Functional Grammar 3.3 3.4 Halliday
Functional Grammar 3.3 3.4 Halliday
MOOD THEME
Major interpersonal
Statements: giving information
system of the clause
enacting speech Questions: demanding information
functions
Offers: giving goods-&-services
Providing interactants
Commands: demanding
involved in dialogue
goods-&-services
3.3 THEME AND MOOD
declarative
indicative yes/no-
CLAUSE interrogative
in mood interrogative
imperative WH-
interrogative
For example:
indicative: declarative Bears eat honey. Bears don’t eat honey.
indicative: interrogative: yes/no Do bears eat honey? Don’t bears eat honey?
indicative: interrogative: WH- What eats honey? What do bears eat?
imperative: Eat! Let’s eat!
3.3.1 Theme in declarative clauses
Declarative Clause
unmarked
THEME = SUBJECT Theme
E.g: Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep
Subject and Theme • I
• You, we, he, she, it, they
• It, there
• Other nominal groups
• Adverbial groups (today, suddenly, somewhat
marked distractedly)
Theme • Prepositional phrases (Today, at night...)
• Any elements functioning as Adjunct.
• Complement
3.3.1 Theme in declarative clauses
“We are aware of our responsibility to our critics. We are also aware of our
responsibility to the author, who probably would not have authorized the
publication of these pages. This responsibility we accept wholly, and we would
willingly bear it alone.”
The Theme this responsibility is strongly foregrounded; summarizes the whole
burden of the preface and enunciates this as their point of departure, as what
the undertaking is all about.
Sometimes even the Complement from within a prepositional phrase,
functions as Theme, particularly in idiomatic combinations of preposition and
verb. For example:
That I could do without
Two things we need to comment on
3.3.1 Theme in declarative clauses
Declarative Clause:
A special case of thematic structure
EXCLAMATIVES
an exclamatory WH-element as Theme
For example:
3.3.2 Theme in interrogative clauses
Requesting information
Interrogatives
Mood expecting the hearer to come back with
some piece of information
For example: REALISATION
who - speaker expects to hear a person's name
when - a point in time
unmarked
Theme
3.3.2 Theme in interrogative clauses
For example:
3.3 THEME AND MOOD
‘I want you to do something’
giving Foryou
• ‘I want example:
to do something’
– You + keep quiet! (marked)
imperative commands • ‘I want us (you and me) to do something’
– As for you + keep quiet! (marked)
or advice • Let’s ….
Verb = Predicator
=> unmarked Theme
For example:
negative Don’t argue with me!
imperative Don’t let’s quarrel about it!
=> unmarked Theme
3.3.3 Theme in imperative clauses
• Imperatives are the only type of clause where the predicator is regularly the
unmarked Theme.
a quantum THEME
• Processes:
Processes
CLAUSE of human
•(i) Changes
the process itself;
experience
(ii) the participants in that process;
(iii) any circumstantial factors such as time,
manner or cause.
=> Topical Theme
For example:
3.4 Textual, interpersonal and topical themes
• There may be other elements in the clause preceding the topical Theme which,
in any case, play no experiential role, and normally no more than one or two of
them occur.
For example:
3.4 Textual, interpersonal and topical themes
To illustrate multiple themes with several elements containing each of these six types
of non-topical element in thematic position:
interpersonal topical
construe the mood represent participant
or circumstance.
definite indefinite
3.4 Textual, interpersonal and topical themes
• All deictic elements are typically thematic; this also applies to groups.
• The Theme-Rheme structure is not a clearly cut configuration of constituents,
but a movement running through the clause.
• Another significant feature which does tend to create a clearly defined
boundary between constituents, given that the Theme is delineated.