A systemic funtional perspective on the meaning and structure of the story the selfish giant by oscar wilde

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ĐÀO THỊ MINH TÂN A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF THE STORY “THE SELFISH GIANT” BY OSCAR WILDE BÌNH DIỆN NGỮ PHÁP CHỨC NĂNG HỆ THỐNG VỀ CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA TRUYỆN NGẮN “GÃ KHỔNG LỒ ÍCH KỶ” CỦA OSCAR WILDE M A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 HANOI, 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES  ĐÀO THỊ MINH TÂN A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF THE STORY “THE SELFISH GIANT” BY OSCAR WILDE (BÌNH DIỆN NGỮ PHÁP CHỨC NĂNG HỆ THỐNG VỀ CẤU TRÚC VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA TRUYỆN NGẮN “GÃ KHỔNG LỒ ÍCH KỶ” CỦA OSCAR WILDE) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi, 2011 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION …………………………………………………………… i ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ………………………………………………… iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………… iv LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………… vii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Theories of systemic functional grammar 2.1 The Transitivity structure ………………………… 2.1.1 Material processes 2.1.2 Relational processes: …………………… 2.1.3 Mental processes……… 2.1.4 Verbal processes… 2.1.5 Behavioural processes 2.1.6 Existential processes 2.1.7 Circumstances: …………………………………… 10 2.2 The Mood structure 11 v 2.3 The thematic structure ………………………… 12 2.4 Cohesion ……………… 18 2.4.1 Grammatical cohesion 18 2.4.1.1 Reference……… …… 18 2.4.1.2 Conjunction……… 19 2.4.1.3 Ellipsis…………… 19 2.4.1.4 Substitution: 19 2.4.2 Lexical Cohesion 20 2.4.2.1 Repetition 20 2.4.2.2 Synonymy 20 2.4.2.3 Antonymy…… 21 2.4.2.4 Hyponomy 21 2.4.2.5 Meronymy 21 2.4.2.6 Collocation 21 CHAPTER III: THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF THE STORY “THE SELFISH GIANT” Introduction 22 The Context of the Chosen Text 22 Clauses and Clause Complexes 22 The analysis of the text in terms of Transitivity, Mood and Theme 23 4.1.The Transitivity Pattern 23 4.2.The Mood Pattern 25 4.3.The Theme – Rheme Pattern 26 The Cohesion of the Text 27 vi 5.1 Grammatical Cohesion 27 5.1.1 Reference 27 5.1.2 Conjunctive Devices 31 5.1.3 Substitution………… 32 5.2 Lexical Cohesion 32 5.3 Contextual Configuration of the text 38 CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION 40 4.1 Recapitulation 40 4.2 Implication of the Paper 40 4.3 Suggestions for Further Study 41 References ……………………………………………………………………… 42 Appendix …………………………………………………………………… I Appendix ………………………………………………………………… … VI Appendix …………………………………………………………………… XIII Appendix …………………………………………………………………… XIX Appendix …………………………………………………………………… XXIV Appendix …………………………………………………………………… XXIX Appendix …………………………………………………………………… XXXIX vii LIST OF TABLES Table A: Process types, Category meaning, and key participants Table B: The main types of circumstances and their features Table C: Themes and features Table 1: Clause and Clause Complexes Analysis Table 2: Clause and Clause Complexes relationship Table 3: Transitivity pattern of the text Table 4: the Mood pattern of the text Table 5: The Thematic pattern of the text Table 6: Grammatical Cohesive Devices of the Text Table 7: The analysis of the text in terms of Transitivity, Mood and Theme CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Rationale There are many grammatical paradigms and each of them views language from different perspectives And among those, systemic functional grammar is a very new trend which has not been known much in Vietnam Up till now, there have been only two works which study functional grammar The first is Tiếng Việt – Sơ thảo ngữ pháp chức by Cao Xuân Hạo (1991) and the second is Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm cú Tiếng Việt – mô tả theo quan điểm chức hệ thống by Hoàng Văn Vân (2002) Both of them have contributed much to the study of this field and brought the paradigm which has not yet been highlighted in Vietnamese schools closer to Vietnamese learners In contrast to traditional grammars that place importance on language form, systemic functional grammar (SFG) emphasizes how language is used to express meaning i.e it focuses on the functions of language Moreover, SFG interprets language as interrelated sets of options for making meaning and seeks to provide a clear relationship between functions and grammatical systems (Halliday, 1994) It is closer to our language in daily life, and thus can help us to see and understand human language more deeply and comprehensively It can be said without exaggeration that functional grammar is „an effective tool of analysis, which solves the issues left out by traditional grammar‟ In addition to that, functional grammar also offers us an analytical tool of looking at the whole text and the grammatical features which are typical characteristic of that kind of text For the above-mentioned reasons, I have decided to choose “A systemic functional perspectives on the meaning and structure of the story „The selfish Giant‟ by Oscar Wilde” as the topic of my thesis, using Halliday‟s functional grammar as the theoretical framework Aims of the study Within the framework of the paper, the study attempts to:  Re-examine some of the most important issues related to the experiential, interpersonal and textual aspect of language  Analyze the meaning and structure of the story “The selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde based on the systemic functional module Scope of the study The study does not attempt to cover all aspects of functional grammar but limits itself to some main areas of functional grammar In other words, only issues relating to the analysis of the text are taken into consideration These are transitivity structure, mood structure, theme – rheme system and cohesion The text used for illustration is the short story “The selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde Methods of the study: The aim of this paper is to analyze the meanings and structures of a short story Therefore, description and analysis are the principle methods of the study The descriptive method is concerned with the description of main areas of functional grammar The analytic method is concerned with the analysis of the text Design of the Study The paper is designed in four chapters  Chapter one: Introduction – presents the rationale of the study, the aims of the study, scope of the study, methods of the study and the research design of the study  Chapter two: Literature review – provides some fundamental and theoretical concepts for the study: systemic functional theory, metafunctions, and cohesion analysis  Chapter three: The study of the text “The selfish Giant” focuses on the meaning and structure of the text  The last chapter: Conclusion – summarizes the results of the study CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction This chapter attempts to provide a theoretical orientation for the study We shall be concerned with systemic functional theory and some features of systemic functional grammar In addition, we shall present briefly three components of meaning in language and cohesion analysis Theories of Systemic Functional Grammar Systemic functional grammar is a grammar model developed by M.A.K Halliday (1994) which takes a functional approach to grammar, analyzing language as a social-semiotic of communicative meaning-making Language and interaction are defined by context and this model seeks to show how contextual meaning is expressed in grammar SFG is „systemic‟ in that grammar consists of a series of choices that can be made in order to express ideas; in other words, language represents a system network within which language choices are meaningful in relation to other choices that are suppressed It is „functional‟ in that the systems achieve certain functions which are realized in the lexico-grammar of the language There are three „metafunctions‟ which form the basic foundation on which systemic functional grammar (SFG) is based These functions are labelled as ideational; interpersonal, and textual Each of the three metafunctions is about a different aspect of the world, and is concerned with a different mode of meaning of clauses While all three metafunctions act together to produce meaning, in SFG they each have their own grammatical system  The ideational metafunction consists of the experiential and logical metafunction The experiential metafunction is about the natural world, that means it shows the way language is used to express our perception of the world, and explains how we use language to describe „doings‟ and „happenings‟ Experiential metafunction is concerned with clauses as representation The experiential metafunction reflects the field parameter of register Experiential meanings are realized through the system of TRANSITIVITY which is realized as „processes‟ in a verb phrase constituent and its associated participants  The interpersonal metafunction is about the social world, especially the relationship between speaker and hearer, and is concerned with clauses as exchange As Halliday (1994: 68) puts it: “The most fundamental types of speech role, which lie behind all the more specific types that we may eventually be able to recognize, are just two (i) giving, and (ii) demanding” This - LXXIV - 149 Transitivity Mood Theme 150 Transitivity Mood Theme 151 Transitivity Mood Theme 152 Transitivity Mood Theme 153 Transitivity Mood Theme 154 Transitivity Mood Theme 155 Transitivity Mood Theme 157 Transitivity - LXXV - Mood Theme 158 Transitivity Mood Theme 159 Transitivity Mood Theme 160 Transitivity Mood Theme 161 Transitivity Mood Theme 162 Transitivity Mood Theme 163 Transitivity Mood Theme 164 Transitivity Mood Theme - LXXVI - 165 and Transitivity Mood Theme Textua 167 Transitivity Mood a Theme T 168 Transitivity Mood and Theme 169 Transitivity Mood and Theme Textua 170 Transitivity Mood A Theme Te 171 Transitivity Mood th Theme T 172 came r Transitivity Mood Proces Finite Mood - LXXVII - Theme Rhem 174 Transitivity "It Ident Mood Subje Theme Them 175 said Transitivity Mood Proce Finite Theme Mood Rhem 177 Transitivity Mood a Theme T 178 And Transitivity Mood Theme Textu 179 th Transitivity Mood Se Su M T Theme 180 Transitivity Mood Theme th S S M T 181 Transitivity A C - LXXVIII - Mood Theme 182 Transitivity Mood a Theme T 183 Transitivity Mood Theme t Proce Predic Resid Rhem 184 Transitivity Mood Theme 185 Transitivity Mood he Sayer Subject Mood Theme Rheme 187 Transitivity Mood Theme 188 Transitivity Mood Theme 189 - LXXIX - Transitivity Mood Theme 191 Transitivity Mood Theme 192 Transitivity Mood Theme 193 Transitivity Mood Theme 195 Transitivity Mood Theme 196 Transitivity Mood that Theme Textu 198 Transitivity Mood a Theme T 199 - LXXX - Transitivity Mood Theme 200 Transitivity Mood Theme 201 Transitivity Mood Theme 203+ 204 Every afternoon Circumst Adjunct Residue Theme (m the children Actor Subject Mood Theme But Transitivit y Mood Theme 205 Transitivity Mood Theme 206 Transitivity Mood Textua l - LXXXI - Theme 207 Transitivity Mood Theme 208 Transitivity Mood Theme 209 Transitivity Mood Theme 210 Transitivity Mood Theme 211 Transitivity Mood Theme 212 Transitivity Mood Theme 213 Transitivity Mood Theme - LXXXII - 214 Transitivity Mood Theme 215 Transitivity Mood Theme a Tex 216 Transitivity Mood Theme 218 Transitivity Mood Theme 219 Transitivity O C Mood A R T Theme 220 Transitivity Mood Theme 221 Transitivity Mood - LXXXIII - Theme 222 Transitivity Mood Theme 223 Transitivity Mood Theme 224 Transitivity Mood Theme 225 Transitivity Mood Theme 226 Transitivity Mood Theme 228 Transitivity Mood Theme 229 Transitivity - LXXXIV - Mood Theme 231 Transitivity Mood I C S M T Theme 232 Transitivity Mood and Theme Textua 233 Transitivity Mood Theme Textua 235 D Transitivity Mood C A R Theme T 236 He Transitivit y Mood Actor Subjec Mood Theme 238 Transitivity Theme - LXXXV - Mood Theme 239 Transitivity Mood Theme 240 and Transitivity Mood Theme 242 Tex F Transitivity Mood Theme T 243 Transitivity Mood Theme 244 " Transitivity Mood A S M Theme T 246 " Transitivity P v - LXXXVI - Mood Theme P R R 248 Transitivity Mood Theme 249 Transitivity Mood Theme 250 Transitivity Mood Theme 251 Transitivity Mood Theme 253 Transitivity Mood a Theme R 254 Transitivity Mood Theme 255 Transitivity Mood - LXXXVII - Theme 256 Transitivity Mood Theme 257 Transitivity Mood Theme 258 Transitivity Mood Theme 259 Transitivity Mood Theme 260 Transitivity Mood Theme 261 Transitivity Mood Theme 262 Transitivity Mood Theme - LXXXVIII - ... Re-examine some of the most important issues related to the experiential, interpersonal and textual aspect of language  Analyze the meaning and structure of the story ? ?The selfish Giant? ?? by Oscar. .. illustration is the short story ? ?The selfish Giant? ?? by Oscar Wilde Methods of the study: The aim of this paper is to analyze the meanings and structures of a short story Therefore, description and analysis... 'Proposition' stands for the exchange of information in which case language is the end as well as the means, and the answer is always a verbal one As stated by Halliday, propositions can be affirmed