(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) AN INVESTIGATION INTO SHIFTS IN THE VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH EXISTENTIAL PROCESSES IN ‘WUTHERING HEIGHTS’ BY EMILY BRONTE

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN LÊ THANH NHÃ

AN INVESTIGATION INTO SHIFTS IN
THE VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF
ENGLISH EXISTENTIAL PROCESSES IN
‘WUTHERING HEIGHTS’ BY EMILY BRONTE

Field: English Language
Code: 80 22 02 01

Supervisor: LÊ THỊ GIAO CHI, Ph.D.

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BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN LÊ THANH NHÃ

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ CHUYỂN DỊCH
TRONG VIỆC DỊCH THUẬT TIẾNG VIỆT
CÁC DIỄN TRÌNH HIỆN HỮU TIẾNG ANH
VỚI TÁC PHẨM ‘WUTHERING HEIGHTS’
TÁC GIẢ EMILY BRONTE
Chuyên ngành: Ngôn Ngữ Anh
Mã số: 80 22 02 01

Người hướng dẫn: TS. LÊ THỊ GIAO CHI

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ABSTRACT

This thesis attempts to investigate the shift in the Vietnamese translation
of English existential processes as represented in a literary work Wuthering
Heights by Emily Bronté. It particularly looks at ‘existential’ clauses as
representation embodied in this piece of literary writing and examines the shifts
that occur in the rendering of existential meaning in these clauses into
Vietnamese.
Based on Halliday’s functional approach to clauses as representation,
clauses in English and their Vietnamese equivalents were analyzed in both lexicogrammar and semantic meaning, and then Catford’s model of translation shift
was adopted to the interpretation of different types of shifts that have occurred
via translation.
The research data include a sample of 140 ‘existential’ clauses extracted
from the literary work entitled Wuthering Heights of Emily Bronté and 140
Vietnamese translational equivalents in Doi Gio Hu translated by Duong Tuong.
The result shows that there are three types of translation shifts that have
occurred in the process of translation, namely the structure shift, the class shift,
and the unit shift. These changes in the lexico-grammar via translation has
necessitated shifts in the representation of experiential meaning, turning
existential process into other types: material, relational, mental, and verbal.
Finally, the correlation between shifts in translation and shifts in processes has
thus established. This piece of research is hoped to shed further light into the use
of translation as a heuristic tool to analyze aspects of language in communication
across English and Vietnamese (Lê, 2014). It also draws out some implications

for the teaching and learning of English, for research in language and translation
studies.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A number of people helped me when this thesis was on its ways. My
grateful thanks in particular are to Dr. Le Thi Giao Chi, my supervisor, who has
supported me a lot during the time I work on my thesis. Her kind encouragements,
her endless patience, her critical comments and valuable materials, her invaluable
reading of the drafts as well as her useful feedback have contributed to the final
shape of this thesis.
My special thanks next go to my family for their love and kind support to
me during the time working on this study.
I am also grateful to my friends and classmates for their warm
encouragements, help and valuable materials; I will not name here for fear I might
inadvertently leave someone out. This thesis would not be possible without their
contributions.
Thank you all!

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
This thesis represents my own work and due acknowledgment is given
whenever information is derived from other sources. No part of this thesis has
been or is being concurrently submitted for any other qualification at any

university except where due reference has been made in the text.
Quy Nhon, 2019

NGUYEN LE THANH NHA

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TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1
1.1. RATIONALE ....................................................................................... 1
1.2. AIMS OF THE STUDY ............................................................................ 2
1.3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .................................................................... 3
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................... 3
1.5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY........................................................................... 3
1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................. 3
1.7. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ............................................................... 4
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................ 5
2.1. AN OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES ...................................................... 5
2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................. 7
2.2.1. Translation and Equivalence ................................................... 7
2.2.2. Systemic Functional Grammar ................................................ 9
2.2.2.1. Overview ......................................................................... 9
2.2.2.2. Metafunction................................................................. 12
2.2.2.3. Ideational Metafunction ................................................ 12
2.2.2.4. Transitivity system ......................................................... 12
2.2.2.4.1. Material process ..................................................... 14
2.2.2.4.2. Mental process ....................................................... 16
2.2.2.4.3. Relational process ................................................... 17

2.2.2.4.4. Behavioural process ................................................ 19
2.2.2.4.5. Verbal process ........................................................ 19
2.2.2.4.6. Existential process .................................................. 20
2.2.2.5. Classes and Function ..................................................... 21
2.2.2.6. Groups and Phrases ....................................................... 22

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2.2.2.6.1. Nominal Group ....................................................... 22
2.2.2.6.2. Verbal Group .......................................................... 23
2.2.2.6.3. Adverbial Group...................................................... 24
2.2.2.6.4. Prepositional Phrase ............................................... 24
2.2.2.7. Embedded Expasions ..................................................... 24
2.2.2.8. Metaphorical Modes of Expression ............................... 26
2.2.2.8.1. Ideational Metaphor ............................................... 26
2.2.3. Translation Shifts .................................................................. 27
2.2.3.1. Category Shifts .............................................................. 28
2.2.3.1.1. Structure Shifts ....................................................... 28
2.2.3.1.2. Class Shifts .............................................................. 28
2.2.3.1.3. Unit Shifts or Rank Shifts ........................................ 29
2.2.3.1.4. Intra-System Shifts .................................................. 29
2.3. SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER ................................................................ 29
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................... 30
3.1. RESEARCH APPROACHES..................................................................... 30
3.2. DATA COLLECTION ............................................................................ 31
3.3. DATA ANALYSIS................................................................................ 32
3.4. SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER ................................................................ 33
CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................. 34

4.1. PREAMBLE OF ENGLISH EXISTENTIAL CLAUSES. ........................................ 34
4.1.1. The Structure of ‘Existential’ Clause ...................................... 34
4.1.1.1. Circumstance at the Beginning of the Clause................. 35
4.1.1.2. Circumstance at the End of the Clause .......................... 36
4.1.2. The Structure of Nominal Group ........................................... 37
4.1.2.1. Pre-modifier .................................................................. 37

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4.1.2.1.1. Deictic ..................................................................... 37
4.1.2.1.2. Numerative ............................................................. 37
4.1.2.1.3. Epithet .................................................................... 38
4.1.2.1.4. Classifier ................................................................. 38
4.1.2.2. Post-modifier ................................................................. 38
4.1.2.2.1. Prepositional phrase ............................................... 38
4.1.2.2.2. Non-finite clause..................................................... 38
4.1.2.2.3. Finite-clause ........................................................... 38
4.2. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................................... 39
4.2.1. The Translation Shifts ........................................................... 39
4.2.1.1. Structure Shift ............................................................... 40
4.2.1.2. Class Shift ...................................................................... 43
4.2.1.3. Unit Shifts ...................................................................... 46
4.2.2. Process Shifts from Perspective of Translation shifts ............ 50
4.2.2.1. Structure Shift ............................................................... 52
4.2.2.1.1. Existential Process .................................................. 52
4.2.2.1.2. Material Process ..................................................... 53
4.2.2.1.3. Relational Process ................................................... 54
4.2.2.1.4. Discussion ............................................................... 54

4.2.2.2. Unit Shift ....................................................................... 56
4.2.2.2.1. Relation Process ..................................................... 56
4.2.2.2.2. Nominal Groups ...................................................... 58
4.2.2.2.3. Discussion ............................................................... 58
4.2.2.3. Class shift ...................................................................... 59
4.2.2.3.1. Material Process ..................................................... 59
4.2.2.3.2. Mental Process ....................................................... 60
4.2.2.4. Class and Unit shift ........................................................ 61

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4.2.2.4.1. Nominalized nominal groups .................................. 61
4.2.2.4.2. Nominal groups with embedded clauses ................ 64
4.2.2.5. Non Lexicogrammar Shifts ............................................. 67
4.3. SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER ................................................................ 69
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 70
5.1. CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 70
5.2. IMPLICATIONS .................................................................................. 73
5.3. LIMITATIONS ................................................................................... 73
5.4. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ................................................. 74

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1.The structure of an ordinary ‘existential’ clause ..................... 34
Table 4.2. The structure of ‘existential’ clause with circumstance as theme

......................................................................................................................... 35
Table 4.3 The structure of ‘existential’ clause with circumstance at initial
position ............................................................................................................ 35
Table 4.4. The structure of an ‘existential’ clause with circumstance at end
position ............................................................................................................ 36
Table 4.5. The experiential structure of a nominal group ....................... 37
Table 4.6.Structure shifts in the translation of English clauses .......... 40
Table 4.7. Class shifts in the translation of English clauses ................ 44
Table 4.8. Unit shifts in the translation of English clauses ................. 47
Table 4.9. Occurrences of shift in process via translation shifts ............. 51
Table 4.10. Analysis of the sample numbered 35 ................................... 53
Table 4.11. Analysis of the sample numbered 10 ................................... 53
Table 4.12. Analysis of the sample numbered 122 ................................. 54
Table 4.13. Analysis of the sample numbered 88 ................................... 56
Table 4.14. Analysis of the sample numbered 19 ................................... 57
Table 4.15. Analysis of the sample numbered 32 ................................... 58
Table 4.16. Analysis of the sample numbered 101 ................................. 59
Table 4.17. Analysis of the sample numbered 69 ................................... 60
Table 4.18. Analysis of the sample numbered 4 ..................................... 62
Table 4.19. Analysis of the sample numbered 117 ................................. 62
Table 4.20: Analysis of the sample numbered 100 ................................. 65
Table 4.21. Analysis of the sample numbered 11 ................................... 66
Table 4.22. Analysis of the sample numbered 20 ................................... 66
Table 4.23. Analysis of the sample numbered 137 ................................. 68

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Stratification in English language ........................................ 11
Figure 2.2:The grammar of experience: type of process in English ....... 13
Figure 2.3: Central and Peripheral elements in the experiential structure14
Figure 2.4:The system of process type ................................................... 21
Figure 3.1:PDFDRIVE website screen ................................................... 31
Figure 4.1: Occurrences of translation shifts by type.............................. 39
Figure 4.2. Occurrences of shift in process via structure shifts ............... 52
Figure 4.3. Occurrences of shift in process via unit shift ........................ 56
Figure 4.4:Occurrences of shift in process via class shifts ...................... 59
Figure 4.5. Occurrences of shift in process via unit and class shifts ....... 61

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ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation
AG

: adverbial group

AGC : adverbial group complex
CL

: clause

Cir

: circumstance

DGH : Doi Gio Hu
ECL : embedded clause
NG

: nominal group

NGC : nominal group complex
Pr

: process

SL

: Source language

SFG : Systemic Functional Grammar
TL

: Target language

VG

: verbal group

VGC : verbal groups complex
WH : Wuthering Heights

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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
The introduction chapter is an overview of this thesis. It begins with the
rationale, followed by the aims of the thesis, research questions, scope of the
thesis, significance of the thesis, ending at the organization of the research papers.
1.1. Rationale
Literary books play a crucial role in the exchange of cultures as well as
entertainment purposes. Thanks to the printing press and the Internet, they are
now widely published or uploaded online so that it is easier for individuals to
access. However, these books are written in different languages, which requires
the readers either to master the language written or to rely on translated books. In
this regard, language barrier seems to remain a challenge which hinders persons
from communication across time and space. For that reason, translation practice
is more essential than ever.
Translation activities involve working with two languages, and there are
always differences between them no matter how similar they are. As a result, there
has been a strong urge towards formulating translation theories to resolve this
problem. In translation theory, the term equivalence has been concerned and
defined by a great number of scholars in the field. Halliday (2001) suggests that
analyzing equivalence should be considered in terms of stratification, rank, and
metafunctions.
From the perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), language
should be viewed as a system of meaning. A language includes different stratas:
phonetic, phonological, lexicogrammatical and semantic. Each of these strata is
organized in hierarchy with several elements at different ranks. Metafunctions,
namely ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction, and textual
metafunction, refer to the way human beings use languages (Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2004).

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The ideational metafunction consists of two kinds of meanings:
experiential and logical. In a conversation, speakers must talk about something;
their talks have content, which makes experiential meaning, or it is also named
representational meaning. This meaning is expressed through the system of
Transitivity or process type. In transitivity system, there are six types of process:
material, mental, relational, verbal, behavioural and existential. The realization
of a process is through its constituents: process, participants, and circumstance.
These elements are, in turn, realized by lexicogrammartical elements (Eggins,
2004).
Building on SFG, Catfold in his model of translation shifts (1965) suggests
analyzing translation equivalence through the lens of grammartical hierarchy. He
proposes translation shifts as a tool to analyze them. There are two major types in
translation shifts: category shifts and level shifts.
The term Shifts means the adoption of different structures or forms in target
language (TL) to achieve the equivalence with source language (SL). Process
shifts or shifts in process refer to the adoption of different process in TL, compared
to the process of SL, to achieve the equivalences in translation.
Being aware of shifts in the lexicogrammar arising during translation
practices and its role in realization of process, there would be a possibility of
process shifts in translation. This motivates us to carry out the study entitled “An
Investigation into Shifts in the Vietnamese Translation of English Processes in
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronté”.
1.2. Aims of the Study
The study aims at investigating into shifts in lexicogrammar and in
existential processes in the process of rendering the Wuthering Heights by Emily
Bronté into the Vietnamese translation work by Duong Tuong based on Catfold’s

translation shifts and Halliday’s systemic functional grammar.

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1.3. Objectives of the Study
To achieve the aims of the study, the researcher will focus on some specific
objectives:
-To find out the structure and configuration of ‘existential’ clause in the
literacy work Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronté;
-To find out the types of translation shifts in translation;
-To examine how translation shifts facilitate shifts in process.
1.4. Research Questions
To achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, the thesis
concentrates on answering the following questions:
1.How are ‘existential’ clauses structured and existential processes
represented in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronté?
2.What types of shift are involved in translating these English ‘existential’
clauses into Vietnamese?
3.In what way do translation shifts facilitate shifts in processes as
embedded in English ‘existential’ clauses?
1.5. Scope of the Study
Translation shifts occur at any ranks of lexicogrammar, but this study
concern the rank groups/phrases and above. Moreover, despite of the three lines
of meaning in metafunctions, this study focuses on only one aspect of ideational
meaning, specifically the experiential meaning. In addition, the sample of data is
limited in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronté and Đồi gió hú translated by Dương
Tường
1.6. Significance of the Study

I hope that the thesis will reveal about how existential clauses change in
translation. Besides, it is hoped to shed light on differences in communication
between English and Vietnamese language in expressing the existence.

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1.7. Organization of the Study
In the thesis, there are five chapters.
The first chapter is the introduction part including the rationale, aims and
objectives, research questions, the significance of the study, scope of the study
and the organization of the study.
The second chapter is about the summary of theory of translation and
equivalence, Catfold’s theory about translation shifts, Halliday’s theory about
clause as representation, below and beyond the clauses, and previous studies
related to the topic.
The third chapter is devoted to a description of the methods used in this
thesis, process of data collection, and examples of data analysis.
The fourth chapter, the major chapter of the thesis, presents and discusses
the research findings regarding the ‘existential’ clauses, how they are translated
into Vietnamese, and shifts involved in translation as well as shifts in processes
facilitated in the act of translating.
The final chapter gives a summary of the research, with main ideas or
research findings being summarized, implications being drawn, limitations as
well as suggestions for further research being put forward.

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CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
In what follows, a review of prior researches related to the problem under
investigation is presented, starting with the translation theory in general, the
Systemic Functional Linguistics by Halliday and Matthiessen (2004), and then a
linguistic theory of translation by Catford (1965).
2.1. An Overview of Previous Studies
For centuries, translation has played a crucial role in communication, and
in provision of access to important texts for science and religious purposes
(Munday, 2008). The notion of translation was proposed by different linguistics
Approaches to equivalences in translation, since then, have been proposed
by a great number of researchers. Meetham and Hudson suggest the fully and
partial equivalent; Nida mentions formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence.
Newmark introduces the approaches based on semiotic or communicative
purposes. (Lê, 2015).
The concept of equivalence is also discussed by Halliday (2001), using the
theory of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFL). He suggests three approaches to
equivalence: stratification, rank and metafunctions.
Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), as its name implies, is an approach
to linguistic description. Its aim is to explain language in term of meaning, and to
develop grammar which is for the possibility of saying useful things about any
text (Matthiessen, Teruya, & Lam, 2010). Indeed, there are many researchers
introducing and summarizing the theory. Eggins (1994) points out the principles
and techniques of the functional approach to language. Bloor and Bloor (1995)
summary the theory for the beginners. Martin, Matthiessen, and Painter (1997)
give a great number of grammatical analyses.
Many attempts have been recognized to study the Vietnamese language
from the lens of SFG. Hoang (2005), for example, constructs the transitivity

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system of Vietnamese language. Similar to the theory, he also suggests six
processes in Vietnamese language: material, mental, relational, behavioural,
verbal and existential. He also found out three unique features. First, it is different
in meaning by using the verb bị or được in passive clauses; second thing is the
compulsory of the word lạ in dependent range of ‘material’ clause; and finally,
the verb groups serving as process in ‘relational’ and ‘existential’ clauses can be
omitted (see section 2.2.2.7.1).
As regards translation field, Chueasuai (2017) applied SFG in his study
aimed at the relationship between interpersonal metafunction and the notion of
power relation among main characters in the literacy work Fifty Shades of Grey
in both original English version and Thai translation. By analyzing the
conversation of main characters, it reveals that there are differences in the
representation of power between original version and translation due to the lack
of several features in Thai language compared to English one.
Hu (2017) carried out a study about comparison of experiental meaning
between the poem Ode to the West Wind and Its Chinese Translations. The results
show that the process is not usually maintained in translation, it is possible to turn
one kind of process into another without changing the meaning.
Rosaa, Sinar, Ibrahim-Bell, and Setia (2017) compared the translation
between student and professional translators in translating history texts. They
applied SFG, particularly analyzing metafunctions. It was found that
metafunctional shifts occurred in translation, and the professional did it more than
students. Furthermore, the professions did it for the purpose of maintaining the
meaning, while the students tried to keep the form.
SFL was also the basic framework for the theory about translation of
Catford (1965). In the book A Linguistic Theory of Translation, Catford (1965)

defines equivalence by reference to the different strata in language. Catford
recognizes equivalence at all strata, not only content strata but also expression

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ones (phonology and phonetics). He also introduces what can be well seen as a
tool for analyzing translation, which is translation shifts.
The term shift was introduced by Catford in his work published in 1965.
He defines shifts as “departures from formal correspondence in the process of
going from the SL [Source language] to the TL [Target language]” (p.73). He
categorizes it into two major types: Rank shifts and category shifts.
In similar vein, Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) discuss also the concept of
shift, using the term transposition, but it hadn’t been popular until their book was
translated into English language.
Translation shift theory is a useful tool for analysis of lexicogrammar shifts
in translation, and there have been many researchers utilizing it (Khafaji, 2006;
Rezvani & Nouraey, 2014; Venckienė, 2015).
Despite many researches about shifts of metafunction, there is not any
investigation of shift (i) between English and Vietnamese languages, (ii) studying
the process shift from lexicogrammar perspective. For those reasons, we decide
to carry out this piece of research from the metafunctions approach, particularly
experiential meaning using Catford’s model of translation shift (1965/2000) to
examine the shifts in process that occur via translation.
2.2. Theoretical Background
2.2.1. Translation and Equivalence
The practice of translating has been established for thousands of years, but
the study of the field was concerned to have a deep look in just around 20 th century
(Munday, 2008). The definition of translation is still an argument in the scholarly

world, and it has been proposed by different linguists and/or translation theorists.
Jakobson (1959/2000) uses the term interlingual translation to refer to the
practice of translating, and it is, according to him, “an interpretation of verbal
signs by means of some other languages” (p.114). He defines translation as the
process of “sic[substituting] messages in one language not for separate code-units

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but for entire messages in some other language” (p.114). Catford (1965) also
explains the translation term as “the replacement of textual material in one
language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)”(p.20).
Larson (1984) says translation is a transfer of meaning from the source language
to the receptor language. He says that the form of language will be changed, but
the meaning must be kept. With importance attached to the intention of the text
and intention of the author, Newmark (1988) considers translation as rendering
the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended
the text
By combining the definitions above, translation could be said a process of
transforming the forms between source and target languages, but maintaining its
content as well as author’s impacts to readers.
The aim of translation, in fact, is difficult to achieve in translation practices
as according to (Nida, 1964/2000), there are no two identical languages, with
regard to meaning given to a symbol and its translation, or their arrangements in
sentences or phrases. This view can be illustrated by the comparison of Jakobson
(1959/2000) about the word “cheese” in English and Russian languages. After the
comparing, he concludes that “there is ordinarily no full equivalence between
code-units” (p.114). For that reason, Meetham and Hudson (1972) say:
Texts in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees (fully or partially

equivalent), in respect of different levels of presentation (equivalent in respect of
context, of semantics, of grammar, of lexis, etc.) and at different ranks (word-forword, phrase for-phrase, sentence-for-sentence) (as cited in Bell, 1991, p. 6).

In the book A Linguistic Theory of Translation, Catford (1965) made a
distinction between textual equivalence and formal correspondence. He says that
textual equivalence is a TL text or just a proportion of TL text in translation which
is said to be equivalent to SL text or a proportion of SL text, and “the discovery
of textual equivalent based on the authority of a competent bilingual informant or
translator” (p.27). He says about formal correspondence as the following:

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A formal correspondent is any TL category which may be said to occupy, as nearly as
possible, the 'same' place in the economy of the TL as the given SL category occupies
in the SL (Catford, 1965, p. 32)

Munday (2008) comments about those two notion “Textual equivalence is
thus tied to a particular ST–TT pair, while formal equivalence is a more general
system-based concept between a pair of languages.” (p.60). As the focus of
translation is on reproducing the meaning of SL text, rather than maintaining the
linguistic pair, Nida and Taber (1982) says that “certain rather radical departures
from the formal structure are not only legitimate but may even be highly
desirable” (p.13). This means that there will be some lexicogrammar changes to
reproduce the message of SL text. For that reason, Catford (1965) introduces the
tool called translation shifts (see section 2.2.3)
Nida (1964/2000) suggests two equivalence approachs: formal equivalence
and dynamic equivalence. The initial focus on preserving the content, while the
latter is related to impacts to readers. Similarly, Newmark (1988) propose two

translation methods called communicative translation which attempts to achieve
“equivalent effect (to produce the same effect or one as close as possible) on the
reader ship” (p.48) and semantic translation which prioritize semantic meaning.
Halliday (2001) suggests metafunctions as a vector for analyzing
equivalence. In the three metafunctions, ideational meaning is placed as the
highest value due to “a general rule, translation equivalence is defined in
ideational term; if a text does not match its source text ideationally, it does not
qualify as a translation.” (p.16).
From the perspective of the equivalence regarding to metafunction, we now
move to the introduction of systemic functional grammar.
2.2.2. Systemic Functional Grammar
2.2.2.1. Overview
Systemic functional grammar (SFG) is an approach to linguistic
description; its aim is to provide a comprehension of how language is used in

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communication context. SFG views language as a resource

which

is

fundamentally shaped by the usage thereby explaining the form of language in
terms of the meaning it expresses (Thompson, 2009).
In the 1930s and 1940s, Firth established the foundation for a social
approach to linguistic description. After that, his student, Halliday, developed the
idea in his distinctive direction, and SFG, at first, was presented as the name Scale

and Category Grammar. Halliday continued his framework which was eventually
named Systemic Linguistic. The framework was then applied the name Functional
Grammar to more explicitly grammatical aspects. (Trask, 2005). In more recent
year, it has been contributed greatly by Jim Martin and Christian Mathiessen
(Thompson, 2009).
Hoang (2005), says that language models are assumed to consist of
different strata. In most language models, there are three strata: phonetics, syntax,
and semantics. Each of them is organized into different ranks, patterns and
systems. Ranks refer to varied units in that stratum; for example, lexicogrammar
includes clauses, groups, words, and morphemes. Regarding to patterns and
systems, the former shows the combination of units into larger one, whereas the
latter illustrates the available options for choice in each position of units.
In SFG, there are five strata: context, semantics, lexicogrammar, phonology
and phonetics as the following figure

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Figure 2.1: Stratification in English language
(Derived from Halliday and Matthiesen 2004)

Phonetic and phonology strata relate to our speech sounds, and they are
strata for expression. The content expands into 2 strata: lexicogrammar and
sematic. A language is used to make sense of our experience, and to carry out the
social interaction with others, it is the statum of semantics. Simultaneously those
experience and social interaction are transformed into wording, it is stratum of
lexicogrammar. Finally, context stratum is about what is going on, the
relationships of participants in the conversation, and the means they use to
interact. There is a relationship between these strata, and it is called realization, it

means that a stratum is realized by the lower one (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004)
SFG deals with the lexicogrammar, the stratum of wording. It is located
between semantics and phonology. Despite dealing with lexicogrammar, SFG
prioritizes to semantics; it means that grammar is viewed as a resource for
meaning expression (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). Halliday and Matthiessen
(2004) say that “giving priority to the view ‘from above’ [semantics] means that
the organizing principle adopted is that of system: the grammar is seen as a
network of interrelated meaningful choices” (p.31).
With regard to ranks, SFG focuses on clause as “it is the mainspring of
grammatical energy; it is the unit where meanings of different kinds, experiential,
interpersonal and textual, are integrated into a single syntagm” (Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2004, p. 50).
There are two main distinguishing features in the framework. Firstly, in
contrast to many other approaches concentrating on the description of syntagmatic
or of horizontal dimension, which means that they focus on how constituents in
language combine together, SFG prioritizes ‘vertical dimension’, the choices of
the speakers in the utterance, hence the grammatical structures are seen as the
outcome of choices from options available. The second feature is priority of

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meaning. Its aim is to explain how wordings are used to express the meaning; in
other words, what a language form consists of is less important than how it
functions in the clause. The other main feature is its functional nature; The design
of SFG is to link the relationships between forms and meanings in consistent ways
(Thompson, 2009).
2.2.2.2. Metafunction
The key feature of SFG is multi-perspective model, proving analysists with

complementary lenses for interpretation of language in use. The ideas of kinds of
meaning is one of the most basic of these complementarities. The kinds of
meaning refer to ideational meaning, interpersonal meaning, and textual meaning.
The ideational meaning construes experience; The interpersonal meaning shows
social relations between communicators, and the textual meaning are concerned
with information flow (Martin & White, 2005).
2.2.2.3. Ideational Metafunction
There are two components in this metafunction: experiential and logical
meaning. Experiential meaning expresses ongoing human experience, and it is
realized by transitivity system. Logical meaning shows the relationships between
units in the same ranks (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004).
2.2.2.4. Transitivity system
It construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process type.
Each type of processes is constructed by different models, and it expresses
different domains of experience. There are six types of processes: material,
mental, relational, existential, verbal and behavioural, which are introduced in the
figure below (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004).

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Figure 2.2:The grammar of experience: type of process in English
(Taken from Halliday & Matthiessen 2004)
Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) says that “material, mental and relational
are the main types of process in the English transitivity system” (p.171). He also
states each region of process has its own core areas showing prototypical members
of the process types; but when the region spread continuously, it shades into each
other, forming the overlaps which is the result of the process types fuzzy.

In a process type exists three constituents, namely process, participants,
and circumstances, the last of which are optional elements.
1 a process unfolding through the time
2 the participants involved in the process
3 circumstances associated with the process (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004, p. 175).

The realization of these elements is shown as the figure below:

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