Misrepresenting Systemic Features As Structural Elements

 Martin, Matthiessen & Painter (2010: 166):

Together, the experiential, interpersonal and textual metafunctions determine the multivariate structure of the nominal group. For example, the nominal group an absolute fool in I think she’s made an absolute fool of herself, has the multivariate structure shown in Figure 5.1.

 

 

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, Figure 5.1 misrepresents systemic features — non-specific, non-interrogative, "interpersonal boost", negative connotation, conscious being — as structural elements. In SFL Theory, only the Deictic, Epithet and Thing constitute the multivariate structure of this nominal group.

Halliday (1994: 190-1) explains how the different metafunctions are embodied in the multivariate structure of the nominal group:

We noted at the beginning of the chapter that in analysing group structure it is not necessary to set up three distinct ‘lines’ corresponding to the experiential, interpersonal and textual metafunctions. A single structural representation will suffice.

We have been able to express this in experiential terms, because it is a general principle of linguistic structure that it is the experiential meaning that most clearly defines constituents. Interpersonal meanings tend to be scattered prosodically throughout the unit; while textual meanings tend to be realised by the order in which things occur, and especially by placing of boundaries. These are very general tendencies, worked out differently in every language but probably discernible in all. …

Since we are using particle theory (constituency) as the foundation of the present analysis — it tends to be conceptually and operationally simpler than models of wave or field — it is natural to represent the structure of the nominal group, in which the functional components are (in English) rather clearly defined, in straightforwardly experiential terms. We shall say little more about the other components, beyond recognising their presence in what has already been discussed. 

(1) Interpersonal meanings are embodied (a) in the person system, both as pronouns (person as Thing, e.g. she, you) and as possessive determiners (person as Deictic, e.g. her, your); (b) in the attitudinal type of Epithet, e.g. splendid; (c) in connotative meanings of lexical items functioning in the group, and (d) in prosodic features such as swear-words and voice quality.

(2) Textual meaning is embodied throughout the entire structure, since it determines the order in which the elements are arranged, as well as patterns of information structure just as in the clause (note for example that the unmarked focus of information in a nominal group is on the word that comes last, not the word that functions as Thing.