Principles of Text Analysis

(part II)
 Context
Ideology
C of
O Culture
N Genre
T
E Context
Register
X of
T Situation
Field Tenor Mode
Discourse- Experiential Meaning Interpersonal Meaning Textual Meaning
Semantic How the writer describes How the writer describes his How the writer organizes the
Level what is going on attitude to himself, the content of the text
Who does what to whom, reader and the subject How is the content of the
when, where and how? What is the writer’s text organized?
attitude to himself, the
T reader, and the subject?
E
X
T
Lexical Relations Conversational Structure Reference & Conjunction

Lexico- Transitivity System Mood System Thematic System

Grammar  Participants Mood Theme & Rheme
Level  Processes Modality: Degree of Given & New Information
 Circumstances probability or obligation Clause as Message
Clause as Appraisal
Representation Clause as Exchange
Grammatical Metaphor

Expression Graphology / Phonology

 Focus on the
interpersonal metafunction
 Interpersonal Analysis (ST)
MOOD
• Use of exclamatives
• Direct address to the reader
• Imperative
MODALITY
• can (intrinsic; ability; possibility)
• should (epistemic: it generally is)
LITERAL TRANSLATION

Le turbine eoliche possono essere pericolose! E sono

pericolose soprattutto quando le state installando o state
effettuando la. Tuttavia, una volta che la vostra turbina è
stata installata ed è in funzione sulla torre dovrebbe essere
una macchina molto sicura e silenziosa - se è stata
installata a dovere, il cavi sono stati collegati correttamente
e se è sottoposta a regolare manutenzione.
E’ vostra responsabilità considerare la sicurezza tutte le
volte durante l’installazione, la manutenzione e il
funzionamento della vostra turbina eolica.
Fate il vostro dovere, perché non possiamo coprire qui
tutte le precauzioni di sicurezza.
Se avete dubbi su qualsiasi aspetto, contattate un
professionista. Potete anche contatrtarci via mail per
chiedere un supporto tecnico
Le turbine eoliche possono essere pericolose, e lo sono soprattutto nelle
fasi di installazione o manutenzione.
Tuttavia, una volta messa in funzione sulla torre /una volta installata e
messa in funzione
dovrebbe/è in genere
una macchina molto/estremamente sicura e silenziosa - se
opportunamente installata, cablata e sottoposta a regolare manutenzione.
E’ vostra responsabilità/Sta a voi/E’ reponsabilità del proprietario
tenere costantemente presenti le questioni relative alla sicurezza
durante l’installazione, la manutenzione e il funzionamento della vostra
turbina eolica.
E’ assolutamente necessario acquisire tutte le informazioni relative alla
sicurezza, perché è impossibile coprire/prendere in esame qui/in questa
sede/ in queste pagine/ in questo manuale tutte le precauzioni necessarie.
Se avete dubbi/Se si è in dubbio … contattate/contattare
Potete anche contattarci…
Per richiedere un supporto tecnico è possibile contattare il seguente
indirizzo…
 Interpersonal Analysis (TT)
MOOD
• Use of exclamatives > NO
• Direct address to the reader > NO
• Imperative NO > Declarative
MODALITY
• can (intrinsic; ability; possibility) > change
• should (epistemic: it generally is) > change
RISCHI ELETTRICI
• Folgorazione
• Questa turbina eolica è progettata per emettere corrente a bassa tensione/Questo
modello di turbina eolica emette corrente a bassa tensione, per sistemi a 12, 24 o
48 volt. In genere i sistemi a bassa tensione non (rap)presentano rischi elettrici.
Tuttavia, quando la turbina non è collegata al banco di batterie la tensione ai cavi
di uscita può essere molto più alta, quanto basta per causare uno shock elettrico.
Partite sempre dal presupposto/Bisogna sempre partire dal presupposto che i fili
possano essere in tensione e che se li toccate possano folgorarvi/e che vengono
toccati c’è il rischio di folgorazione. Spegnere la turbina dall’interruttore generale
prima di operare sui cavi. Usate/re quadri/armadi elettrici e guaine di
protezioneper tenere lontane le dita dei curiosi dai cavi/per tenere lontane dai cavi
mani indiscrete.
• Incendio
• Poiché la turbina usa un alternatore a bassa tensione, cavi di dimensioni non
appropriate e collegamenti elettrici di cattiva qualità possono surriscaldarsi molto
rapidamente e dare origine a un incendio. Usare quadri elettrici e guaine di
protezione selezionando opportunamente le dimensioni dei cavi/dimensionando i
cavi opportunamente.
• Elementi riscaldanti
• Se usate/Se si usa un sistema di frenatura di
emergenza con resistenze elettriche (Dump
load) per la (vostra) turbina assicuratevi/rsi
che sia montato al sicuro, lontano da pareti
infiammabili, in un armadio elettrico. Anche il
raddrizzatore potrebbe (sur)riscalcadarsi:
usate/re le stesse precauzioni nel montaggio.
• Messa a terra del sistema
• Se l’intero sistema è collegato a terra secondo
le norme locali, quasi certamente non
sono/saranno necessari altri accorgimenti. Si
veda la sezione “Messa a terra dell’impianto e
protezione dai fulmini” del manuale, a pag. X,
per informazioni specifiche sulla messa a terra
della turbina/della turbina eolica/ del
generatore eolico.
• Bilanciamento del sistema
• Dal punto di vista elettrico, la turbina è sicura
se tutto il resto del sistema/se tutto l’impianto
è sicuro. Il banco di batterie è particolarmente
pericoloso a causa della grande quantità di
energia accumulata in poco spazio e per
l’emissione di gas idrogeno esplosivo durante
la carica.
• Dovreste già conoscere/E’ importante
conoscere/ Bisogna conoscere a fondo tutte le
precauzioni di sicurezza relativamente al
bilanciamento dell’intero impianto di energia
rinnovabile: è necessario che tutto venga
installato in maniera sicura, ed è (sarà?)
probabilmente necessario che venga
approvato dalle autorità locali prima ancora
che possiate/si possa anche solo pensare di
installare e mettere in funzione la turbina.
 Levels of Analysis
• Ideational metafunction
• Intepersonal metafunction
• Textual metafunction
 Levels of Analysis
• Ideational metafunction
• Intepersonal metafunction
• Textual metafunction
 Context
Ideology
C of
O Culture
N Genre
T
E Context
Register
X of
T Situation
Field Tenor Mode
Discourse- Experiential Meaning Interpersonal Meaning Textual Meaning
Semantic How the writer describes How the writer describes his How the writer organizes the
Level what is going on attitude to himself, the content of the text
Who does what to whom, reader and the subject How is the content of the
when, where and how? What is the writer’s text organized?
attitude to himself, the
T reader, and the subject?
E
X
T
Lexical Relations Conversational Structure Reference & Conjunction

Lexico- Transitivity System Mood System Thematic System

Grammar  Participants Mood Theme & Rheme
Level  Processes Modality: Degree of Given & New Information
 Circumstances probability or obligation Clause as Message
Clause as Appraisal
Representation Clause as Exchange
Grammatical Metaphor

Expression Graphology / Phonology

 Levels of Analysis
• Ideational metafunction
• Clause as representation

• Intepersonal metafunction
• Clause as exchange

• Textual metafunction
• Clause as message
 a useful metaphor:
multifunctional view of the clause
different strands of
meaning
TEXUTUAL METAFUNCTION

According to Halliday (1978: 48):

The TEXTUAL Function is intrinsic to language.

«It is the function of creating text, or relating itself to

the context – to the situation and to the preceding
text »
Key elements for Textual meaning and the Theme system
– The Theme of the clause

– The main system concerned is the THEME system

material
process relational
mental
Transitivity
Experiential

circumstance

interrogative
indicative
clause declarative
MOOD
Interpersonal

imperative
marked
Theme
Textual
unmarked
 What is Theme? Seeing the clause as message
• Theme is defined as « the point
of departure of the
message … that which locates and orients the
clause within its context ». (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004:64)
 Identifying Theme
• Theme corresponds to the first element having a
role in transitivity:
a participant, a process, or a circumstance

• Most commonly, the Theme will conflate with

the Subject and will have a Participant role in the
transitivity.

• Theme is said to be marked when it is not the

Subject of the clause (ie Circumstance)
• Everything else in the clause is referred to as Rheme
• Theme is an element of the thematic structure
of a clause . It is therefore different from:

• the syntactic category of Subject

• the discourse category of Topic

although the three are often coincident

 Textual meaning
• We will be considering three important
dimensions of textual meaning which
contribute to discourse coherence:
• 1) Theme–Rheme
• 2) Order of constituents
• 3) Focus of information
• Consider the following versions of the same
piece of information

1. Colombus discovered America in 1492

2. In 1492 Colombus discovered America.
3. America, not the Indies, Colombus
discovered in 1492.
• All three utterances have the same experiential meaning:
the content is the same.

• All three would normally be used to make a statement, and

so they are interpersonally equivalent too.

• The difference between them lies in the textual

component of meaning:

 the message is ‘packaged’ in different ways, and the

different forms highlight different aspects of the message.
 THEME AND RHEME

• Theme is the clause constituent which,

whatever its syntactic function, is selected to
be the point of departure of the clause as
message.

• It represents the angle from which the

message is projected.
• The element which occupies first position in
the clause is different in the three examples:
• Columbus
• In 1492
• America
Since first position is salient, what to put there
is important, particularly in connected
discourse.
• THEME * RHEME

• 1 Colombus - discovered America in 1492

• 2 In 1492 - Colombus discovered America.
• 3 America - Colombus discovered in 1492.
 Marked/Unmarked theme
• The theme is unmarked when it is coincident
with the clause constituent expected:
- Subject in declarative clauses
- Auxiliary/Wh-form in interrogative clauses
- Verb in imperative clauses

All other choices are MARKED THEMES

 Marked themes
• Worst of all was the lack of fresh water
• A nicer girl you’ll never meet
• Five minutes’ walk from the beach is the hotel
• Coffee you ordered and coffee you’ve been given
• He’s all right, but her I found rather a bore
• There emerged from the cave a huge bear
• What she expected from me I can’t imagine
 Theme/Rheme // Given/New

• The interplay between Theme and Rheme in

textual organization corresponds to the
interplay between Given and New from the
point of view of information.
• The stomach produces gastric juice, which
containes dilute hydrochloridric acid. The acid
kills most of the bacteria in the food. The
partly digested food passes next into the
duodenum, the first part of the small
intestine. This is a coiled tube about eight
meters long, which is as wide as a man’s
thumb.
• 30.1 THEMATIC PROGRESSION
• The unmarked correlation between Given–
New and Theme–Rheme is for Given to
coincide with the Theme, and New
information with some part of the Rheme.
• Going beyond the clause, progression from
Given to New will help the reader’s
understanding of the text.
• Three basic types of thematic progression are
identified:
• simple linear
• continuous
• derived.
Simple thematic progression
 Continuous thematic progression
(Constant Theme)
• This type of progression can be diagrammed
as follows:

• Clause 1 = Theme 1 + Rheme 1

• Clause 2 = Theme 1 + Rheme 2
• Clause 3 = Theme 1 + Rheme 3
 Derived Themes
• In this type, the different themes of a number
of Theme–Rheme structures all relate to a
‘hypertheme’ or ‘global topic’.
 Information focus
• From the point of view of information focus the most
important position are first and last.
• There are a number of strategies in English for shifting
information either to the beginning of the clause or to the
end.

• thematisation (thematic fronting) > brings an element to

initial position.
• clefting > places an element near the front of the clause.
• passive voice
• existential sentence
• extraposition
 Strategies to assign info-focus
CLEFTING (IT/WH)

In clefting, we re-organise the content of a single clause into two related

parts. The effect of the resulting structures is to focus on one element, the
New, which always follows a form of the verb be.

There are two kinds of cleft. Compare these two versions of They need money.
• It’s MONEY they need (it-cleft)
• What they need is MONEY (wh-cleft)

Both types of cleft have MONEY in a stronger focus:

 the it-cleft brings the focus near the front of the first unit;
 the wh-cleft has the focus at the end of the second unit.
 You need love
• The main function of the it-cleft is to mark
contrastive focus.
• It’s love you need (not something else…)

• The effect is of the wh-cleft is to put the new

information as end-focus and indicate its
selectively New status very clearly.
• What you need is love
 Active/Passive
• In the active form, the Agent is Subject and
Theme/Topic, while the Affected is in final
position and receives normal, unmarked end-
focus:
• The President has released the prisoners.
(active voice)
• In the passive construction these
correspondences are reversed. The Affected is
Subject and Theme, while the Agent is
demoted and can even be omitted.
• If present, it occupies final position and
receives normal end-focus:
• The prisoners have been released [by the
President]. (passive voice)
• Using the passive gives us the choice of not
stating who carried out the action.
• This is an important factor, because in the
active clause this information can’t be
omitted.
• What conditions our choice between a passive
without an agent and one in which we keep
the Agent in a by-phrase is informativeness.
 Existential clause/ Extraposition
• There is/ There are…
• It …
(e.g. That he failed his driving test surprised
everybody > It surprised everybody that he
failed his driving test)
 COHESION
• COHESION is the network of lexical
grammatical and other relations which
provide links between various parts of a text >
These relations SUBSTITUTION/ELLIPSIS
create the text > TEXTURE in
Halliday’s terminology by requiring the reader
to interpret words and expressions with
reference to other expressions:
• Halliday & Hasan identify 5 cohesive devices:
• - reference
• - substitution
• - ellipsis
• - conjunction
• - lexical cohesion
 Reference
• Wind turbines can be dangerous. They are
especially dangerous when being installed
• They > points to turbines in the text NOT in
the real world
 SUBSTITUTION/ELLIPSIS
• SUBSTITUTION/ELLIPSIS:
grammatical NOT semantic relation
• Substitution > an item is replaced by another
item
• Ellipsis > an item is replaced by nothing
• Can wind power replace traditional energy
supply? > No, but solar energy can(substitution)
• Have you been repairing the turbine > Yes I have
X (ellipsis)
Three-float broad-band resonant line absorber
with surge for wave energy conversion
 Summing up
• In order to analyze a text from a SFG point of
view, you will have to consider the following
questions:
1. FIELD/IDEATIONAL METAFUNCTION
 Vocabulary
what is the text about? which areas are covered
by the lexis (e.g. medicine? Biology? electricity?
green power?)? is the text rich in specialized
terminology (cfr. tenor)?
 Transitivity: consider the processes/participants
/circumstances involved: is there any thing that
attracts your attention?
• Nominalization&Grammatical Metaphor: can
you identify nominalization? Does
nominalization suggest forms of grammatical
metaphor? Is there evident lexical density?
• 2. TENOR/INTERPERSONAL METAFUNCTION
• Mood
Focus on mood and then consider the speech act(s)
performed: is there a direct correspondence between
mood and speech act?
• Modality
Consider the specific role played by modal verbs and
modal adjuncts in terms of epistemic, deontic and
dynamic meanings
Hedging
• Can you recognize forms of hedging?
• MODE/ TEXTUAL METAFUNCTION
Theme&Rheme: are there marked themes? are
themes topical, interpersonal or textual? Can
you identify specific theme patterns? Can you
identify strategies to assign information focus?
Cohesion: consider the use of cohesion in the
text at all levels.