Aim of the study and research questions
The main aim of the study is to investigate the realization of expansion relations between clauses in clause complexes in the story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro
In order to fulfill the above mentioned aim, two research questions are raised for exploration:
What is expansion in systemic functional grammar?
How are expansion relations between clauses in clause complexes realized in the short story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro?
Scope of the study
Within the framework of a minor MA thesis, the study cannot cover all types of relationship between clauses Only expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes is taken into consideration Projection and other aspects of SFG such as transitivity, mood and modality, theme and rhyme are, therefore, not examined The focus of the study does not lie in the theoretical findings but on the basis of these it is to enlighten the analysis of the chosen story to understand the way the author constructs the text in terms of expansion relation between clauses.
Significance of the study
The study is hoped to serve as a useful source of reference for those interested in this story by Alice Munro to further understand the content as well as the way be of significance for those who are fascinated in text analysis using SFG as the theoretical framework, especially the expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes and how it is realized in a specific text Through the theoretical background and text analysis in the study, the study is expected to play a complementary role in research on the field of SFG in Vietnam
This study uses the theory of expansion in SFG as the theoretical framework to examine expansion relations between clauses and investigate how different types of expansion are realized in the short story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro In this study, descriptive and analytical methods will be employed as the principal methods The descriptive method is concerned with the description of concepts relating to the expansion relation, and the analytical method is used to analyze the text Some statistics are calculated to show the frequency of use of different types of expansion realized in the text
The study is organized into three major parts
Part A, Introduction, provides the reasons for choosing the topic, the aim, the research questions and the scope of the study, the methods of study, the significance of the study, and the organization of the study
Part B, Development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1 is concerned with the theoretical background of the study in which some basic concepts of SFG are re- examined Chapter 2 gives a presentation of expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes In this chapter, types of expansion are discussed in some details to provide the framework for the analysis of the story Chapter 3 analyzes the story so as to see how different types of expansion are realized in the text
Finally, Part C, Conclusion, summarizes the results of the study, points out limitations and makes some suggestions for further research
PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY
This chapter presents some of fundamental concepts of SFG, namely the metafunctions, rank scales, clauses and clause complexes
1.1 An overview of systemic functional approach to grammar
Systemic functional grammar (SFG) is an approach to language description which aims to provide a comprehensive account of how language is used in context for communication It was originated with M A K Halliday, building especially on the ideas of his teacher J R Firth, in publications from the 1960s on, with major contributions by other scholars such as Ruqaiya Hasan and, in more recent years, Jim Martin and Christian Matthiessen among many others (Chapman, 2009: 225)
From early in its development, SFG has had two main distinguishing features, which are reflected in the name It is ―systemic‖ in that grammar consists of a series of choices that can be made in order to express ideas The grammatical structures are then seen as the outcome of choices from those available Sets of choices between options can most economically be shown in the form of systems (Chapman, 2009: 226) Secondly, SFG is ―functional‖ in that the systems achieve certain functions realized in the lexico-grammar of the language In other words, the model is oriented primarily towards meaning rather than form: that is, its aim is to describe how wordings are used in expressing meanings What a linguistic form consists of is seen as less important than the function that it performs in the clause
Therefore, language is not just a part of ―cognitive mechanism‖ but how people use it in social functions in certain culture (Reuter, 2000).
SFG is a useful tool for text analysis as it provides insightful approach into the language choices that underlie text production and comprehension It can be also said that systemic linguistics provides a useful theoretical and analytical framework for exploring and explaining how texts mean (Eggins, 1994: 307)
In SFG, functional bases of grammatical phenomena are divided into three broad areas, called metafunctions: the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual Each of the three metafunctions is about a different aspect of the world, and concerned with a different mode of meaning of clauses The ideational metafunction is about the natural world in the broadest sense, including our own consciousness, and concerned with clauses as representation The interpersonal metafunction is about the social world, especially the relationship between speaker and hearer, and concerned with clauses as exchange The textual metafunction is about the verbal world, especially the flow of information in a text, concerned with clauses as messages
The ideational metafunction is the ―content function of language‖ (Halliday, 2007:
183) It is realized by the transitivity system which construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types Processes can be divided into six main types, which reflect the cognitive categories that we use to make sense of the events around us Material process, the process of external world involving physical actions, reflects our ―outer‖ experiences The process of sending and consciousness, mental process, reflects our ―inner‖ experience, the things that go on our internal world of the mind The third type of process is relational process, which is the process of being and having On the borderline between material and mental processes is behavioral process, reflecting human physiological and psychological behavior On the borderline between mental and relational is the category of verbal processes, the processes of conveying messages by saying On the borderline between material and relational are the processes concerned with existence, the existential process For example:
The man drove the car fast
Actor Process: Material Goal Circumstance
The interpersonal metafunction comprises the function to enact social relations between addressers and addressees and to express the speaker‘s viewpoint on actions and events in the world According to Halliday (1994: 69), the clause is organized as an interactive event involving the speaker, or writer, and the audience (listener or reader) The most fundamental speech roles in any exchange are the roles of giving and demanding Cutting across the basic distinction between giving and demanding is another distinction, equally fundamental, that relates to the nature of the commodity being exchanged This may be either goods-and-services or information The usual labels for these functions are statement, question, offer and command
There are two components of a clause as exchange, namely the Mood and the Residue The Mood is the component carrying the syntactic burden of the exchange It consists of two parts: the Subject, which is a nominal group, and the Finite operator, which is part of a verbal group The Residue consists of functional elements of three kinds: Predicator, Complement and Adjunct For example:
Mary is doing her homework at the moment
Subject Finite Predicator Complement Adjunct
According to Halliday (1994: 88), a clause can be positive or negative which is called Polarity and expressed in the Finite element The intermediate degrees between the positive and negative poles are known collectively as Modality The interpersonal meaning of a clause is realized through the system of Mood and Modality
Looking at the clause in its context and the rest of the language around it, we can understand the textual meaning of the clause As a message structure, a clause consists of a theme accompanied by a rheme The theme of a clause is the initial experiential constituent, which has a special role in signaling how the current clause relates to clauses around it The Rheme is the part in which the theme is developed
Broadly, there is a choice between unmarked themes (where theme and subject are the same), which typically signal continuity of some kind in the topic, and marked themes (where something other than subject, such as an adverbial adjunct, is theme), often associated with a change of textual frame
She went to the library yesterday
To sum up, each of these three kinds of meaning, according to Halliday (1994: 34)
―forms part of a different functional configuration, making up a separate strand in the overall meaning of the clause‖ Therefore, the three functions do not exist separately or operate independently and discretely but they ―operate simultaneously in the expression of meaning‖ (Bloor, 1995: 9)
Organization of the study
The study is organized into three major parts
Part A, Introduction, provides the reasons for choosing the topic, the aim, the research questions and the scope of the study, the methods of study, the significance of the study, and the organization of the study
Part B, Development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1 is concerned with the theoretical background of the study in which some basic concepts of SFG are re- examined Chapter 2 gives a presentation of expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes In this chapter, types of expansion are discussed in some details to provide the framework for the analysis of the story Chapter 3 analyzes the story so as to see how different types of expansion are realized in the text
Finally, Part C, Conclusion, summarizes the results of the study, points out limitations and makes some suggestions for further research.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY 1.1 An overview of systemic functional approach to grammar
Ranks
According to Martin et al (1997), while metafunction refers to the different models of meaning construed by the grammar, rank refers to the different ―size‖ of the grammatical units (layers of constituency) Rank orders units into a hierarchy according to their constituency relation: the highest-ranking units consist of units of the rank immediately below; these units consist of units at the next rank, and so on, until we arrive at the units of the lowest rank, which have no internal constituent structure Rank is thus a theory of the global distribution of the units of the grammar
The English grammatical rank scale is clause, group/ phrase, word and morpheme
To be more specific, a clause consists of groups, a group of words, and a word of morphemes Every word has a function as part of a group and every group has a function as part of a clause (Thompson, 1996) It is noted that there is no ―sentence‖ rank above clause for the reason that we can adequately account for sentences by introducing the concept of clause and clause complex.
The clause
In functional grammar, the clause is divided into two smaller categories: clause simplex and clause complex As defined by Halliday, a clause simplex contains only one clause, whereas a clause complex contains more than one clause It may consist of a Head clause together with other clauses that modify it The notion of clause complex as Halliday (1994: 216) stated, ―enables us to account in full for the functional organization of sentences‖ Halliday used the concept ―clause‖ instead of
―sentence‖ because a sentence, in fact, can be defined as a clause simplex or complex A simple sentence is like a clause simplex, and a compound or complex sentence is basically a clause complex Hence, in SFG there will be no need to bring in the term ―sentence‖ as a distinct grammatical category
1.4.2 Types of relationship between clauses in clause complexes
As stated by Halliday (1994: 218), there are two types of relationships between clauses: taxis (or interdependency) and logico-semantic relations In this part, these two dimensions are discussed in details
Taxis, or interdependency, indicate the logical interdependency between clauses in a clause complex It shows whether one clause is dependent on or dominates another, or whether they are of equal status There are two types of taxis: hypotaxis and parataxis
Parataxis is the logical interdependency between clauses where the clauses in the nexus are of equal status As defined by Halliday (1994: 218), it is ―the relation between two like elements of equal status, one initiating and the other continuing‖
Because of being equal in status, paratactic relation is logically symmetrical and transitive For instance, “Peter is watching TV, and Nancy is reading a book” The position of the two clauses in this clause complex can be interchanged without any change in the meaning.The paratactic structure is represented by numeral notation
The second kind of logical interdependency is called hypotaxis According to Halliday (1994: 218), hypotaxis is the relation between a dependent element and its dominant – the element on which it is dependent The hypotactic relation is logically non-symmetrical and non-transitivity It is signaled by the Greek letter notation, using alpha (α) for the dominant, beta (β) for a clause dependent on it, and a gamma (χ) for one dependent on that, and so on It is noted that a typical clause complex is a mixture of paratactic and hypotactic sequences, either of which may be nested inside the other, an example of which can be seen below:
|||He could not stand it || when she cried || and she could not help crying ||
1α 1β 2 α because he was so mad|||
(Source: ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro)
The second type of relation between clauses in clause complexes is logico-semantic
It is further divided into two fundamental relationships: expansion and projection It is also noted that in all clause complexes, the paratactic and hypotactic distinction applies together with logico-semantic relation
When a clause nexus is related by expansion, it means that the secondary clause expands the primary clause, by one of three ways: elaborating, extending or enhancing it An elaborating clause does not add any essentially new element to the message, but may restate it in other words, or specify it in greater details, or exemplify, or include speaker‘s comments Extension means adding some new information to the clause, giving an exception, or offering an alternative One clause can also expand another by enhancing it: qualifying it with some circumstantial feature of time, place, cause or condition
The relationship of projection is very different from that of expansion In a nexus related by projection, the secondary clause is instated by the primary clause as what somebody said (locution) or thought (idea) Locution means that the clause is projected by being reused the wording of the language event Idea, on the other hand, is projected the meaning of the original language event While locution is considered a construction of wording, idea is a construction of meaning The following table summarizes the basic types of relations between clauses in clause complexes:
John didn‘t wait; he ran away
John ran away, and Fred stayed 1 + 2
John was scared, so he ran away 1 x 2
John ran away, which surprised everyone α = β
John ran away, whereas Fred stayed α + β
John ran away because he was scared α x β Projection Locution Idea
John said he was running away α ― β
John thought he would run away α ‗ β
In short, clauses in a clause complex are interrelated in terms of two dimensions: taxis (or interdependency) and logico-semantic relations Taxis, which show the interdependency relationship between the clauses in the nexus, can be either parataxis (the linking of elements of equal status) or hypotactic (the binding of elements of unequal status) Logico-semantic relations are divided into two sub- types: expansion and projection Both these two sub-types can be construed between equal or unequal clauses The expansion relation will be discussed in details in the next chapter
CHAPTER 2: EXPANSION AND EXPANSION RELATIONS BETWEEN CLAUSES IN CLAUSE COMPLEXES
This chapter re-examines the theory of expansion between clauses in clause complexes in SFG The three sub-types of expansion, i.e elaboration, extension and enhancement are presented The findings serve as the theoretical framework for the analysis of the chosen text in the following chapter.
Expansion
As already discussed in previous section, expansion is one of two sub-types of logico-semantic relations According to Chapman (2009: 200), in expansion, one clause expands on the meaning of another in various ways: by elaborating it, or extending it, or enhancing it In the following example, the second clause provides some comparison to enhance the meaning of the first, dominant, clause
―He acted as if he hated her”
(Source: ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro)
Types of expansion
Within the relationship by which one clause expands another, Halliday identified three broad semantic groupings: elaboration, extension and enhancement To be more specific, the secondary clause expands the primary by elaborating its existing structure, extending it by addition or replacement, or enhancing its environment
In elaboration, one clause elaborates on the meaning of another by further specifying or describing or clarifying it in some way The secondary clause, as stated by Halliday (1994: 225), ―does not introduce a new element into the picture but rather provides a further characterization of one that is already there, restating it, clarifying it, or adding a descriptive attribute or comment‖ The equal sign (=) is used to denote this relation, which involves both parataxis and hypotaxis
In a paratactic elaborating clause complex, an initial clause is restated, exemplified, or further specified by another The combination of elaboration with parataxis consists of three subtypes: exposition, exemplification and exemplification
In exposition, the secondary clause restates the thesis of the primary one in different words, to present it from another point of view or perhaps just to reinforce the message (Halliday, 1994: 226) The relationship may be made explicitly by conjunctive expressions such as or (rather), in other words, that is to say, or in writing, i.e In the following example, “That clock doesn‟t go; it‟s not working‖, the second clause restates the meaning of the first one in other way
In exemplification , the secondary clause develops the thesis of the primary clause by specifying it, or citing an actual example Typical conjunctive expressions used in this relation are for example, for instance, in particular and in writing e.g In the following illustration, “Peter‟s an excellent student – his GPA is 3,70”, the second clause exemplifies the first one
The last sub-type of elaboration is clarification The secondary clause clarifies the thesis of the primary clause, backing it up with some form of explanation or explanatory comment Expressions such as in fact, indeed, actually, at least are common in this type The nearest written abbreviation is i.e., or sometimes, viz This relation can also be implicitly expressed by juxtaposing, and in writing, by a colon (:) or a semicolon (;) or dash between the linked clauses (Lock, 1996: 256) In the following example, the second clause elaborates the meaning of the primary by clarifying it:
―It wasn‟t so sharp anymore; in fact, it no longer surprised her.”
(Source: ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro)
In a hypotactic elaborating complex, the dependent clause provides some description or comment on the thing(s) mentioned in the primary clause or on the whole primary clause As categorized by Halliday (1994: 227), these dependent clauses may be either finite or non-finite clauses
If the secondary clause is finite, it has the same form as a relative clause of the WH- type It is necessary to pay attention to the difference between defining (restrictive) and non-defining (non-restrictive) relative clauses
Non-defining relative clauses do not restrict the scope of their antecedents, but provide additional information about the antecedents or give a comment on them
Therefore, unlike defining relative clauses, which are rank-shifted (or embedded) clauses functioning as post-modifiers in a nominal group, non-defining relative clauses are considered as dependent clauses In writing, there is usually a comma put around the non-defining relative clause For instances:
(1) He sometimes got notions like this, which were not practicable
(2) It was Mary who stood the first in the class
In the first clause complex, the elaborating clause which were not practicable provides some additional information to the first clause, and thus, the relation is hypotactic elaboration However, in the second example, who stood the first in the class is an embedded clause which serves to identify the noun Mary This embedded clause functions as a post-modifier to the noun, and therefore, is a constituent of the nominal group instead of being a clause of hypotactic relation
The dependent clause in this type might refer to the whole primary clause or to one particular participant in the primary clause (usually a noun), in which case it often stands next to that participant
(3) The President, who was visiting Rome, met the Pope
Obviously, in (3) the non-defining relative clause who was visiting Rome elaborates the head noun the President and this clause is ―enclosed‖ in the primary one
Halliday (1994: 227) uses the angle brackets to denote this enclosure: α ô = βằ
In English it is possible to substitute finite secondary clauses with non-finite ones
In non-finite elaborating clause complexes, the same semantic relationship obtains as with the finites, and again the domain may be one nominal group or some larger segment of the primary clause, up to the whole clause According to Halliday (1994:
229), as is usual with non-finite clauses, the meaning is less specific; both the domain of the dependent clause and its semantic relationships to its domain are left relatively inexplicit There is no WH- form, as there is with the finites For example:
It must have been the heat of the shower, loosening her tears
(Source: ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro)
In extension, one clause extends the meaning of another by adding something new to it Basically, what is added may be an addition, or a replacement, or an alternative Extension might be paratactic or hypotactic; however, compared with paratactic extension, hypotactic extension is less common
The combination of extension with parataxis can be recognized as co-ordination between clauses Therefore, Thompson (1996: 203) remarks ―paratactic extension covers most of what is traditionally called coordination‖ Paratactic extension includes three sub-types of addition, variation and alternation
Summary
In this chapter, expansion and its relationship between clauses in clause complexes in English have been introduced Expansion refers to the relationship between clauses in a clause complex in which one clause expands the meaning of another by one of three ways: by elaborating, by extending, or by enhancing it Extension is, therefore, divided into three categories: elaboration, extension and enhancement, which are respectively labeled =, +, and x In each of these categories, there are a number of subtypes Elaboration is classified into exposition, exemplification and clarification; extension consists of addition, variation and alternation; and enhancement is divided into temporal, spatial, manner and causal-conditional It is noted that these categories may be combined with two types of interdependency, either parataxis or hypotaxis Therefore, we have paratactic and hypotactic elaboration, paratactic and hypotactic extension, paratactic and hypotactic enhancement This chapter serves as the theoretical framework for the analysis of the chosen text in the following chapter.
EXPANSION RELATIONS BETWEEN CLAUSES IN
A register analysis of the story
A key concept in Halliday‘s approach is the ―context of situation‖, which obtains
―through a systematic relationship between the social environment on the one hand, and the functional organization of language on the other‖ (Halliday, 1985: 11)
The analysis of context is broken down into three facets of field, tenor and mode
Collectively, they constitute the ―register‖ of a text (Halliday, 1985: 12) Register is important in systemic linguistics because it is seen as the linguistic consequence of interacting aspects of context Field, tenor and mode determine the experiential, interpersonal and textual meaning respectively In this part, along with examining register, the genre of the story is also taken into consideration in order to understand the text in the fullest
Defined by Thompson (1996: 36), genre ―can be seen as register plus purpose‖ It reveals how people use language to achieve culturally appropriate goals and is seen as a manifestation of language choices with a special purpose (Eggins, 1996: 25)
The short story under discussion, ―Runaway‖, belongs to the narrative genre, features of which can be seen in the story A narrative text is basically a narration of events In ―Runaway‖, the author aims to tell a story by describing a sequence of events, experiences and emotions Besides, a typical feature of the narrative genre that can be seen in this story is that there is a development of the plot, starting from the beginning, with the appearance of the main character - Carla, to the end, her life after her runaway Furthermore, in this narrative text, each event is described in a clear setting of time and place For illustration, at the beginning of the story, the weather and scenery of countryside in Canada were described in details; therefore, readers can imagine a boring rainy summer day when Carla, standing in her house, looked at Ms Jamieson‘s coming home In addition, a typical characteristic of narration is the construction of conflicts and the way conflicts are resolved In this story we can see and feel the severe self-conflict inside Carla when she got stuck in her marriage, left with lost and loneliness, and decided to escape from the dull life
The highest point of this inner conflict can also be observed when Carla‘s being on the runaway with increasing self-doubts and panic These features together confirm that the text is a narrative and has achieved its social purpose – to tell the readers a story and entertain them
Field refers to the subject matter or the topic of the text It answers the questions
―What is being talked about?‖ To be more specific, field refers to what is happening, to the nature of the social action that is taking place Field mainly determines the experiential meaning, and realized by the transitivity system
The text under discussion is an English short story written in narrative style, which describes a runaway of a young woman named Carla from her husband with the help of a widow living next door There is a little white goat depicted in the story, who was also a runaway and became the true reflection of main character It can be noticed that different process types are used to construct the text Material process is seen as the predominant process type, which is to reveal the actions of the characters in the story A significant number of mental processes are employed to express the characters‘ belief, feeling and opinion It is also noted that there are numerous dialogs depicted in the story; thus a large number of verbal process is used However, the transitivity system is not the focus of this thesis, and therefore, is not examined further
Tenor refers to the roles of the participants in the text Tenor answers the question:
"Who are participating and what is their relative status or power?" In SFG, tenor mainly determines the interpersonal meaning, and realized by the mood and modality
Regarding the speech function in the story, it can be seen that there are two role relationships; one between the writer and the reader, and the other between the characters (i.e Carla and Clark, Carla and Sylvia, Clark and Sylvia) with information exchange roles In this story, the writer plays the role of the narrator,
The expansion relation between clauses in the story
As defined by Eggins (1994), mode is ―the role language is playing in an interaction‖ To be more specific, the mode of a text is concerned with the channel in which communication takes place and the medium of communication This story, in its organic form, is a written text, and the writer uses language in order to tell readers a story in written form There is a high lexical density with a large number of content words Besides, the mode mainly determines textual meanings; thus it is realized by the thematic structure of the text However, the theme-rheme pattern is not the focus of this thesis, therefore, is not investigated in depth
3.3 The relation of expansion between clauses in clause complexes in the story
For the purpose of the study, only clause complexes which contain expansion relation are collected from the story For that reason, clause simplexes and clause complexes of projection type are not included Also excluded are embedded clauses which function as post-modifier in nominal or adverbial groups, or as Head in a nominal group These embedded clauses, accounting for a large quantity in the story, are not examined for the reason that they only function as a constituent within the structure of groups and phrases, whereas expansion are relations between clauses
Another highlighted point is that there are a number of clause complexes containing both expansion and projection relations For these ―mixed‖ complexes, only those whose primary relation is expansion are taken into account Mixed complexes in which projection is the primary relation are all excluded
For the reasons mentioned above, among 323 clause complexes collected from the story, there are 219 clause complexes of pure expansion relation, and 104 complexes containing both expansion and projection However, of these mixed complexes, only 33 complexes, in which expansion is the primary relation, are taken into consideration The rest 71 complexes, in which projection is seen as the primary relation, are excluded from the data collection and not be examined As a result, in this study, 252 complexes, including 219 complexes of pure expansion and
33 mixed complexes in which expansion is main relation, are investigated
For more information, please see the Appendix 1, 252 clause complexes which are analyzed to see how different types of expansion are realized The other 71 mixed complexes are included in Appendix 2 and are not investigated
As can be observed from the data collection in the Appendix 1, there are 675 clauses, making up 252 clause complexes interrelated by expansion It is noted that the ordinal numbers at the beginning of each clause complex are used to denote the number of clause complexes, while the cardinal numbers in brackets represent the number of clauses in the complexes The types of expansion relation between clauses are marked below the clauses
It is noticed that many of these complexes contain what Halliday calls ―nesting‖
That is to say, there are different layers, or rank shifts, in the same nexus, making up long and complicated complexes This can be seen in the pie chart below
It can be seen from the chart that more than half of the clause complexes collected from the text are made up from 2 clauses interrelated by expansion There are 73 clause complexes containing 3 clauses, accounting for 29% of the total clause complexes 17 complexes, which consist of 4 clauses, take up 7% Noticeably, there are 19 clause complexes containing up to 5 clauses, which account for the rest 8%
These complexes have complicated structures with different layers and logico- semantic relations To be more specific, there is more than one type of expansion used in one clause complex For instance, clause complex 24 th consists of 7 clauses, and has structure 1 = 21 x 22 x 23 (α + β) x 3 x 4, organized in two layers with three kinds of expansion – elaboration (i.e exposition), extension (i.e variation) and enhancement (i.e temporal)
In terms of expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes collected from the text, it can be remarked that all the three types of expansion – elaboration, extension and enhancement – are realized Generally, of the highest frequency is enhancement Extension is the second dominant type and elaboration is the least popular type The classification of expansion, showing the frequency of each type realized in the text, is presented in the table below
Type of expansion Paratactic Hypotactic
It is shown from the table that the most popular type of expansion is enhancement, being used 217 times, accounting for about 50% of all expansion types, and the lowest frequency is elaboration, which appears in 48 clause complexes, accounting for about 12% Extension is also frequently used in the text with 163 times, taking up about 38%
The numbers indicates that about half of the clauses taken from the text are constructed to enhance the meaning of the primary clauses by providing various circumstantial features of time, place, cause, manner, and condition To be more specific, in the category of enhancement, the author used a large number of temporal relations to denote chronological sequences of the events This relation alone, being used 125 times, accounts for more than half of all enhancement types
More than half of the temporal enhancement are of paratactic relation There are a variety of temporal conjunctions such as “then”, “and then”, ―while”, “as”,
“before”, “after”, “when”, “till”, flexibly used as in complexes 5 th , 9 th , 10 th , 21 st ,
25 th , 32 nd , 34 th , 43 rd , 57 th , 63 rd , 67 th , 117 th , 132 nd , 138 th , 141 st , 213 th , to name just a few Particularly, there are two or more than two temporal relations used in a clause complex For instance, in complex 117 th , the author used five temporal relations to describe the sequences of Carla‘s action Or in each of complexes 57 th and 230 th , four temporal relations are realized In this category, causal - conditional relations are the second dominant type, which are employed 61 times, both paratactically and hypotactically The writer utilized causal - conditional enhancement aiming to qualify the meaning of the clauses by providing references to cause, effect, reason, purpose and condition of the events The most popular connective devices used to denote the causal relations are ―because”, “as”, “so”; to represent condition are
―if”, “even if”, “even though”, “though”, “seeing that”, “in case” and ―as long as” Examples of this sub-type can be seen in complexes 18 th , 22 nd , 25 th , 26 th , 61 st ,
71 st , 82 nd , 124 th , 142 nd , 166 th , 176 th , 180 th , 221 st , 228 th , 246 th , etc In addition, the writer also enhanced the meanings of the primary clauses by providing some kinds of comparison, or showing the means and manner of the actions, with a total of 27 times of use, most of which are finite Relation showing manners of the actions can be recognized in three complexes 65 th , 153 rd and 239 th Only two conjunctive signals are used to represent comparison relations, namely as and as if as seen in clause complexes 50 th , 55 th , 72 nd , 75 th , 84 th , 88 th , 96 th , 111 th , 116 th , 121 st , 151 st , 236 th
The circumstance of space is the least frequently used in this category Only 4 finite hypotactic relations are found with two conjunctive signals ―where” and ―as far as” which are realized in complexes 30 th , 99 th , 141 st and 172 nd The rare use of the spatial relation can be explained by the fact that to describe spatial settings of the events in this story, the author tended to use more clause simplexes rather than complexes
Limitations and suggestions for further studies
This minor thesis has so far discussed expansion relation between clauses in clause complexes and investigated its realization in short story ―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro 252 clause complexes containing expansion have been collected from the text and analyzed to see how different types of expansion are expressed Due to the fact that the story is quite long with a large quantity of clause complexes, the study could not provide detailed discussion of each clause complex Many of them have got complicated structure and are worth for further discussion; however, only some of them are chosen for illustration in the data analysis and discussion section
―Runaway‖ by Alice Munro is an outstanding short story, which can be exploited for analysis in different aspects of SFG This paper is only limited to the study on one of the two of the relation between clauses in a clause complex – expansion
There are many other interesting aspects, which have not been explored, such as the issue of embedded or down-ranked clauses, or the projection relation between clauses Besides, we would have a deeper and more comprehensive interpretation of the text if it were considered from the perspectives of theme, mood, and transitivity systems
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Law of Life‖ by Jack London Unpublished MA thesis, ULIS, Hanoi, Vietnam
11 Martin, J R., Matthiensen, C M I M & Painter, C (1997), Working with
Functional Grammar, London: Edward Arnold
12 Quirk, R & Greenbaum, S (1987), A University Grammar of English, Hong
13 Reuter, M (2000), Language and Language Teaching B: Handout, 29 th August
14 Thompson, G (1996), Introducing Functional Grammar, London: Arnold
This part includes 252 clause complexes, among which there are 219 complexes of pure expansion relation, and other 33 complexes mixed between expansion and projection, but expansion is the primary relation
Boundary Markers: o ||| : clause complex boundary o || : clause boundary o > : clause enclosure
Type of dependency o 1, 2, 3 : Parataxis o α, β, γ : Hypotaxis
Logico-semantic relation: Expansion o = : elaboration o + : extension o x : enhancement
Others o 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , , 252 nd : number of clause complexes o (1), (2), (3), , (675) : number of clause of clauses in clause complexes
1 st ||| (1) Carla heard the car coming || (2) before it topped the little rise in the road α x β (temporal) that around here they called a hill|||
2 nd ||| From the barn door–but far enough inside that she could not easily be seen–
||(3) she watched the road where Mrs Jamieson would have to drive by, || (4) her α x β (cause: reason) place being half a mile farther along than Clark and Carla‘s|||
3 rd ||| (5) If it was somebody coming to see them, ||(6) the car would be slowing β x α (condition: positive) down by now|||
4 th |||(7) Mrs Jamieson turned her head once quickly ||– (8) she had all she could
1 (additive) + 2 (α do ||(9) to maneuver her car through the ruts and puddles the rain had made in the x β) (purpose) gravel ||(10) but she didn‘t lift a hand off the wheel ||(11) to wave, || (12) she didn‘t
(adversative) + 3 (α x β) (purpose) x 2 (effect ^ cause) spot Carla|||
5 th |||(13)When she turned her head || (14) there was something like a bright flash – β (temporal) x α (α of inquiry, of hopefulness – || (15) that made Carla shrink back|||
6 th |||(16) If he was sitting at the computer, || (17) he would have his back to the β x α (condition: positive) window and the road|||
7 th |||(18) But this was July || (19) and it didn‘t get dark till late|||
8 th |||(20) She might be so tired that she wouldn‘t bother with the lights; ||(21) she
1 x 2 (cause ^ effect) might go to bed early|||
9 th ||| (22) The trails were deep in mud, || (23) the long grass soaking leaves α (additive) overhead sending down random showers even in those moments|| (24) when there
+ β (α x β) (temporal) was no actual downpour from the sky|||
10 th ||| (25) Carla wore a wide-brimmed old Australian felt hat ||(26) every time she
1(α x β ) temporal went outside, || (27) and tucked her long thick braid down her shirt|||
11 th ||| (28) Nobody showed up for trail rides – || (29) even though Clark and Carla α (condition: concessive) x β (α had gone around ||(30) posting signs at all the campsites, in the cafés, and on the x β) (purpose) tourist- office bulletin board, and anywhere else they could think of|||
12 th ||| (31) Only a few pupils were coming for lessons, ||(32) and those were
1 +2 (additive) regulars, not the batches of schoolchildren on vacation or the busloads from summer camps that had kept them going the summer before|||
13 th |||(33) And even the regulars took time off for holiday trips, || (34) or simply
1 + 2 (alternative) cancelled their lessons because of the weather|||
14 th ||| (35) If they called too late, ||(36) Clark charged them anyway||| β x α (condition: positive)
15 th |||(37) A couple of them had argued, ||(38) and quit for good|||
16 th ||| (39) Those three, and the four of their own, were out in the field now, α
||(40) poking disconsolately in the grass under the trees|||
17 th |||(41) She had taken her time || (42) she liked the rhythm of her regular chores,
1 x 2 (effect ^ cause) the high space under the barn roof, the smells|||
18 th |||(43) Now she went over to the exercise ring ||(44) to see ||how dry the ground α x β (projection) was||, (45) in case the five-o‘clock pupil did show up||| x α (cause : reason)
19 th |||(46) Most of the steady showers had not been particularly heavy,
||(47) but last week there had come a sudden stirring
||(48) and then a blast through the treetops and a nearly horizontal blinding rain x 3 (temporal)
20 th |||(49) The storm had lasted only a quarter of an hour, || (50) but branches still
1 + 2 (adversative) lay across the road, ||(51) hydro lines were down, ||(52) and a large chunk of the
+ 3 (additive) + 4 (additive) plastic roofing over the ring had been torn loose|||
21 st ||| (53) There was a puddle like a lake at that end of the track, ||(54) and Clark
1 (additive: positive) + 2 α had worked ||(55) until after dark digging a channel ||(56) to drain it away|||
22 nd |||(57) He would not go to Hy and Robert Buckley‘s Building Supply in town, α (α
||(58) which he called Highway Robbers Buggery Supply,
||(59) because he owed them money ||(60) and had had a fight with them||| x (β1 cause: reason + β2) additive
23 rd |||(61) His friendliness, ||(62) compelling at first, ||could suddenly turn sour||| α (non-finite)
24 th |||(63) An old woman had pushed in front of him–||(64) that is, she had gone to
1 = 21 (exposition) get something she‘d forgotten ||(65) and come back ||(66) and pushed in front, x 22 (temporal) x 23 (α (temporal)
||(67) rather than going to the end of the line,|| (68) and he had complained,
||(69) and the cashier had said to him, ―She has emphysema.‖ ||| x 4 (temporal) (projection)
25 th |||(70) And in the coffee shop out on the highway the advertised breakfast
1 (α discount had not been allowed || (71) because it was past eleven o‘clock in the x β) (cause: reason) morning, ||(72) and Clark had argued || (73) and then dropped his takeout cup of + 2 (additive) x 3 (temporal) (α coffee on the Floor – ||(74) just missing, ||(75) so they said, a child in its stroller|||
= β) non-finite x 4 (cause ^ effect) (projection)
26 th |||(76) He claimed ||that the child was half a mile away ||(77) and he‘d
1 (projection) + 2 α (additive) dropped the cup ||(78) because no sleeve had been provided||| x 2 β (cause: reason)
27 th |||(79) Joy Tucker, ||(80) when she was in a jokey mood, || called her Lizzie α > (temporal) Borden|||
29 th |||(81) Joy had not—or not yet—removed Lizzie, ||(82) but Clark,
refused to have anything more
) finite to do with her|||
30 th |||(84) The worst thing, , was the α > (spatial) absence of Flora, the little white goat who kept the horses company in the barn and in the fields|||
31 st |||(86) There had been no sign of her for two days, ||(87) and Carla was afraid
1 + 2 (additive) that wild dogs or coyotes had got her, or even a bear|||
32 nd |||(88) In the first dream, Flora had walked right up to the bed with a red apple
1 in her mouth, ||(89) but in the second dream—last night—she had run away
||(90) when she saw Carla coming||| x 2 β (temporal)
33 rd |||(91) Her leg seemed to be hurt, ||(92) but she ran anyway|||
34 th |||(93) She led Carla to a barbed-wire barricade of the kind that might belong on
1 some battlefield,|| (94) and then she—Flora—slipped through it, ||(95) hurt leg and x 2 (temporal) = 3 (clarification) all, just slithered through like a white eel ||(96) and disappeared||| x 4 (temporal)
35 th |||(97) Some people lived in trailers, ||(98) and that was all there was to it|||
36 th |||(99) When she moved in here, ||(100) when she chose this life with Clark,
||(101) she began to see things in a new way||| x α (temporal)
37 th |||(102) After that, it was only the mobile homes that she really looked at, α
||(103) to see how people had fixed them up—the kind of curtains they had x β (purpose) (projection) hung, the way they had painted the trim, the ambitious decks or patios or extra rooms they had built on|||
38 th |||(104) He had built new steps,|| (105) and spent a lot of time looking for an
1 + 2 (additive) old wrought-iron railing for them|||
39 th |||(106) What he did balk at was tearing up the carpet, ||(107) which was the
1 (α = β) finite same in every room and the thing that she had most counted on replacing|||
40 th |||(108) Then, when she had had more time, a lot of time,|| (109) to examine β (α x β) (purpose) them, ||(110) she decided that there were four patterns joined together to make x α (temporal) (projection) identical larger squares|||
41 st |||(111) Sometimes she could pick out the arrangement easily
||(112) and sometimes she had to work ||(113) to see it||| additive + 2 (α x β) (purpose)
42 nd |||(114) The horses would not look at her ||(115) when she was unhappy||,
(116) but Flora, , would come ||(118) and rub adversative + 2 (> = α1 finite + α2 additive against her, ||(119) and look up with an expression that was not quite sympathy;
||(120) it was more like comradely mockery in her shimmering yellow-green eyes|||
43 rd |||(121) Flora had been a half-grown kid ||(122) when Clark brought her home α x β (temporal) from a farm where he‘d gone to bargain for some horse tackle|||
44 th |||(123) He had heard that a goat was able to put horses at ease ||(124) and he
1 + 2 (additive) wanted to try it|||
45 th |||(125) At first she had been Clark‘s pet entirely, α ||(126) following him everywhere, ||(127) dancing for his attention|||
46 th |||(128) She was as quick and graceful and provocative as a kitten,
||(129) and her resemblance to a guileless girl in love had made them both laugh|||
47 th |||(130) But as she grew older ||(131) she seemed to attach herself to Carla,
||(132) and in this attachment she was suddenly much wiser, less skittish—
||(133) she seemed capable, instead, of a subdued and ironic sort of humor|||
48 th |||(134) Carla‘s behavior with the horses was tender and strict and rather
1 maternal, ||(135) but the comradeship with Flora was quite different|||
49 th ||| ―Still no sign of Flora?‖|| (136) she said ||(137) as she pulled off her barn
50 th |||(138) Clark was humming to himself ||(139) as he often did ||(140) when he α x β (comparison) x γ (temporal) sat in front of the computer|||
51 st |||(141) He laughed occasionally,|| (142) but rarely remembered what the joke
1 + 2 α (adversative) (projection) was ||(143) when she asked him afterward||| x 2 β (temporal)
52 nd |||(144) And to her surprise he got up ||(145) and came into the kitchen|||
53 rd |||(146) Even after she‘d got in the shower, ||(147) he stood outside the door β x (α1 (temporal)
54 th |||(149) She thought he might still be standing there ||(150) when she came
1 (α projection x β) (temporal) out,||(151) but he was back at the computer|||
55 th |||(152) She dressed ||(153) as if she were going to town|||
56 th |||(154) She went into the living room with a brisk step ||(155) and put her arms
1 x 2 (temporal) around him from behind|||
57 th |||(156) But as soon as she did that ||(157) a wave of grief swallowed her up—
||(158) it must have been the heat of the shower, ||(159) loosening her tears— x 2 (effect ^ cause) (α = β) non-finite
||(160) and she bent over him, ||(161) crumbling ||(162) and crying||| x 3 (temporal) x 4 (temporal) x 5 (temporal)
58 th |||(163) He took his hands off the keyboard ||(164) but sat still|||
59 th |||(165) She got out the potatoes ||(166) and started to peel them, ||(167) but her
1 x 2 (temporal) + 3 (adversative) tears would not stop|||
60 th |||(168) She wiped her face with a paper towel ||(169) and tore off a fresh one to
1 x 2 (temporal) take with her ||(170) and went out into the rain||| x 3 (temporal)
61 st |||(171) She didn‘t go into the barn ||(172) because it was too miserable in there α x β (cause: reason) without Flora|||
62 nd |||(173) They came over to the fence ||(174) to watch her, ||(175) but all except
Lizzie, ||(176) who capered ||(177) and snorted a bit, || had the sense to understand
(α >) (additive) that her attention was elsewhere|||
63 rd |||(178) It had started ||(179) when they read the obituary, Mr Jamieson‘s α x β (temporal) obituary, in the city paper|||
64 th |||(180) She taught botany at the college forty miles away, || (181) so she had to
1 x 2 (cause ^ reason) spend a good deal of her time on the road|||
65 th |||(182) He improved the drainage system on his place, ||(183) cleaning out the α (manner: means) x (β1 culvert ||(184) and lining it with rocks|||
66 th |||(185) He dug ||(186) and planted ||(187) and fenced a vegetable garden,
||(188) cut paths through the woods, ||(189) looked after repairs on the house— not
+ 4 (additive) + 5 (additive) just the sort of repairs that almost any house owner could manage after a while but those that involved plumbing, wiring, roofing, too|||
67 th |||(190) When they read the obituary,|| (191) Carla and Clark learned for the β x α (temporal) first time that Leon Jamieson had been the recipient of a large prize five years before his death|||
68 th |||(192) Carla knew at once what he was talking about, ||(193) but she took it as
69 th |||(194) He sometimes got notions like this, ||(195) which were not practicable, α = β1 finite
||(196) which might even be illegal|||
70 th |||(197) He talked about them with growing excitement ||(198) and then she
1 x 2 (temporal) wasn‘t sure why he dropped them|| projection
71 st |||(199) If the rain had stopped, ||(200) if this had turned into a normal summer,
||(201) he might have let this idea go the way of the others||| x α (condition: positive)
72 nd |||(202) But that had not happened, ||(203) and during the last month he had
1 + 2 (additive) harped on about the scheme ||(204) as if it were perfectly feasible|||
73 rd |||(205) Too little and the woman might not take them seriously; ||(206) she
1 + 2 additive might think they were bluffing projection
74 th |||(207) Too much might get her back up ||(208) and she might become stubborn
75 th |||(209) Carla was to break down ||(210) and tell Mrs Jamieson the whole
76 th |||(211) Then Clark would move in, ||(212) as if it had all been a surprise to him, α x β1 (comparison)
||(213) he had just found out|||
77 th |||(214) He would be outraged; ||(215) he would talk about telling the world|||
78 th |||(216) She tried to deflect him, ||(217) but he insisted|||
79 th |||(218) Sometimes he calls me into the room ||(219) when she‘s not there||| α x β (temporal)
80 th |||(220) When she has to go out shopping ||(221) and the nurse isn‘t there,
81 st |||(222) This was asked ||(223) and told in whispers, ||(224) even when there
(α1 + α2) (additive) x (β1 temporal was nobody to hear, ||(225) even when they were in the neverland of their bed x β2) temporal
82 nd |||(226) Now and then came an image that she had to hammer down ||(227) lest α x β (condition: negative) it spoil everything|||
83 rd |||(228) She would think of the real dim and sheeted body, drugged and α projection shrinking every day in its hospital bed, glimpsed only a few times, ||(229) when x β (temporal) Mrs Jamieson or the visiting nurse had neglected to close the door|||
84 th |||(230)In fact, she had dreaded going to the Jamiesons‘, ||(231) but she needed
1 +2 (adversative) the money, ||(232)and she felt sorry for Mrs Jamieson, ||(233) who seemed so additive + 3 (α = (β finite haunted and bewildered,||(234) as if she were walking in her sleep||| x γ)) (comparison)
85 th |||(235) Once or twice, Carla had burst out ||(236) and done something really
1 (additive) + 2 (α silly ||(237) just to loosen up the atmosphere||| x β) (purpose)
86 th |||(238) She used to try it, too, ||(239) when Clark was stuck in his moods|| α x β (temporal)
87 th |||(240) At the house there was nothing for Sylvia to do ||(241) except open the α + β (variation: subtractive) windows|||
88 th |||(242) The room that had been Sylvia and her husband‘s bedroom and then
(1 his death chamber had been cleaned out ||(243) and tidied up ||(244) to look additive + 2) x (α purpose
||(245) as if nothing had ever happened in it||| x β) comparison
89 th |||(246) Every piece of clothing Leon had ever worn and some things he hadn‘t some gifts from his sisters that had never been taken out of their packages, had been
1 piled in the back seat of the car ||(247) and taken to the thrift shop||| x 2 (temporal)
90 th |||His pills, his shaving things, unopened cans of the fortified drink that had sustained him as long as anything could, cartons of the sesame-seed snaps that had at one time been his favorite snack, the plastic bottles full of the lotion that had eased his back, the sheepskins on which he had lain—(248) all of that was dumped
1 (α into plastic bags ||(249) to be hauled away as garbage, ||(250) and Carla didn‘t x β) (purpose) + 2 (additive) question a thing|||
91 st |||(251) They cleaned the oven, ||(252) scrubbed out the cupboards,
||(253) wiped down the walls and the windows||| x3 (temporal)
92 nd |||(254) One day Sylvia sat in the living room ||(255) going through all the α + β (additive) condolence letters she had received|||
93 rd |||(256) There was no accumulation of papers and notebooks to be attended to, α
||(257) as you might have expected with a writer, no unfinished work or scribbled x β (comparison) drafts|||
94 th |||(258) Sylvia looked up, ||(259) surprised by the watery sunlight that had come
1 + 2 (additive) out—or possibly by the shadow of Carla on top of a ladder, bare-legged, bare- armed, her resolute face crowned with a frizz of dandelion hair that was too short for her braid|||
95 th |||(260) She was vigorously spraying ||(261) and scrubbing the glass|||
96 th |||(262) When she saw Sylvia looking at her, ||(263) she stopped ||(264) and β temporal x ((α1 + (α2 additive flung out her arms ||(265) as if she were splayed there, ||(266) making a xβ) comparison = γ)) non-finite preposterous gargoyle-like face|||
97 th |||(267) She turned back to her letters ||(268) and soon decided ||that all these
1 + 2 projection kind, genuine, or perfunctory words, the tributes and the regrets, could go the way of the sheepskins and the crackers|||
98 th |||(269) When she heard Carla taking the ladder down,|| (270) heard boots on
(β1 + β2) additive the deck, ||(271) she was suddenly shy x α (temporal)
99 th |||(272) She sat || (273) where she was with her head bowed ||(274) as Carla α (α x β) spatial x (β1 (temporal) came into the room ||(275) and passed behind her, ||(276) on her way to the kitchen
+ β2 (additive) to put the pail and the paper towels back under the sink|| x β3) (purpose)
100 th |||(277) She hardly halted—||(278) she was quick as a bird—
||(279) but she managed to drop a kiss on Sylvia‘s bent head
101 st |||(280) She was whistling something to herself, ||(281) perhaps had been
1 = 2 (exposition) whistling the whole time|||
102 nd |||(282) Nevertheless, Sylvia saw it as a bright blossom, ||(283) its petals α = β(non-finite) spreading inside her with a tumultuous heat, like a menopausal flash|||