The interpersonal function Lecture 6

Interpersonal (enacts human relationships) – Mood  In the act of speaking, the speaker adopts for himself a particular speech role, and in so doing assigns to the listener a complementary role which he wishes him to adopt in his turn (Halliday p 68)

Language as interaction  陈述内容要点 goods & servicesinformation givingofferStatement demandingcommandquestion proposalproposition

Language as interaction  Offer: Would you like a cup of tea? (no 'standard' realization) Command: Make me some tea! (typically realized by imperative) Statement: I had to make the tea myself. (typically realized by declarative) Question: Do you take sugar with your tea? What kind of tea do you prefer? (typically realized by interrogative)

Language as interaction expected response (supporting) discretionary response (confronting) way of responding Offeracceptancerejectionverbal/non- verbal Commandundertakingrefusalnon- verbal/verbal Statementacknowledgementcontradictionverbal (non- verbal) Questionanswerdisclaimerverbal

Language as interaction  Response to offer: Yes please / No thanks.  Response to command: Hearer does something, or refuses to do something  Response to statement: Hearer acknowledges the proposition or contradicts it (e.g. yes; mm; right / No, you didn't; That's not true. ).  Response to question: Yes; No; I prefer herbal tea. / Why are you asking me that?

Language as interaction  Mood  declarative: Subject^Finite  interrogative: Finite^Subject  imperative: lacks mood element

Mood-Residue IamwritingThis handoutOn my PC subjectfinitepredicatorcomplementadjunct moodresidue

Mood: Subject + Finite  Mood: 'carries the burden of the clause as an interactive event'  - the nub of the proposition (Halliday p 77)

Mood: Subject + Finite  Subject:  The element about which something is predicated; the entity that the Speaker wants to make responsible for the validity of the proposition being advanced in the clause. (Thompson)  the entity in respect of which the assertion is claimed to have validity (Halliday)

Mood: Subject + Finite  The functions of the Finite are to show:  tense (for what time in relation to that of speaking is the proposition valid?)  polarity (does the proposition have positive or negative validity?)  modality (to what extent is the proposition valid?)

Mood: Subject + Finite  Other things to note:  the finite is a verbal operator  the finite and the Predicator may be realized together (simple past or simple present tense)  a clausal Subject may be extraposed so that we get a split Subject  the Complement corresponds to complement/predicative/object in many other grammars

Mood: Subject + Finite  existential there is analysed as subject, followed by Finite^Predicator^Complement  a clause may contain two complements  'Adjunct' corresponds to 'Adverbial' in many other grammars (and thus covers adjuncts, disjuncts and conjuncts)

Mood: Subject + Finite  Mood tags:  refer back to the mood element  may be useful in identifying the Subject and the Finite

Mood: Subject + Finite  Provide an analysis of these sentences. 1. Naturally Matilda was put in the bottom class. 2. Their teacher was called Miss Honey. 3. She could not have been more than twenty-three or twenty-four. 4. Miss Jennifer Honey never raised her voice. 5. She seldom smiled

Mood: Subject + Finite 1. She seemed to understand totally the bewilderment and fear of the children. 2. It intrigued her that a five-year old child was reading long novels by Dickens. 3. Miss Trunchbull always marched like a storm- trooper. 4. There was an aura of menace about her. 5. Thank goodness, we don't meet many people like her in this world

Mood: Subject + Finite  Elements outside the Mood + Residue structure  vocatives (interpersonal)  expletives (interpersonal)  conjunctive adjuncts (textual)  conjunctions (textual)

Mood structures in interrogatives  yes/no interrogatives are marked by the order Finite^Subject and ask the listener to specify the polarity of the message  wh-interrogatives ask the listener to fill in a missing part of the message, marked by a wh- element.  the wh-element always combines with another function (participant or circumstance) and is normally placed in thematic position

Mood structures in interrogatives  when he wh-element combines with the function of Subject, we have the order Subject^Finite, and the wh-element is part of the Mood.  when the wh-element combines with a complement or adjunct, we have the order Finite^Subject, and the wh-element is part of the Residue

Mood structure in imperatives  unmarked imperatives have no Mood element (e.g. Listen to me)  imperative with Finite: Do listen! Don't listen to them.  imperative with Subject: You listen to me!

Mood structure in imperatives  imperative with Subject and Finite: Don't you argue with me!  let's as a kind of Subject: Let's talk about it. Don't let's argue about it!  imperatives with Mood tags: Listen to me, will you. Let's go for a walk, shall we? Don't listen to them, will you? (Compare: Sit down, won't you)

Modal adjuncts  Modal and conjunctive adjuncts ‘construct a context for the clause’ (Halliday p. 84)  Modal adjuncts correspond roughly to 'disjunct' in grammar, with the addition of adjuncts marking frequency/usuality, e.g. often, usually, occasionally)

Mood adjuncts  Mood adjuncts express  temporal relationships (e.g. yet, already, still)  polarity (e.g. yes, no, not)  modality  probability (e.g. definitely, maybe)  usuality (e.g. never, always, sometimes)  inclination / obligation (e.g. gladly, reluctantly)

Comment adjuncts  Comment adjuncts express  the speaker’s attitude to the proposition as a whole, viz. opinion, admission, persuasion, entreaty, presumption, desirability, reservation, validation, evaluation, prediction. (See Halliday p 49)  Examples: frankly, unfortunately, actually, to be honest

End of Lecture 6  Thank you for your attention