hand
The verb is tells us that a bird exist. It’s not relating the bird with a quality or an identity.

Verbal processes
This is the process of bringing the inside outside. A process of saying.
 He says he is bored.
 He thinks he can do it.

These categories are blended to each other. Sometimes it’s difficult to know which process
type it is. In summary, processes are events expressed by verbs. No one-to-one relation
between verb and process type. Understanding the basic process type is important, because
it related to tense.
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Summary of Process Types

PROCESS TYPE DOMAIN RESTRICTIONS PARTICIPANTS

Material

Function: to construe outside activities None ANYONE/THING Actor = doer

the material world of DOING something can do Goal = affected
doing Range = not affected
Beneficiary = to/for
Behavioural

Function: to construe Physiological and Needs consciousness Behaver = doer

conscious behaviour psychological Behaviour/range = done
behaviour: the doing
version of mental or
verbal processes
Mental

Function: to construe Inside activities Needs consciousness Senser = doer

and may project the thinking, knowing, and human characters Phenomenon = thing known,
inner world of liking, wanting,
consciousness perceiving liked/disliked,
wanted,
perceived
Verbal

Function: to construe Bringing the inside None anyone/thing can Sayer = doer
saying outside: saying say Verbiage = said
something NB: inanimate saying is Receiver = said to
close to identifying Target = said about
Existential

Function: to construe Introduce existence of none Existent

existence new Participants
Relational Attributive

Function: to construe To characterize or none Carrier = thing describe

relationships of assign membership to Attribute = description
description a class
Relational Identifying

Function: to construe To decode known none Identified = that which is to

relationships of meanings and encode be identified
identification and new things Identifier = the new
equation identify
Token = form
Value = function or role

Token represents Value

Value is represented by Token
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Lesson 6
1# Metafunction: Experiential Meaning

Conjunction groups joining

this clause to other clauses in
the same clause complex

Figure 1 Orbital diagram of patterns of experience in the clause

Why does a verbal group become the centre of the pattern?

Metalanguage for discussing language as experience

Three functional constituents are PARTICIPANT, PROCESS and CIRCUMSTANCE. The
Participant constituent can be further described in terms of various participant roles such as
ACTOR, AGENT, GOAL, CARRIER, SAYER. The Process divides into three basic process
types; MATERIAL, RELATIONAL and PROJECTING. There is also a metalanguage that
allows us to show finer functional distinctions within the Circumstance constituent.

Note: when analysing functional grammar, capital letter is applied to label the functions, for
instance Participant, Process, Thing, Event, etc.

Packaging experience
It is important to realise that the way we express ourselves is not rigidly determined by an
external reality or by universal rules of logic. Suppose, for instance, that you want to draw
someone's attention to the fact that a certain shop closes at six o'clock. You might say:

The shop closes at six

Participant Process Circumstance

But you don't have to present closing as a Process; you could say:
The shop’s closing time is six
Participant Process Participant
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Imagine looking at a view or a landscape and wanting to describe what you see. You might
want to talk about the sun setting. You could express the setting as a Process:

The sun is setting

Participant Process

However, you could also talk about the sun setting in terms of the sun's location. In other
words, you could express the setting as Circumstance:
The sun is on the horizon
Participant Process Circumstance

You might want to treat this event as a thing {Participant} rather than as a Process, as in:
The sunset is blinding me
Participant Process Participant

It would be difficult to argue that any one way of talking about the sunset is more objective or
correct than any other. In fact, given what we know about the movement of the earth relative
to the sun, it is just as easy to argue that all of them are inaccurate, as it is to argue that all of
them are legitimate (in terms of our perception). Similarly, loving or hating can be things or
events. We cannot appeal to any natural criterion to determine that for us as we see in the
following examples.
Participant Process Participant
The dog must have hated that storm
All the world loves a lover
Hate is a destructive passion
Love is a many-splendored thing
Our greatest need is love

Clause constituency in the experiential function (see pp. 49-50)

1. Participant + Process
2. Participant + Process + Participant
3. Participant + Process + Circumstance
4. Participant + Process + Participant + Circumstance
5. Process
6. Participant + Process + Projected clause
Participant + Projected clause

Clauses as processes
A Process is realised in the grammar by means of a verbal group, which is either one word,
belonging to the class verb, or a group of words with a class verb word as the head or nucleus
of the group. Thus the words in the box below are all verbal groups with the class verb word
jump as head.
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Verbal groups with JUMP as head

jump
will jump
can jump
ought to jump
might be about to jump

We could begin the division into three groups by recognising that some verbs are: (see p.
51)
1. The doing verbs
2. The projecting verbs
3. The being verbs

Process types and participant roles (see pp. 52-63 and lesson 5)
1. Material processes
2. Behavioural processes
3. Mental processes
4. Verbal processes
5. Existential processes
6. Relational processes

Participants
A participant can be a person, a place or an object (this is the notion of 'thingness'), and in the
grammar of a clause the participant is most commonly realised by a NOMINAL GROUP. At
the nucleus of the nominal group structure is the word that most generally represents the
thingness concept that is being talked about, typically a noun or pronoun. We call this nucleus
the HEAD of the nominal group; that is the THING element in the nominal group structure.

Sometimes this single word is all that is needed to signify the concept under discussion, for
example when we say 'trees are beautiful' or 'beer tastes bitter'. But we often want to be
specific in some way, for example by pinning down some trees as 'those trees' or by qualifying
them as 'those trees on the hill'. So the Thing may stand alone or be preceded and/or followed
by other words in the group which modify it in some way. In other words, we can have
premodification before the Thing and postmodification after it. The whole bundle forms the
experiential meaning structure which we call the nominal group.
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Premodification

1. DEICTICS which point to, or in some way select, the noun functioning as Thing
Deictics include: for example:
articles a, an, the
demonstratives this, that, these, those
possessives my. her, their, my father's
a few non-specific pointers some, both, all

2. NUMERATIVES which tell how many of the Thing there are or in what order they
occur.
Numeratives include for example:
cardinal numbers one, three, a thousand
ordinal numbers first, second, third, last

3. EPITHETS which describe a quality of a Thing.

Epithets include: for example:
adjectives young, red, dirty, exciting, disgusting,
wonderful

4. CLASSIFIERS which establish the Thing as a member of a class.

These may be: for example:
adjectives Australian, financial, public
nouns acting as classifier cedar tree, car pool

The premodification can be functionally divided into several parts. You will notice that the four
broad groups reflect the structure of premodification in a nominal group In English we put
these elements in the order; Deictic Numerative Epithet Classifier. This means we say:

There are other constraints and possibilities as well. For instance, it is unusual to have more
than one Deictic, but not at all uncommon to have more than one Epithet or Classifier:
a large ferocious guard dog a new white imported sports car
(two Epithets: large, ferocious) (two Classifiers: imported, sports)

Epithets can usually be intensified by the word very, Classifiers cannot. So, we can talk
of a very old timber house, but not (normally) of an old very timber house.

There are two further points about premodification we need to examine. The first is that the
boundaries between these four groups are not watertight. The word public, for instance, is
commonly a Classifier in nominal groups such as a public servant or public support, but you
can also use public in a way that is more like an Epithet, as m a very Public occasion or a aery
public display of emotion. So we shouldn't think that every word can be labelled once and for
all without considering its function in context.

The second point is that we can actually keep refining these categories. For example, we
could distinguish between Epithets expressing size (big, small) and colour {red, white), noting
that the former typically precede the latter {a big red car) and that it seems more normal to
intensify size (a very big dog) than colour (a very brown dog). However, in this discussion we'll
confine ourselves to the four basic categories.
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Postmodification

Postmodification functions to qualify the Thing in more detail. It is functionally labelled as

QUALIFIER and it gives more detail about the Thing by means of a clause or prepositional
phrase. As the clause or prepositional phrase is functioning as a Qualifier within a group, it is
said to be embedded in that group and has no independent status as a. phrase or clause.
Here are examples of nominal groups containing Qualifiers (the Qualifiers are in bold type):

the house on the hill

snow on Mount Kosciusko
the car that came hurtling down the road
the tall woman who parks her car outside number 16

In fact, the Qualifier is by far the most intricate part of a nominal group, and it can be extremely
complex. Take the following example:

the desk which you bought at that shop near the bakery which sells those cakes
your father likes

All of this is a nominal group. Its Head is desk and everything after that is qualifying the desk.
But there are Qualifiers within Qualifiers here. We could show the structure like this, where
each Qualifier is on a new line.

the desk
which you bought at that shop
near the bakery
which sells those cakes
your father likes

Or we could show the nesting like this:

the desk [[ which you bought at that shop [ near the bakery [[ that sells those cakes [[
your father likes ]] ]] ] ]]

The convention here is to use a pair of double square brackets [[...]] for a clause Qualifier and
a pair of single square brackets […] for a prepositional phrase Qualifier. In the example above,
you read the pairs of brackets from the outside in. So:

everything after desk qualifies the desk, [[ which you ... father likes ]];
everything after shop qualifies the shop, [ near... father likes ];
everything after bakery qualifies the bakery, [[ which sells... father likes ]];
and the last embedded clause qualifies the cakes [[ your father likes ]]

Table 6.1 Some example of nominal groups

Deictic Numerative Epithet Classifier Thing Qualifier

the many long broadleaf weeds in my garden
my friendly dog
the hitchiker’s guide to the galaxy
that extremely Alpine route that we took last
dangerous summer
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Circumstances
Any piece of circumstantial information about the process within its own clause is called a
CIRCUMSTANCE. The CIRCUMSTANCE can be in the form of PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASE, ADVERBIAL GROUP and NOMINAL GROUP.

Type of Circumstance Answer 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 rain
in the absence of fine
weather
CLAUSE 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
means How? by car
What with? with a stick
quality How? quietly
comparison What like? like a trooper
ANGLE According to whom? to Marry
according to Luke

Adverbial group
The adverbial group, like any other group, can be one word or several. It has an inter-nal
structure that allows some premodification and post modification as demonstrated
in the following list:

Adverbial group
Pre- Head Adverb postmodifier
modifier
quickly
fairly quickly
very quickly
ever so quickly
so quickly [[ that we couldn't catch him ]]
as quickly [[as she could]]
as quickly [as possible]

At the head of the adverbial group is an adverb. This may be premodifted by some kind of
INTENSIFIER (a word that modifies the meaning of the head adverb). Words like quite, so,
very, too, all too are among the common Premodifiers of adverbial groups.

The Postmodifier in the adverbial group is similar to the Qualifier in the nominal group in both
structure and function. Structurally it may be an embedded clause or, less commonly, a
prepositional phrase, and it functions to extend the definition of the Head word in the group or
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to pin down its meaning more specifically. However, unlike the nominal group, as you'll notice
from the examples above, there is often a structural relationship between the Pre- and
Postmodifiers in the adverbial group, for example so ... that, as ... as.

Prepositional phrase

The prepositional phrase has the structure PREPOSITION + NOMINAL GROUP. The nominal
group may be quite simple:

Preposition Nominal group

in the morning
on Wednesdays
at home

or may contain embedding:

Preposition Nominal group

in the house [[that had been their home for 20 years]]
on that fateful Wednesday [[which changed their lives]]
under the flag [[that fluttered bravely in the breeze and that
seemed to them a symbol of their endeavour]]

Remember that a prepositional phrase can serve not only as Circumstance in a clause but
also as Qualifier within a nominal group or as Postmodifier in an adverbial group. Notice that
inside the prepositional phrases in these examples there are four other prepositional phrases,
three of them within the one overarching prepositional phrase structure:
for 20 years
in the breeze
to them
of their endeavour

Nominal groups
Finally, there are some groups of words that function as Circumstance but do not appear to fit
the pattern of either adverbial group or prepositional phrase. For example:
all week three weeks ago
six months later some time recently
all the time home
many times a different

Some of these look like, and indeed are, nominal groups (all week, many times, home), others
seem to be adverbial groups with premodification by a nominal group instead of by an
intensifier of some kind (three weeks ago, some time recently). What is important here is to
be able to recognise a Circumstance element of a clause by its function; that is, the role it is
playing in conveying the meaning of the message. Compare, for instance, the function of the
word home in the following two messages:
Home is a cave in the hills
The troops are coming home
In the first of these clauses, home is a nominal group functioning as Thing; in the second it is
functioning as Circumstance.
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Lesson 7
2# Metafunction: Interpersonal Meaning

In this lesson, you will learn two areas in interpersonal meaning, namely the type of interaction
and the commodity being exchanged in the interaction, focusing on the verbal group.

Keywords for this lesson

 Process
 Finite
 Subject
 Mood
 Predicator

Areas in interpersonal meaning

type of interaction : giving or demanding
commodity being exchanged : information or goods and services
1) Demanding information
the most straightforward way to demand information is to use interrogative clauses to
ask questions
2) Giving information
the most straightforward way to give information is to use declarative clauses to make
statements
3) Demanding goods and services
the most straightforward way to demand goods and services is to use imperatives to
give instructions
4) Giving goods and services
although there is no straightforward way to give goods and services, we often temper
an interrogative or a declarative with a modal Finite in order to make offers.

Metalanguage in interpersonal meaning

The verbal group expresses the process. Like in
(1) A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day.

A koala eats half a kilogram of each day.

leaves
Verbal group

Process

In that example, “eats” expresses a “doing” process. This is an experiential view of the verbal
group.

Now, let’s look at the interpersonal meaning of verbs.

The interpersonal function of language relates to how people negotiate meaning. In (1), the
verb “eats” gives information that is needed for another person to argue about the logic of the
sentence.
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In (1) the verb “eats” is:
 Present tense
 Positive polarity
Therefore, the verb “eats” here is a finite verb. When there is a finite verb (and a subject), the
speakers can negotiate the logic of the clause.

Look at the example

(2) Koalas get their energy from eucalyptus tree, eating half a kilogram of leaves each
day.

In (2), this negotiation is not possible for the process “eating”. The verb “eating” still expresses
a “doing” process but it does not express the tense and it is neither a statement nor a question.
It is just a piece of information “hanging on” to the first clause.

This hanging piece of information cannot stand alone as a sentence. It cannot be negotiated:
we cannot argue about its logic. Therefore, “eating” is a non-finite verb. Non-finite verb forms
include:
 V-ing (eating)
 To-V (to eat)
 V-ed/V-en (eaten)

Now, take a look at this invented conversation:

A: A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day. (3)
B: No, they don’t eat that much (4). They eat less.
A: Do they? I heard they eat half a kilogram.
B: Maybe some koalas do but most of them don’t.

In the first line of the conversation (3), “eats” is a finite verb and “A koala” is the subject. If a
clause has both a subject and a finite verb, its logic can be argued.

P.S. The easiest way to check whether a verbal group is finite or non-finite is to add question
tag.

In the second line, speaker B disagrees with speaker A. To make the negative form of “eat”,
speaker B needs to draw up the finite part of the verb. The finite part of the verb is called
the finite. The finite is marked for tense (past, present, future), polarity (+ or -), and agreement
with the subject.
(3) A koala eats half a kilogram (4) No, they don’t eat that much.
of leaves each day.
Tense Present Present
Polarity + -
Agreement with subject Singular: eats Plural: don’t

Finite is that part of the verbal group which encodes primary tense or the speaker's opinion.
Thus, the Finite has two main interpersonal roles in the verbal group - it can be a sign of TIME
in relation to the speaker, or a MODAL sign of the speaker's opinion.
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Finite verbal groups have two parts. The finite is the part of the verbal group that allows for
negotiation of meaning. The rest of the verbal group is the predicator, which expresses the
main action.

Now, let’s look at how the finite works together with the subject.
A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day.
Subject Finite

The verb “eats” is fixed to the subject “A koala”. It also expresses present tense and positive
polarity. Therefore, “eats” is the finite.

A finite verbal group also needs a predicator. The predicator is the main action that the verbal
group expresses. In this sentence, on the predicator there is also “eats”. In many cases, such
as this one, the finite and the predicator are the same verb.
A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day.
Subject Finite Predicator

But what if we change the sentence to negative polarity?

A koala doesn’t eat half a kilogram of leaves each day.
Subject Finite Predicator

Here, the predicator is “eats”, but the finite is “doesn’t” because “doesn’t” expresses the
present tense and the negative polarity. It also agrees with the subject. Now, the finite and the
predicator are separate verbs.

Finite and predicator are also separate in question forms.

Does a koala eat half a kilogram of leaves each day?
Finite Subject Predicator

In question forms, the finite goes before the subject.

What if we change the tense from present simple to present progressive? See how the finite
is responsible for tense.
(5) A koala is eating leaves.

A koala is eating leaves.

Subject Finite Predicator

Also, the finite can show the speakers’ attitude to verbs. Modal verbs always finites.
A koala should eat half a kilogram of leaves each day.
Subject Finite Predicator
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Lesson 8
3# Metafunction: Textual Meaning

In this lesson, you will learn how text is comprised of simple and complex sentences, how the
linking and binding work on it, and how cohesion is aimed through the use of theme and focus.

Keywords for this lesson

 Context
 Coordination
 Cohesive
 Theme
 Focus
 Cohesion
 Thematic progression

The use of simple and complex sentence

Simple sentence made up of one clause. Complex sentence made up of two or more clauses.
(1) A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each day.
(2) Koalas are fussy eaters, choosing most of their food from a few varieties of eucalypt.

Sentence (1) is simple because it has just one clause. The clause is finite so it can stand alone
as a sentence. A non-finite clause cannot do this.

Sentence (2) is complex because it has two clauses expressing two events.
(a) Koalas are fussy eaters
(b) choosing most of their food from a few varieties of eucalypt

Clause (a) can stand alone as a sentence, so we call it an independent clause. But clause (b)
is non-finite and it cannot stand alone. It needs to hang onto clause (a). So we call clause (b)
a dependent clause.

It is important to note that in a complex sentence, we choose which clause goes first.
(3) Covering an area of 348,000 square kilometres, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s
largest coral reef system.
(4) The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system, covering an area of
348,000 square kilometres.
The choice depends on the context. Sometimes, it is better to put the most important
information last.

Binding and Linking clauses

Binding clauses
Binding is the connection of a dependent clause to an independent clause. Binding joins two
messages of unequal importance. If the information is less important, we choose a dependent
clause. Dependent clauses can be finite or non-finite.
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When a dependent clause is non-finite, we do not need to use a conjunction. Conjunction is a
joining word.
(3) Covering an area of 348,000 square kilometres, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s
largest coral reef system.

However, when a clause is finite, we make it depending by using a binding word.

(5) Although some corals will survive, a number of species are facing extinction.

The binding conjunction “although” tells us that the clause is dependent. The binding
conjunction makes the clause unable to stand alone. Clause (6) cannot be a sentence.
(6) Although some corals will survive

Linking clauses
Linking is the connection of two independent clauses. Linking joins two messages of equal
importance. Linking conjunctions include “and”, “but”, “or”, and “so”.

(7) At night they feed and they move between trees, and sometimes they move along the
ground.

In (7) you can see three clauses. The linking conjunction “and” tells us that all three clauses
could stand alone as sentences, even though some people are not comfortable beginning a
sentence with “and”.
(a) At night they feed
(b) And they move between trees.
(c) And sometimes they move along the ground.

The writer thinks all three messages are equally important, so all three messages are
expressed as independent clauses. In traditional grammar this is called coordination. It
means that the ideas are balanced in the sentence.

If one of the ideas is more important than the other two, we should make it a separate
sentence:
(8) At night they feed and they move between trees. Sometimes they move along the
ground.

In (8), the fact that koalas move along the ground is too important to be a link to the first
sentence.

Note: when we use linking, we can sometimes leave out the subject of the second clause:
(9) At night they feed and ^ move between trees.
(10) The cassowary has coarse, hair-like feathers and ^ lacks tail feathers.
This is called ellipsis, which is another choice that helps to make a text cohesive.

Both binding and linking can appear in the same sentence.

Focus & theme

By putting information at the start of the sentence or clause, we set the topic of what the
message is about. This topic is called theme. Halliday (1994, p. 38) characterises theme as
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'”what the message is concerned with: the point of departure for what the speaker is going to
say”. The following four sentences all express the same experiential and interpersonal
meanings, but the textual meaning is different.
(11) A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each days.
(12) Half a kilogram of leaves are eaten by koalas each day.
(13) Each day, koalas eat half a kilogram of leaves.
(14) Each day, half a kilogram of leaves are eaten by koalas.
Theme Focus

The textual meaning in (11) is “Let me tell you what koalas do”. In (12), the textual meaning is
“Let me tell you what happens to the leaves”. In (13) and (14) the textual meaning is “let me
tell you what happens each day”.

(11) A koala
(12) Half a kilogram of leaves
(13) Each day,
(14) Each day,
Theme

The theme is the first participant, process, and circumstance in a clause. Usually, the theme
is also the subject. You can see that in (11) and (12) the theme is participant and in (13) and
(14) the theme is circumstance.

The second part of the clause says something about the theme. The second part to the right
of the clause usually has the new or important information, which is called the focus. In spoken
texts, the focus is expressed by intonation. In written texts, the focus is usually but not always
the last group in the clause.

(11) A koala eats half a kilogram of leaves each days.

(12) Half a kilogram of leaves are eaten by koalas each day.
(13) Each day, koalas eat half a kilogram of leaves.
(14) Each day, half a kilogram of leaves are eaten by koalas.
Theme Focus

In (11) and (12) the new information is “each day”. In (13) the new information is “leaves”, and
in (14) the new information is “koalas”

The choice we make for theme and focus (rheme) are not random, they depend on the context.

Now that you know all about the three higher functions of language, you can look at a sentence
from three angles at the same time.

A koala eats half a kilogram each day

of leaves
Experiential Participant Process Participant Circumstance
Interpersonal Subject Finite/Predicator
Textual Theme Focus
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This is by far the basic introduction. Now let’s have a more detail look on textual cohesion.

In order to communicate, people must create texts. If the text do not have cohesion, they will
not make sense. Cohesion means that the text stays together and doesn’t fall apart. To
develop cohesion in the paragraph, it is important to manage theme and focus.

This text shows the themes of each clause (underlined).

Accommodation for a Studious Lifestyle

The Student Lodge has three-bedroom units which include a living area, bathroom and
bedrooms. Each resident has a private bedroom. The bedroom has a bed, study desk, chair,
shells, then, a conditioner and Wi-Fi. Along with your private room you share the living room
and bathroom areas with two others. The living room has a couch, TV, coffee table and air
conditioner. It also has a microwave and fridge.

Except for one theme “each resident”, all themes refer to the student lodge:
(1) The Student Lodge
(2) units (“which”)
(3) Each resident
(4) The bedroom
(5) Along with your private room
(6) The living room
(7) It
Theme

The consistency of theme keeps the paragraph relevant to the main topic “accommodation for
a studious lifestyle”. The focus of the first sentence includes “living area”, “bathroom” and
“bedrooms”, each of these are develop out later as theme in (4) (5) (6) and (7). This gives
cohesion to the paragraph and we call it thematic progression.

See also this example:

Perfectly Located

Directly across the road from the Student Lodge which is the Campus Shopping Village with
various shops and medical facilities. On campus is a swimming pool and just five minutes
away in Smithfield is a 50m and 25m heated swimming pool. The Student Lodge is located
only 15 minutes from the city centre and five minutes from Smithfield Shopping Centre. In just
10 minutes you can go to various beaches.

It is no surprise that the heading of this paragraph is “perfectly located”. This is because almost
every theme expresses a circumstance of location.