The 'Selecting' Subtype Of Focus As A Confusion Of Numeratives And Epithets

 Martin, Matthiessen & Painter (2010: 170):

The Focus element can have a range of functions, which are outlined in Table 5.7 below.

⁴ Some selecting Focus items appear without the structure marker of (e.g. half the boys, all the problems).

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To be clear, from the perspective of SFL Theory, the 'selecting' subtype of Focus includes not just quantitative (three, four, some, none, hundreds, thousands) and ordinative (first, third, last, next) Numeratives but also Epithets (bigger, smaller, largest, smallest).

The Numeratives in the 'selecting' subtype of Focus are just Pre-Numeratives on the SFL model:

In such cases, the fact that numeral serves as Head is shown by 'subject-verb agreement': one of the awards is… vs three of the awards are… . Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 394):

It is the Head that determines the value of the entity in the mood system, and therefore as a potential Subject.

On the basis of the same reasoning that Halliday used to derive 'Pre-Numerative' and 'Pre-Deictic', these Epithets can be interpreted as 'Pre-Epithets'. Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 394):

When the Head is conflated with the Epithet or the Classifier, the relationship between the Head and the Thing is an elaborating one (which is why this type of construction has been called appositive): ‘Head is Thing’.

cf.