scholarly journals Analysis of Discourse from Perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1049
Author(s):  
Xiaqing Li

Firstly the author introduces Systemic Functional Grammar in this paper, including the levels of language and their realization relationships, the systems of the three metafunctions and their submetafunctions, as well as the two levels of discourse analysis(DA). Then being based on different aspects of the systemic functional grammar, this paper analyzes the four discourses. Person system, mood and modality system, cohesion system in systemic function grammar are used in analysis of the first discourse “heal the world” which reveals some features of discourse of song. Understanding these characteristics can deepen understanding of the listener to the discourse of English song so as to improve the listener's ability to appreciate the song. When analyzing the other three discourses, the author uses the “context-text-commentary” method. Elaborate applicability of this linguistic theory to DA is the purpose. Finally, concluding that analysis of discourse with the systemic functional grammar analysis is not only a good way, but also it has very important significance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lai Yee Win

Abstract A number of studies on transitivity systems of languages have been conducted in the field of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Different linguists have described the transitivity systems of English, French, German, Japanese, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese, Telugu, and Pitjantjatjara, adopting an upward approach which is not effective enough for discourse analysis. So far, there has been no description of the transitivity system of Myanmar in literature. The purpose of this paper is to put forward a clear description of the transitivity system of Myanmar that functions as one of the clause analysis methods from the experiential perspective. To construct a workable transitivity system of Myanmar, the present study follows He’s (forthcoming) (He, Wei. forthcoming. Categorization of experience of the world and construction of transitivity system of Chinese) new description of the Chinese transitivity system containing 32 types of processes that represent our experience of the world. Unlike previous studies, He (forthcoming) proposes autonomous and influential processes of action, mental and relational clauses with no description of ergativity hypothesized by Halliday (1985) (Halliday, Michael Alexander Kirkwood. 1985. An introduction to functional grammar. London: Arnold) and Matthiessen (1995) (Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. 1995. Lexicogrammatical cartography: English systems. Tokyo: International Language Sciences Publishers). This new model is more comprehensive and effective than previous ones because it adopts a downward approach which can smoothly be applied to discourse analysis. In this paper, the transitivity analysis of Myanmar clauses is performed in accordance with the theories put forward by He (forthcoming) and the semantic configurations of 32 processes in Myanmar transitivity system are illustrated with authentic examples. Findings show that the proposed transitivity system of Myanmar can analyze clauses effectively, and it is compatible with the discourse analysis of Myanmar. These findings will make an important contribution to further study of the systemic functional grammar of Myanmar.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-70
Author(s):  
Inggita Pramesti Ayuningtyas

Covid-19 has been global health problem and become the concern of global leaders in the world. One of them is Joe Biden, current president of American. He delivered his speech on Anniversary Covid-19 Shutdown on March 11, 2021. The clauses in his speech contain modality. Modality is included in interpersonal meaning where language is used to encode interaction between the speaker and the hearer. This research aims to analyze the type of modality used by Biden in his speech and utilize it to find his self-representation. The research uses Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) in term of modality analysis as the tool and discourse analysis as the approach. The finding shows that three types of modalities found; inclination, probability and obligation. The self-representation of Biden found are being visionary, being determined, showing sadness, being powerful, and showing respect.   DOI: 10.26905/enjourme.v6i2.6531


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-325

The present paper investigates the grammatical choices made by Jamaica Kincaid in her work Lucy. It analyzes how the selected structure contributes to the realization of particular beliefs such as gender inequality, using the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) approach (Halliday 1973, 1985, 1994; Halliday and Hasan 1989; Halliday and Matthiessen 2004). In particular, the study examines the participants’ roles and the processes types assigned to them with reference to the transitivity system. The data of the present study are collected from the first three chapters of Lucy. The corpus belongs to seven males and eleven female characters who were directly involved in all the actions in the text. A total of 325 sentences were extracted. They were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The results of the study revealed the writer’s subvert of traditional gender stereotypes through displaying women as effectual dynamic actors and assertive sayers. In addition, all female characters were shown as the main participants of the other minor processes, in the sense that they were the behavers and sensers in both behavioral and mental clauses. Keywords: critical discourse analysis, gender inequality, systemic functional grammar, transitivity system.


ExELL ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Amin Karimnia ◽  
Shidak Rahbarian

Abstract This study investigated Nowruz (Persian New Year) messages by Presidents Hassan Rouhani and Barack Obama in March 2016. The study critically analyzed the discourse of these two presidential messages and uncovered the hidden aspects of their ideologies, policies, and background worldviews. In doing so, an integrated version of Halliday’s systemic functional grammar (SFG) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used. The analysis of data included various linguistic dimensions (e.g. processes, modality, transitivity) of the messages and their statistics. Although results suggested that Obama intended to build a more intimate situation, both presidents tried to inspire a spirit of action, development and effort in their respective governments. The messages did not reveal considerable thematic differences, except some discoursal religious features expressed in Rouhani’s message.


2021 ◽  
Vol VI (I) ◽  
pp. 50-60
Author(s):  
Malik Haqnawaz Danish

Entangled in history awash with events of war and conflict, both India and Pakistan have ensured the representation of national narratives in their respective media. Being apprehensive neighbours since the day of partition, the sensation of patriotism has led these nations towards three major wars and numerous skirmishes on the borders, claiming lives of the peoples on both sides of the border. The mutual derision for the 'other' has secured the text, both written and visual. Besides endeavours to justify stances of conflicts, these narratives of history have also created space for standoffs. An attempt to such reconciliation and shatter the image of 'other' is investigated in Indian movies, Border and Bajrangi Bhai Jan, through grammatology of image. The signification in the image is explored by applying Multimodal introduced by Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen. The multimodal by the theorists have been appropriated by utilizing Halliday's theoretical Systemic Functional Grammar. Both of the movies have been selected to compare the occasions depicted the historical backdrop of war and fear-based oppression and occasionally delineated attempts of reconciliation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Chen Liping

<p><em>Interpersonal metafunction has been studied in the four translated versions of Song Ci Jiang Cheng Zi. Ji Meng through </em><em>contrastive analysis</em><em> with the focus on personal pronouns. It aims to find out that the use of different personal pronouns connotes different interpersonal meaning and test the</em><em> feasibility and applicability of Systemic Functional Grammar to discourse analysis.</em><em> It also helps people who love Song Ci better appreciate this Ci-poem from a different angle.</em></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-375
Author(s):  
Widi Handayani

The speech is delivered by Prince Harry. Three areas of SFG are applied to analyze the speech. The result shows that in terms of ideational metafunction, material, and mental processes are 2 highest occurrences in the speech. It happens since the speaker displays all his concrete actions including doing charity and meeting many people of his country. Through mental process, it shows that he involves his senses to communicate the language in his mind. Three types of mental process, namely cognition, affection, and perception are found in the speech indicating his empathy to the people towards the news of the royal split. The interpersonal metafunction shows that he does take sides on the wife and family. Using modality, he employs that the media power force creates huge speculations among the citizens. They accuse his wife for bringing bad impacts for him. By applying high commitment of modality, he reassures people that his wife is not the cause of the split. He also requests the people to love her as much as they love him. The modality shows that the split will not change the commitment he has for serving the country. The polarity displays a clarification that the decision of splitting is taken after long consideration. The personal pronoun ‘I’ shows that the speaker is the subject matter of the speech. The textual metafunction in the speech shows that unmarked theme deploys the idea that it is a declarative speech which functions to give information or clarification. The additional conjunction is used to explore detailed information people must know.


Author(s):  
Richard Albert Wilson

Nature leads the way. Man emerges on the scene, follows her footprints, marks and registers them in language, and makes a Science of Nature. Then he looks back and discovers that Language, while following the path of Nature, has left a trail of her own. He returns on this new trail, again marks and registers its footprints, and makes a Science of Language.My purpose in this book is not to compare languages as in linguistic science, or to trace their concrete development as in language history; but to describe the problem which gave birth to language, to show the place of language in the general scheme of world evolution, and to point out its basic structure in relation to the two forms of sense, Space and Time. I have dealt at some length with Herder and his time because that period was the beginning of the modern movement in language investigation in which we are still engaged. For the next hundred years, from Herder’s essay in 1772 to Darwin’s Descent of Man in 1871, I can only touch some of the peaks in the development of linguistic theory and science, that, in their combined results, have prepared the way for the present inquiry, and that may help to give the perspective necessary to set the fabric of language clearly in its place among the other phenomena of the world. If this mode of treatment should appear to the language specialist as in some degree wanting in the ‘hard factualness’ of language, the explanation is that the inclusion of such factual material would not contribute to the investigation in hand. If one can make clear the world-problem which called language into existence, and show the structure which language was destined to assume in order to answer this problem, then the way should be better prepared and the impulse quickened for tracing man’s first steps and subsequent windings in the actual making of language.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cadmus Kyrala

Using the principles of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) as pioneered by Michael Halliday, this paper compares samples from speeches by John McCain and Barack Obama. Given the world-wide media coverage of the 2008 United States Presidential Election, it was thought to be both relevant and potentially informative to apply such an analysis in attempt to identify ideologies in the texts and to explore the significance of notable differences or similarities. It was discovered that both texts manage the experiential, interpersonal, and textual meanings in ways which provide clear indications of ideology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alaa’ G. Rababah ◽  
Jihad M. Hamdan

This study provides a contrastive critical discourse analysis of the speeches of the Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the United Nations General Assembly regarding the Gaza War (2014). The analysis explores the representation of the “Self” and the “Other” in relation to the war. Van Dijk’s ‘Ideological Square’ theory is adopted to explore the group polarization of Us versus Them dichotomy. Moreover Halliday’s Systematic Functional Grammar is utilized in the analysis to study how the polarization of the “Self” and “Other” is constructed via particular grammatical transitivity choices. The results indicated that the representation of the “Self” and “Other” in the speeches reflects two different opposing ideologically-governed perspectives on the Gaza conflict. Both speakers present the “Self” as ‘strong’, ‘human’ and ‘honorable’ in contrast to the “Other” that is deemed to be a ‘dire threat’ and an ‘agent of destruction’.


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