Introduction to SFL
Experiential, Interpersonal and
Textual meaning
Lise Fontaine
Cardiff University
FontaineL@cf.ac.uk
Today’s outline:
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the Introductory Programme
General introduction to the 3 main
metafunctions
 Experiential
 Interpersonal
 Textual
Summary
Questions - discussion
Introductory Programme
Functional Grammar

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Lexicogrammar
Functions of the clause and clause structure
Spoken Language

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Phonology
Intonation
Text and Discourse
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Theme
Information Structure
Grammatical Meaning

Language as ‘system of meanings’
“When people use language, their
language acts produce – construct
meaning.” (Bloor and Bloor, 2004:2)


how meaning is built up through choices of
words and grammatical resources
grammar



(ibid.):
semantic (concerned with meaning)
functional (concerned with use)
lexicogrammar (words and grammar are
inextricably linked)
Multi-functional view of grammar

each ‘bit’ of language (e.g. Clause)
expresses more than one type of
meaning/function/use


more than one way of looking at meaning
3 main ‘strands’ of meaning
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
sentence as representation of some phenomenon
in the real world
sentence as social interaction
sentence as text
Grammatical choice
Context
I was given the new Jamie book for my birthday
For my birthday, Kev gave me the new Jamie book
I got the new Jamie book for my birthday
Kev gave me the new Jamie book for my birthday
Kev gave me the Jamie book for my birthday didn’t he?
Did Kev give me the new Jamie book for my birthday?
a useful metaphor:
multifunctional view of the clause
different strands
of meaning
example
language in use
Tonyof
Blair
“I wasn't born into this party. I chose it.
I've never joined another political
party. I believe in it. I'm proud to be
the leader of it and it's the party I'll
always live in and I'll die in.”
Special conference, April 29 1995
Nick Clegg
"Like most people of my generation, I wasn’t
born into a political party. I am a liberal
by choice, by temperament and by
conviction. And when I talk to the people I
represent, I become more convinced every
day that only liberalism offers the answers
to the problems they face."
October 19th, 2007
Are they saying
same thing?system….
Language
as the
a (complex)
I chose the labour
party
I am a liberal
by choice
… of CHOICES among meanings
form and meaning
system representation
meanings
forms
stop
traffic control
go
language as semantic system
language - a resource for communicating
meanings to our fellow human beings
sign system; potential
text – an output of the language system
an instance of language in use
sign; instance
The sociosemantic nature of discourse
(Halliday, 1978:128)
Basic assumptions

The semantic system is one of three strata (levels) of
the linguistic system




Semantic (the meaning)
Lexicogrammatical (the wording: syntax, lexis,
morphology)
Phonological (the sound)
The semantic system is made up of 3 main functional
components



Experiential Component
Interpersonal Component
Textual Component
Language as a (complex) system of choices among meanings
I chose (the labour
party)
I am a liberal
by choice
3 (main) strands of
Meaning
clause
Experiential
(Representing experience)
Interpersonal
(Speaker – Addressee interaction)
Textual
(Organisation (text/language))
The Clause represents experience
speaker as Observer
Experiential meaning: expressing the CONTENT;
expressing the processes and other phenomena of the
external world including thoughts, feelings, etc.
(Halliday, 1978:48)
The experiential component serves to "express
our experience of the world that is around us
and inside us"
(Halliday, 1970)
The Clause – a representation
The clause is a configuration of a process, participants
involved in it and any attendant circumstances
(Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004:169)
experience as ‘events’ or ‘goings-on’
Three components:
1.
2.
3.
A PROCESS unfolding through time
The PARTICIPANT(S) involved in the process
CIRCUMSTANCE(S) associated with the process
What’s going on?
What’s being represented?
Someone is giving someone something
Event of ‘giving’  the Process
Kev gave me the new Jamie book for my birthday
Why?
 Circumstance
Participating ‘entities’  the Participants
Circumstance elements
optional elements of the clause
 peripheral
 not directly involved in the process
circumstances
participants
circumstances
 occur 'freely'
in allprocess
typesparticipants
of processes
(in
theory)
 for Halliday, they do not have the potential
of becoming Subjects

PARTICIPANTS
are "inherent" in the process
3 main types of Experiential meaning
« Outer »
experiences
« Inner »
experiences
• Something
happens
• Something is
sensed
• There is a «
doer »
an ACTOR
• Internal world of
the mind
Ex:
Representing
Experience
John drove the
car.
Relational
• There is a
SENSER
Ex:
John sees the car.
Relating concepts
• Relating two concepts that refer in some way to
the same thing
Ex. John is the driver.
Material Process Type
What did someone do?
What happened?
Process:material



Proto-typical Action events
‘doing’, ‘happening’; physical actions
Most salient type of process
Participants: Actor, Goal, Beneficiary



Performer of the action – Actor
Impacted/affected by the action – Goal
Benefits/receives from the action - Beneficiary
Eat, kick, jump, hit, drive, walk, run, cook, etc.
Mental Process Type
What did someone
think or see or want?
Process:mental



Internal processes
States of mind; senses
Knowing, thinking, seeing, hearing, ...
Participants: Senser, Phenomenon


Undergoing/experiencing – Senser
Thing experienced – Phenomenon
think, know, see, hear, like, want, ...
Relational Process Types
What is it? Who is it?
What properties does
something have?
Process:relational


Being; relating
Processes that describe or identify something;
express a relation between two concepts/entities
Participants:




The
The
The
The
Carrier, Attribute;
Identified, Identifier
thing that carries the attribute – Carrier
attribute being ascribed – Attribute
identified entity – Identified
identifying entity - Identifier
Be
Transitivity system
Same experience
process: material (giving)
I was given the new Jamie book for my birthday
For my birthday, Kev gave me the new Jamie book
I got the new Jamie book for my birthday
Kev gave me the new Jamie book for my birthday
Kev gave me the Jamie book for my birthday didn’t he?
Did Kev give me the new Jamie book for my birthday?
3 participants, 1 circumstance
Are they saying the same thing?
I chose the labour
party
Material Process:
Tony Blair did
something (Actor)
I am a liberal
by choice
Relational Process:
Nik Clegg is described by
something (Carrier); he is
being something
The Clause expresses (inter)personal relations
Speaker as Intruder
Interpersonal meaning
expressing relations among
participants in the situation and the
speaker’s own intrusion into it
(Halliday, 1978:46)
Key elements for Interpersonal meaning and the
Mood system

The Subject of the clause

the Finite element of the verb group

The main system concerned is the MOOD
system
Transitivity
Experiential
clause
interrogative
indicative
declarative
MOOD
Interpersonal
imperative
Theme
Textual
Interpersonal meaning: Clause as exchange
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
2 key components: Mood and Residue
In English, MOOD is determined by Subject
and Finite:

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


I have told you
have you told me?
no you haven't
(you) tell me!
Declarative
Interrogative
Declarative
Imperative
SUBJECT and FINITE together form the main
component of the clause at this level of
analysis – Mood Block
The clause in English can be FINITE or NON-FINITE
Each « Finite » clause contains a VERBAL OPERATOR
which expresses finiteness
In SFL, the finite element gives the (clause) a
point of reference:
• Tense
• Person
• Modality
• Mood
The FINITE in English is a VERBAL OPERATOR which
expresses either :
TENSE or MODALITY
Clause as exchange
Halliday’s metaphor of symbolic exchange
Role in
exchange
Goods and
services
Information
Giving
Offer
Statement
Seeking
Command
Question
proposal
proposition
SPEECH FUNCTION
Clause as exchange – an example
Can anyone pick up the parcel at the post office?
Role in
exchange
Goods and services
Information
Give
Offer
“I’ll pick it up”
Statement
“John said he would pick it up”
Seek
Command
“Pick it up yourself”
Question
“Can’t John pick it up
tomorrow?”
Clause as exchange
Direct (or congruent) exchanges
Role in
exchange
Goods and services
Information
Give
Offer
Declarative
“I’ll pick it up”
Statement
Declarative
“John said he would pick it up”
Seek
Command
Imperative
“Pick it up yourself”
Question
Interrogative
“Can’t John pick it up
tomorrow?”
Clause as exchange
Indirect (or incongruent) exchanges
Role in
exchange
Goods and services
Information
Give
Offer
Interrogative
“Could I pick it up for
you?”
Statement
Interrogative
“How should I know?”
Seek
Command
Declarative
“I’d like you to pick
up the parcel”
Question
Declarative
“I wonder who could pick up
the parcel for me”
The speaker’s own intrusion into the situation
Kind of
Modality
Modal Finite
Mood (Modal) Adjuncts
probability
may, might, can, could, probably, possibly,
will, would, should,
certainly, perhaps,
must
maybe
usuality
may, might, can, could, usually, sometimes,
will, would, should,
always, never, ever,
must
seldom, rarely
obligation
may, might, can, could, definitely, absolutely,
should, must
possibly, at all costs, by
all means
readiness
may, might, can, could, willingly, readily, gladly,
will, would, must, shall, certainly, easily
can, could
(inclination and
ability)
Working with interpersonal meaning
I was given the new Jamie book for my birthday
Kev definitely gave me the new Jamie book
Did Kev give me the new Jamie book?
Kev might have given me the Jamie book
Kev should give me the Jamie book
Kev, give me that book!
The Clause relates itself to text
Speaker as Organiser or Relevance-maker
According to Halliday (1978: 48):
The TEXTUAL Function is intrinsic to language.
« It is the function of creating text, or
relating itself to the context – to the
situation and to the preceding text »
Key elements for Textual meaning and the Theme system

The Theme of the clause

The main system concerned is the THEME system
material
process
relational
mental
Transitivity
Experiential
circumstance
interrogative
indicative
clause
declarative
MOOD
Interpersonal
imperative
marked
Theme
Textual
unmarked
What is Theme? Seeing the clause as message

The Textual function is the linguistic resource that
lets Speakers create text.

The word Text comes from Latin textere, which
means to weave. A text is something woven.

Theme is a key element, on which the message is
hinged.

Theme is defined as « the point of departure
of the message … that which locates and
orients the clause within its context ».
(Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004:64)
Identifying Theme

Theme corresponds to the first element
having a role in transitivity:
a participant, a process, or a circumstance

Most commonly, the Theme will conflate with
the Subject and will have a Participant role in
the transitivity.

Theme is said to be marked when it is not
the Subject of the clause (ie Circumstance)

Everything else in the clause is referred to as Rheme
Types of Theme
But do you want to go?
first element
Experiential
withTheme
a role in
Experiential meaning
Finite:
Interpersonal
concerns Theme
Interpersonal meaning
tells us
Textual
how this
Theme
clause
relates to others
Working with textual meaning
I was given the new Jamie book for my birthday
Kev gave me the new Jamie book for my birthday
For my birthday, Kev gave me the new Jamie book
Multifunctional view of the clause
I chose (the labour party)
I
chose
Experiential
Meaning
Actor
Process: Material
Goal
Interpersonal
Meaning
Subject
Finite/Event
Complement
Textual
Meaning
the
Mood: Declarative
Theme
Rheme
Labour
party
Questions?
References
Bloor,T. & Bloor,M. (2004) The Functional
Analysis of English. London: Arnold.
 Halliday, MAK (1978) Language as social
semiotic. Edward Arnold, London.
