Grammar and the construction of meaning 2015
Final Assessment 2
PART 1
In this Part you need to analyse each ranking clause for transitivity. Ranking clauses are indicated by double parallel bars ||.
Then analyse each ranking clause on a separate line.
You do not need to analyse the transitivity structure of embedded clauses.
You must label Process as to type. This is the level of delicacy you need to specify:
Process: material
Process: mental
Process: verbal
Process: behavioural
Process: attributive
Process: identifying
Process: existential
Remember that only certain Participants occur in each Process type.
The Participant labels you must use are:
Process: material Actor, Goal, Recipient, Client, Range
Process: mental Senser, Phenomenon
Process: verbal Sayer, Receiver, Verbiage
Process: behavioural Behaver, Behaviour*
Process: attributive Carrier; Attribute
Process: identifying Token, Value
Process: existential Existent
Note: Do not use the general label Beneficiary; you need to specify whether the Participant is a Recipient or Client.
You do not need to label Circumstances as to their type – you can simply label them Circumstance.
*(Behavioural processes may borrow Participant labels from mental and verbal process under certain conditions as seen in the learning guide.)
Sample analysis.
I forgot || that sometimes he could be quiet and kind, || and I hated him.
I forgot
Senser Process: mental
that sometimes he could be quiet and kind
Carrier Process: attributive Attribute
and I hated him
Senser Process: mental Phenomenon
Analyse the following ranking clauses for transitivity
1. He ran into the kitchen.
2. Mr Green was thrown into the Cabramatta creek.
3. Many burglars enter through a back or side door.
4. She sighed with relief.
5. And it is a loathsome term, I detest it.
6. There’s no greater choice for the patients there.
7. She must have said something.
8. Lily covered her face with her hands and began to sob.
9. Clarke is a purposeful batsman.
10. You interest me.
11. He was pleased by the outcome.
12. Dustin’s parents were thrilled by the reception and the money the film was making.
13. Triangulation has many important uses.
14. You talk like Marlene Dietrich.
15. And you dance like Zizi Jeanmair.
16. Your clothes are all made by Balmain.
17. And there’s diamonds and pearls in your hair.
18. Neither of the girls was impressed by Venice.
19. Snails belong to a group of animal called molluscs.
20. Snails move with a fleshy foot.
21. She was shivering uncontrollably, but not because she was cold.
22. This normally happens only in the summer and lasts for an average of one to five days.
23. National Anthem was played a lot at one time.
24. Pass me my handbag, dear!
25. Asia is the largest and most populous continent in the world.
26. ‘I’m not going to say that,’ said Camille.
27. The future seemed so bright.
28. What a delicious lunch this is!
29. It takes twenty eight days for the moon to orbit the earth.
30. Pope John Paul II stated that hostility towards Jews was at odds with the Christian faith.
31. Nicolo Rizzuto, the last of the real godfathers and head of the most important mafia group in Montreal, has been shot dead at his home.
32. LAPTOP computers may be damaging male fertility because they overheat men’s scrotums, new research suggests.
33. On April 5 Giulio Andreotti was asked to form a new government.
34. The hawksbill turtle was the original source of tortoiseshell and is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
35. Their first project, the design of a wetland to treat household sewage from a hotel a few miles from Drumnadrochit and Loch Ness, exemplifies this belief.
Part 2B TEXT extract for THEME/RHEME analysis
Analyse the following text for Theme. You should set you analysis out as a table. Follow the example below for how to set out your analysis. Each ranking clause will occupy one line. Analyse each clause for theme. Please number clauses.
Sample text:
What is a didjeridu? Didjeridus are traditional Australian aboriginal musical instruments, and are handcrafted from the branches of small trees. Often the didjeridu is an accompaniment to ceremonial song and dance. How do you play a didjeridu? To produce the various sounds and notes, you must learn to manipulate the tongue, lips and breath while blowing into the instrument. Playing sounds in the continuous manner characteristic of this music requires the use of a process called “circular breathing”.
THEME RHEME
Textual Inter-personal Topical
1 What is a didjeridu
2 Didjeridus are traditional Australian aboriginal musical instruments
3 and […] are handcrafted from the branches of small trees
4 Often the didjeridu is an accompaniment to ceremonial song and dance
5 How do you play a didjeridu
6 To produce the various sounds and notes
7 you must learn to manipulate the tongue, lips and breath
8 while blowing into the instrument
9 Playing sounds in the continuous manner characteristic of this music requires the use of a process [[called “circular breathing”]]
Analyse the following text extract for Theme. The text has been broken up into ranking clauses for you.
1. Languages are made up of meaningful sounds, called phonemes.
2. These sounds are important
3. because they are the basic units that make up words
4. and indicate a difference in meaning.
5. For example, in English, /r/ and /l/ are different phonemes
6. because words like “rock” and “lock” have different meanings
7. and refer to different objects.
8. However, different languages use different phonemic distinctions:
9. for example, in Japanese there is no meaningful difference between /r/ and /l/.
10. At birth, infants can distinguish between more phonemic differences than adults.
11. Interestingly, they can hear differences in their native language as well as in unfamiliar languages.
12. Japanese babies are able to hear the English distinction between /r/ and /l/
13. even though there is no meaningful difference between the two sounds in Japanese.
14. However, after their first year of life babies lose their ability to distinguish phonemes in unfamiliar languages
15. and can only discriminate between phonemes that indicate a difference in meaning in their native language (Werker & Lalonde, 1988).