Riassunto esame Lingua e linguistica inglese, Prof. Luporini Antonella, libro consigliato Introducing functional linguistic, Geoff Thompson

Non-Structural Cohesion: Ideational (Meta)Function

1. Clause as representation relates to the language's ability to represent reality. It is divided into:

• Experimental: system of transitivity
• Logical: system of clauses and combination (something that logically connects the clauses)

2. Clause as message

3. Clause as transitivity system

The transitivity system includes a set of resources for referring to entities in the world and the ways in which those entities act on or relate to each other. It also includes:

1. A process, typically linguistically represented by verbs
2. Participants in the process, which are entities involved that take part in the action and are typically noun groups
3. Circumstances, which provide additional information about the events and are linguistically realized by different constituents called adjuncts. There are six categories.

Our experience of the action can be divided into three main categories: material,...

Material: physical process taking place in the outward. (To build something, growing up, happening, to buy, to make, to run etc..)

Mental: the opposite of a material process, it takes place in ourselves, cognition, emotion and perceptions (to wonder, to think, to believe, to dream, to love, to hate). The mental process is unintentional.

Relational: processes that build up relationships, having identity and symbolising.

• 3 minor categories that fall in between the main categories

Existential: processes the existence of something (there is\ there are)

Verbal: saying (asking etc)

Behavioural: in between material and mental.

1. Material processes: carrying out the activity.
• Actor: The is the doer of the process, can be animate or inanimate, and its active.
• Goal: A is a participant= an entity that undergoes the process, is a passive participant. Always a noun group.

In transitivity we must look at the verb to understand which process we are talking about.

World

Temperatures are rising because of human activity and climate change (now) threatens every aspect of human life.

We face a huge challenge if nothing is done.

This is a material clause. Note that, in passive clauses, the Actor can be omitted: he/she/it can be left out of the clause structure. In this case, the Actor is unexpressed. What are the effects of this omission, in your view?

Difference between Subject and Actor/Doer. 'Nothing' is the grammatical Subject of the clause, but NOT the Actor (Doer) of the action of 'doing'.

8/112. Mental processes

Express feelings, emotions and desires.

The main characteristic is abstraction and it takes place in our mind-> its unconscious. The doer is human or human like (metaphorically represented by human) because human beings are the only ones who can think and have cognitive processes. - senser: The human participant who thinks, feels, hears etc.. - Phenomenon: The entity who is sensed usually passive, it's always a noun group. While other areas will see more intense storms. Senser Mental Process Phenomenon (perception) Material processes can project other clause, corresponding to what is traditionally defined as direct or indirect speech. Scientists think (that) global warming could exceed 4C in the future. Senser Mental Projected clause Process Relational processes: 3. Express relations in terms of being and having. They can be: - Attributive: The relational processes assign a generic quality. - Identifying: The relational processes assign a defining quality. attributive Carrier Attribute. The Participants in a relational Process are the and.the text should be formatted as follows:

The In an Identifying Identi ed Identi er.relational Process, they are called andExtreme weather events are (already) more intenseCarrier Attributive Relational Process Attribute(Intensive: being)Identifying exchangeIn an Relational Processes you can the position of the two Participants(Identi ed and Identi er) 13ff fi ff fi fi fi fi fiEs. "Climate is the average weather in a place over many years" > "The average weather in aplace over many years is climate."Es. "Climate change is a shift in those average conditions" > "A shift in those average conditionsis climate change."Attributive cannotIn Relational Processes, you easily exchange the position ofthe two Participants (Carrier and Attribute): the result would be a 'strange' or highly 'marked',non-standard clause. Try with the examples above!4. Verbal processes: what is said. verbal communication.Verbal Processes express These are Processes involvingprojectLike mental Processes,

They can other clauses. The main Participants in a verbal clause are:

• Sayer - the human or human-like entity that speaks, says, asks, shouts...
• Receiver - the addressee
• Verbiage several - the content or type of communication (e.g. 'the students asked questions')
• Target - There may be, occasionally, another Participant: the i.e., an entity to which something is the students being 'done' using words (e.g. 'the teacher praised for their work).

Verbal Processes, like Mental Processes, can project other clauses, corresponding to what is traditionally known as direct/indirect speech. See the examples below:

Temperature rises must slow down if we want to avoid scientists say the worst consequences of climate change

Projected clause complex Sayer verbal Process (2 clauses linked by conjunction 'if')

Behavioural processes: in-between material and mental. (largely involuntary)

Behavioural Processes are They indicate physiological activity, the outward physical

signs of some (e.g. cough, sneeze) or psychological state (e.g. 'smile', 'cry').

Behaver: They usually have only one Participant, the (= the Doer of the Process).

conscious/It is important to note that a sub-category of Behavioural Processes includes intentional processes of perception: Mental for instance, while 'see' and 'hear' express Processes, 'watch', 'stare' and 'listen' express Behavioural Processes.

if nobody listens to them

Behaver Behavioural Process Circumstance

6. Existential processes: existence 'there' + verb to be'.

Existential Processes express and typically take the form Existent There is only one Participant: the (= the entity – person, thing, abstraction… – that is said to exist, to 'be there').

Note that the element 'There' has no function in Transitivity.

but there are potential solutions

Existential Process Existent 139/11

Activity 1 Transitivity

Thousands of school children have flooded into city centres across the country as classrooms around the world were abandoned for a day of demonstration.

In Bradford, primary school children led 100 people outside City Hall. Despite the windy weather, there was a clear feeling of excitement.

Thousands of young people marched through Brighton, chanting loudly and holding a variety of banners.

One of the city's Labour MPs, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, said:

students will learn a lot today. Lana said: "They're messing up our future. We will have to clean it up, so we must come here and tell them about it." In Manchester, protesters blocked tram lines through the city center. Thousands of people also marched through the streets of Birmingham. Arjun said: "In 12 to 20 years, the effects of climate change are going to be irreversible. The younger generation must change this, because the older

generation//(senser) don’t care (mental process)." //In Ipswich and Huntingdon (circumstance), children (actor) protested (material process) (as)classrooms (goal) were abandoned (material process) for a day [of demonstrations]//(circumstance). //Thea (sayer) , from Ipswich (circumstance), said (verbal process) : " this (identi er) is ( identi errelational process) the biggest threat (attribute) [facing my generation]."

Activity 2.Swedish environmental activist greta Thunberg cries at the end of her speech to the environmentcommittee of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.It’s an unusual behaviour useful to sensitise the readers. 13fl fl ff fi fi15/11Unit 4 ideational meanings ( eld) logical meaningsclauses in combination.Logical meaning are accounted for by the system ofTaxis->1. refers to the dependency status of the clauses in a clause complex.- Hypotaxis = subordination in which one clause (dependent) is dependent from the other

r clause in terms of providing additional information or details. Enhancement-> = one clause enhances or strengthens the meaning of the other clause. - Projection-> prediction and inference: Prediction-> = one clause predicts or foretells the outcome or result of the other clause. Inference-> = one clause draws a conclusion or makes an inference based on the information provided in the other clause.