the structure and meaning of president nguyen minh triet’s speech addressed on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of thang long – hanoi a systemic functional analysis

ii

ABSTRACT
This study presents an attempt to apply systemic functional grammar to investigating a
political speech addressed by President Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion of the 1000
th

anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi. Based on a brief overview of systemic
functional grammar introduced by Halliday, the study focuses on language functions
(ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction, and textual metafunction) which are
represented via transitivity pattern, mood pattern and theme - rheme pattern, and on cohesion
(grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion) of the text. The findings show that in terms of
transitivity pattern, relational process is predominant, in terms of mood pattern, declarative
mood is in the widest use and topical theme which forms unmarked one is the most striking
feature in terms of theme pattern. Moreover, grammatical cohesion represented by reference
and conjunctive devices and lexical cohesion shown via repetition, synonyms, meronyms and
hyponyms make the text more cohesive and coherent. The analysis proves that systemic
functional grammar is the smartest choice for those whose concern is for structure and
meaning of a particular text.








iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………………

ABSTRACT …… …………………………………………
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………
LIST OF MARKERS AND ABBREVIATIONS ……… ………………………
LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………………
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION …………………………………….…………….
1.1. Rationale of the Study ………………………………………………………
1.2. Aims of the Study .………………………………………………………………
1.3. Scopes of the Study .………………………………………………………………
1.4. Method of the Study … …………………………………………………………
1.5. Data Collection ………………………………………………………………
1.6. Design of the Study … …………………………………………………………
CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ………………………………
2.1. Introduction .…………………………………………………… ………….…….
2.2. The Linguistic System .………………………………………………………
2.3. Metafunctions .………………………………………………… ………….……
2.3.1. Ideational Metafunction .……………………………………
2.3.2 Interpersonal Metafunction …………………………………
2.3.3. Textual Metafunction …….……………………………………
2.4. Cohesion …………………………………………………………………………
2.4.1. Concept of Cohesion ………………………………………….………
2.4.2. Types of Cohesion .……………………………………………… …….
2.4.2.1. Grammatical Cohesion …… ……………………………
2.4.2.2. Lexical Cohesion ……………………………………… ……
2.5. Concluding Remarks .……………………………………………………………
i
ii
iii
iv
v
1

2
2
2
2
2
3
4
4
4
5
5
9
10
12
12
12
12
15
18
iv

III. CHAPTER 3: THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF PRESIDENT
NGUYEN MINH TRIET’S SPEECH ON THE OCCASION OF 1000
TH

ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THANG LONG – HANOI
3.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….
3.2. The Context of the Chosen Text …………………………………………………
3.3. Contextual Configuration of the Text ……………………………………………
3.4. Clauses and Clause Complexes …………………………………………………

3.5. The Analysis of the text in terms of Transitivity, Mood and Theme ……………
3.5.1. The Transitivity Pattern …………………………………………………
3.5.2. The Mood Pattern .………………………………………………………
3.5.3. The Theme – Rheme Pattern ……………………………………………
3.6. The Cohesion of the Text ……………………………………………………
3.6.1. Grammatical Cohesion ………………………………………………
3.6.2. Lexical Cohesion ………………………………………………………
3.7. Structure of the Text .…………………………………………………………
IV. CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION …………………………………………………
4.1. Recapitulation …………………………………………………………………
4.2. Implications for the Study ………………………………………………………
4.3. Suggestions for Further Study …………………………………………………….
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………… ………
APPENDIX I ………………………………………………………………………….
APPENDIX II ………………………………………………………………………
APPENDIX III ………………………………………………………………………



19


19
20
20
22
27
27
32
36

40
41
43
45
48
48
49
49
50
I
IV
VIII

v

LIST OF MARKERS AND ABBREVIATIONS

REP
Repetition
ANT
Antonym
MER
Meronym
HYP
Hyponym
SYN
Synonym
COL
Collocation

Anaphoric reference

Exophoric reference
vi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Types of Circumstances ……………………………………………
Table 2: Clause and Clause Complexes ……………………………………………
Table 3: Transitivity Pattern of the Text …………………………………………….

Table 4: Mood Pattern of the Text …………………………………………………
Table 5: Theme – Rheme Pattern of the Text ….……………………………………
Table 6: Grammatical Cohesive Devices of the Text …… …………………………
Table 7: Conjunctive Devices of the Text .…………………………………………
Table 8: Lexical Devices Summary …………………………………………………

9
22
28
33
37
40
42
43



1



CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the Study
The more modern society is, the more complex language has become. It has evolved to satisfy
human needs, and the way it is organized is functional with respect to these needs. An
important move in linguistics in recent years has introduced a new model and method of
description of language known as Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) in which everything
can be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used. Different from formal
grammar which focuses on written language and deals with rules of correct usage rather than

with meaning and context of the text, functional grammar centers on both written and spoken
language and emphasize how linguistic structures express meaning and views language as a
communicative resource, not as grammatical rules. It is considered “an effective tool of
analysis, which solves the issues left out by traditional grammar” as it helps understand human
language more deeply.
With its own benefits, SFG has been thoroughly investigated by many well-known linguists
worldwide such as M.A.K Halliday (1994), G.Thompson (1996), C.M.I Mathiessen (1997),
etc. In Vietnam, though it has received considerable attention, there has not much research on
this except Cao Xuân Hạo with the work “Tiếng Việt – Sơ thảo ngữ pháp chức năng” (1991),
and the work “Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của cú Tiếng Việt mô tả theo quan điểm chức năng hệ
thống” by Hoàng Văn Vân (2002) and some other researches on other aspects like “Thematic
structure in Vietnamese” by Đỗ Tuấn Minh and “Bàn thêm về phạm trù thức trong Tiếng Anh
và tiếng Việt (theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống)” by Trần Hữu Mạnh, etc. The reason is that
SFG is still new in Vietnam. Thus, an investigation into Vietnamese from systemic functional
perspective seems a hard and time - taking work for not only linguists but researchers as well.
However, those studies have made great contributions to the development of functional
grammar in Vietnam and inspired me to choose this grammar model as the theoretical
framework for my MA thesis. Furthermore, I myself find SFG really useful and interesting as
2



it provides us an analytic tool to examine the logico-semantic relations that structure a text
thoroughly and comprehensively. Moreover, I would like to try myself in a new but exciting
linguistic field, analyzing a Vietnamese text – its structure and meaning from systemic
functional perspective to see how the findings can help my understanding of Vietnamese. For
those reasons, I have decided to choose SFG as the field of my study and take “The meaning
and structure of President Nguyen Minh Triet’s speech addressed on the occasion of the 1000
th

anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi: A systemic functional analysis” as a
text for my thesis, using Halliday’s functional grammar as a theoretical framework.
1.2. Aims of the Study
Within the framework of a minor thesis, the study aims at:
 Examining some basic notions related to the meatafunctions of language: experiential,
interpersonal and textual metafunction.
 Analyzing the meaning and structure of President Nguyen Minh Triet’s speech addressed
on the occasion of the 1000
th
anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi based
on the systemic functional framework.
 Suggesting some pedagogical implications.

1.3. Scope of the Study
As a minor thesis, not all aspects of functional grammar are explored but only some of them
such as linguistic system, metafunctions and cohesion. The focus of the study, however, does
not lie in the theoretical findings but hopefully, on this fundamental theory, will enlighten the
political text analysis.
1.4. Methods of the Study
With a view to analyzing the meaning and structure of a Vietnamese text, descriptive and
analytical methods are used. The former is concerned with the description of the main areas of
functional grammar and the latter deals with the analysis of the text for discussion.

3



1.5. Data collection
The text is transcribed from the speech addressed by President Nguyen Minh Triet on the
occasion of the 1000

th
anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long, Ha Noi on 10
th
October
2010.
1.6. Design of the Study
This thesis is divided into four chapters as follows:
 Chapter one – Introduction – presents the rationale of the study, the aims of the study,
scope of the study, methods of the study, data collection, and the research design.
 Chapter two – Theoretical Background – supplies some fundamental and theoretical
concepts for the study: linguistic system, metafunctions and cohesion analysis.
 Chapter three – The Analysis of President Nguyen Minh Triet’s speech addressed on
the occasion of the 1000
th
anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long - Hanoi –
focuses on its meaning and structure.
 Chapter four – Conclusion – summarizes the results of the study and offers some
suggestions for teaching and learning as well as for further studies.










4

CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS
2.1. Introduction
This chapter will re-examine some basic concepts that are considered to set the theoretical
orientation for the study: the linguistic system, metafunctions and cohesion. Examples are
taken from grammar books by such famous linguists as Halliday (1985, 1994), Geoff Thomson
(1996), Hoàng Văn Vân (2002, 2005 & 2006), and other researchers like Đỗ Tuấn Minh
(2006), Thái Minh Đức (2004), etc.
2.2. The linguistic system
Language is viewed as systems of meaning potential in human interaction that are realized by
various structures formed in certain contexts which are studied under register. In systemic
grammar, register is conceptualized in terms of three parameters: field, tenor and mode.
- Filed of discourse refers to what is happening, to the nature of the social action that is
taking place: what is it that the participants are engaged in, in which the language figures
as some essential components?
- Tenor of discourse refers to who is taking part, to the nature of the participants, their
statuses and roles: what kind of role relationships of one kind or another, both the types of
speech role that they are taking on in the dialogue and the whole cluster of socially
significant relationships in which they are involved?
- Mode of discourse refers to what part the language is playing, what it is that the
participants are expecting the language to do for them in that situation: the symbolic
organization of the text, the status that it has, and its function in the context, including the
channel (is it spoken or written or some combination of the two?) and also the rhetorical
mode, what is being achieved by the text in terms of such categories as persuasive,
expository, didactic and the like.
(Halliday in Halliday & Hassan, 1989:12)
5

These three variables are deemed to be the only aspects of the context of situation of a text that
are linguistically relevant to accomplish a particular social goal. It will be embedded in the text
by being realized in the semantic and grammatical structures of the text.
2.3. Metafunctions
From the sociological point of view, Halliday (1970, 1985) developed a theory of the
fundamental functions of language into three broad metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal
and textual. Each functional component corresponds to each parameter register as the working
hypothesis: field - ideational; tenor - interpersonal; mode - textual.
2.3.1. Ideational Metafunction
Language is used to organize, understand and express our perceptions of the world and our
consciousness. It is the means of representing reality and known as the ideational function. It
consists of experiential meanings and logical meanings (Halliday, 1994: 179). The experiential
function is concerned with contents or ideas whereas the logical function is about the
relationship between ideas.
2.3.1.1. Process types
Experiential meanings are realized through the system of transitivity that, according to
Halliday (1994), construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types.
Like English, Vietnamese transitivity systems are composed by six types: Material Process,
Mental Process, Verbal Process, Behavioral Process, Relational Process, and Exitential Process
(for more detailed discussion of the Process types in Vietnamese, see Hoàng Văn Vân (2002,
2005)).
Material Process is the process of doing or happening. There is an obligatory participant, the
Actor, which is the doer of the action and an optional participant named Goal or Range.
Sometimes a material clause in Vietnamese may optionally specify a Recipient (the one to
whom something is given) or a Client (the one for whom something is done). In Vietnamese,
the Recipient (realized by a nominal group) precedes the Goal; the Client may either precede
6

the Goal or occur in the final position of the clause, marked with a preposition “cho”. They are
represented via such kinds of Vietnamese verbs as “bay đi, hoàn thành, nấu, chơi, etc.”
Followings are some examples referring to Material process:
(1a)

(1b)

(1c)

Mental process is the process of cognition, perception, affection and desideration. There are
always two participants in this process: the conscious one called the Senser and the
Phenomenon that enters into or impinges on the Senser’s consciousness. Those verbs as
“thích, muốn, yêu, căm ghét, sợ hãi, etc.” help indicate this type of process. Here is an
example:
(2)

Verbal Process is the process of saying, speaking or talking. The participants taking part in
this process are often the Sayer (any conscious or unconscious participant responsible for the
act of saying), the Receiver (the one to whom the saying is addressed), the Target (the one that
the verbalization is directed to) and the Verbiage (the message itself). This process is often
represented by “hỏi, chúc mừng, nói, kể, tuyên án, kết tội, etc.” in Vietnamese. For examples:
(3a)
Em
giặt
quần áo
cho anh
Actor
Process: material

Goal
Client
Hắn
cho
tôi
nhiều quà
Actor
Process: material
Recipient
Goal
Nam
đang
chơi
bóng
Actor
Aspectual marker
Process: material
Range
Tôi
yêu
hắn
Senser
Process: mental
Phenomenon
Tòa án
kết tội
tên giết người
Sayer
Process: verbal
Target

7




(3b)

Behavioral Process, which is on the borderline between mental and material process, is the
process of physiological and psychological behavior. Traditionally, there is usually one
obligatory participant referred to as Behaver and in some Vietnamese cases, exists
unnecessary participant known as the Phenomenon which is not a restatement of the process.
Notably, there are some kinds of Vietnamese verbs making this type of process somehow
confusing with mental process. For instance, “nhìn, nghe, tìm, mơ, sờ, ngửi, etc.” are often
mentioned to represent behavioral process whereas “nhìn thấy, nghe thấy, tìm thấy, sờ thấy,
ngửi thấy, etc.” belong to mental process. Here are some illustrations:
(4a)

(4b)


Relational Process is the process of being, having and being at. It comes under three subtypes:
intensive, circumstantial, and possessive. Each of these carries one of the two modes:
attributive and identifying. Verbs like “trở nên, phát triển, giữ, nhìn, trông, nom, cảm thấy,
etc.” belong to attributive process and “làm, đóng vai, chiếm, kéo dài, gọi, đặt tên, giống, etc.”
represent identifying process.
When a relational process is the attributive mode, there are two participants: the Carrier and
the Attribute showing the quality or class the Carrier belongs to. In Vietnamese, there is a case
in which the verb represents the process is implied so the adjectival phrase carries out the role
Tôi
được

bà
kể cho
nhiều câu chuyện
Receiver

Sayer
Process: verbal
Verbiage
Họ
khóc
cả buổi
Behaver
Process: behavioral
Circumstance: Extent: Duration
Thằng ấy
bị
con Hoa nó
lườm
Phenomenon

Behaver
Process: behavioral
8



of both process and attribute. Two participants participate in the identifying mode are
Identified (the one is identified) and Identifier (the one enters into or impinges in the
identifying process). For instance:
(5a)

(5b)

(5c)


Existential Process is the process of existing. They have only one participant, called the
Existent and one or two circumstantial elements. This process is often shown by Vietnamese
verbs like “treo, ngồi, nổi lên, đặt, mọc, xuất hiện, xảy ra, đính, có, còn, etc.” For example:
(6)


2.3.1.2 Circumstances:
Besides the participants, circumstances may be freely accompanied by circumstantial elements
typically realized by adverbial groups, prepositional phrases and nominal groups. They
essentially encode the background against which the process takes place. According to Hoàng
Văn Vân (2002: 340), there are 8 types of circumstances as follows:


Tôi
là
Nhâm
Identified / Token
Process: Relational
Identifier /Value
Em Linh
cân
nặng tám cân
Carrier
Process: Relational

Attribute
Cô ấy
rất
xinh
Carrier

Process / Attribute
Trên giời
có
đám mây xanh
Circumstance: place
Process: Relational
Existent
9



Order
Type
Subtypes
Examples
1
Extent
Distance, duration
Năm năm, hai mươi cây số, …
2
Location
Place, time
Xã bên, ở nhà, quá xa, …
3

Manner
Means, quality,
comparison
Thông qua đối thoại, thắm thiết, riêng,
chung, giọng rất lạnh…
4
Cause
Reason, purpose, behalf
Cho tổ quốc thân yêu, vì nhân dân, …
5
Accompaniment
Comitation, addition
Với cậu, mang theo giấy tờ tùy
thân…
6
Role
Guise, product
Như một người bạn, thành hai phần
bằng nhau……
7
Matter

Về chuyện của tôi, đối với Tiếng Việt
8
Angle

Theo quan điểm của tôi, với tôi……
Table 1: Types of Circumstances
For examples:
(7a)

(7b)

2.3.2. Interpersonal Metafunction
The speaker is using language as the means of his own intrusion into the speech event: the
expression of his comments, attitudes and evaluations, and also of the relationship that he sets
up between himself and the listeners - in particular, the communication role that he adopts of
informing, questioning, greeting, persuading, and the like. (Halliday, 1994: 71)
Mình
sẽ đi
ra ga
với cậu
Actor
Process: material
Circumstance: direction
Circumstance: Accompaniment
Vì nhân dân
quên
mình
Circumstance: cause: behalf
Process: mental
Phenomenon
10



Mood and Residue, two components of a clause, are often used to express the interpersonal
function. The Mood shows what role the speaker selects in the speech situation and what role
he assigns to the addressee. The Residue is “the remainder of the clause” (Halliday, 1994:

74) which consists of three functional elements: Predicator, Complement and Adjunct.
Quite different from mood structure in English, Vietnamese mood structure, according to Thái
Minh Đức (2004: 441), “consists of two functional components: Negotiatory elements which
have the function of carrying the argument forward and the Remainder, which can be left out
when the argument is in progress.” Hoàng Văn Vân (2009) indicates that the Negotiatory
elements (equivalent to Mood in English) consist of the Predicator and the Negotiator
including polar interrogative particles (phải không, có phải…… không, sao / hay sao, chứ);
elemental interrogative items (khi nào, tại sao, ai, ở đâu); imperative
particles (hãy, đi, nghe, nhé) and aspectual particles (đã, đang, rồi, chưa). The Remainder
consists of Subject, Complement, and Adjunct like Residue in English. Here are some
illustrations:
8a)


(8b)



2.3.3. Textual Metafunction
The textual metafunction is about the verbal world, especially the flow of information in a
text, and is concerned with clauses as messages. It is described by Haliday (1994: 97) as the
Có phải
anh
mua
cái áo này
ở siêu thị Big C
không?
Negotiator
Subject
Predicator

Complement
Adjunct
Negotiator
Negotia

-tory


elements

Re-

-mainder

Học
đi
Predicator
Negotiator
Negotiatory elements
11



‘relevance’ or the enabling function. As a message structure, a clause consists of a Theme
accompanied by a Rheme. The Theme is the element which serves as the point of departure
of the message, and the Rheme is the part from which the Theme is developed.
The Theme may be realized by a nominal group, a prepositional phrase, an adverbial group or
even a clause in predicated theme. It may be single or multiple, marked or unmarked. A
theme is single when the thematic element is represented by just one constituent – a nominal
group, an adverbial group, or a prepositional phrase. On the contrary, it is multiple when it has

a further internal structure of its own.
There exist three types of theme: topical theme, textual theme and interpersonal one. Topical
theme is the one that is conflated with an experiential element of the clause; it may be
participant, circumstance or process. Textual theme shows the meaning relevant to the
context, both the co-text and context of situation. It can be (i) continuity adjuncts
(continuatives) like “ồ, vâng, được, dầu sao đi nữa, thế thì, thôi được, hừm, nào, này, thế, etc.”
(ii) structural adjuncts (Structurals) and (iii) conjunctive adjuncts (Conjunctives) such as
“sau đó, chẳng bao lâu, tương tự, vì vậy, trong hoàn cảnh đó, tuy vậy, thêm vào đó, tựu trung
lại, etc.” Interpersonal theme is expressed by such modal adjuncts as “có lẽ, dĩ nhiên, rõ
ràng, thường thường, đôi khi, theo ý kiến của tôi, thật tình mà nói, hãy, đừng, chớ, etc.”
An unmarked theme is one that is usual or typical and it often conflates with the Subject
whereas a marked theme is one that is unusual. It is often the subject in imperative clauses
and existential clause or “something other than subject” (Halliday, 1994: 44) like compliment,
adjunct or even predicate in other types of clauses. Followings are some examples to illustrate
thematic structure in Vietnamese:
(9a)




Mọi người
đều cố gắng
để công việc
hoàn thành kịp thời
Theme
Rheme
Theme
Rheme
Theme
Rheme

12




(9b)


(9c)


2.4. Cohesion
2.4.1. The Concept of Cohesion
Cohesion is viewed as a semantic concept referring to the relations of meaning that exist
within the text, and that define it as a text. It occurs where the interpretation of some element
in the discourse is dependent on that of another, the one presupposes the other.
Actualization of cohesion depends on both selection of some option from systematic resources
(reference, ellipsis, substitution, and conjunction) and the presence of some other elements
(repetition, synonym, antonym, meronymy and collocation) which resolves the presupposition
that this sets up. We relatively refer to two types of cohesion: grammatical and lexical which
will be explained thoroughly in the following parts.
2.4.2. Types of Cohesion
2.4.2.1. Grammatical Cohesion
In linguistics, grammar refers to the logical and structural rules that govern the composition of
sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. Grammatical cohesion refers to
the structural content of a text.
2.4.2.1.1. Reference
According to Hoàng Văn Vân (2006: 66), reference expresses the relationship of identity
which exists between units in discourse. It can be divided into anaphoric, cataphoric, and
exophoric. Anaphoric reference refers to any reference that “points backwards” to

Thế rồi
may mắn thay
nó
gặp lại người bạn cũ
Textual Theme
Interpersonal Theme
Topical Theme

Theme (Unmarked)
Rheme
Anh
gọi Giáp đi nào!
Theme (Marked)
Rheme
13



previously mentioned information in the text. Cataphoric reference refers to any reference
that “points forward” to information that will be presented later in the text. Exophoric
reference refers to any reference within the same nominal group or phrase which follows the
presupposed item. For cohesion purposes, anaphoric reference is the most relevant as it
“provides a link with a preceding portion of the text” (Halliday and Hasan 1976: 51); hence
it is the most common usage. For examples:
(10 a) Nó khóc suốt đêm. Thằng bé nhà Lan đã ốm hai ngày nay rồi.
(cataphoric reference)
(10 b) Nam là một sinh viên giỏi. Cậu ấy luôn đứng nhất lớp trong các kì thi.
(anaphoric reference)
Functionally speaking, there are three main types of cohesive references: personal,
demonstrative, and comparative. Personal reference keeps track of function through the

speech situation using noun pronouns like “cô ấy, anh ta, chị ấy, bà ta, chúng tôi, etc.” and
possessive determiners like “của tôi, của chúng ta, của mình, etc.” Demonstrative reference
keeps track of information through location using proximity references like “đây, kia, này, khi
đó, etc.” Comparative reference keeps track of identity and similarity through indirect
references using adjectives like “giống, khác, hơn, bằng, etc”. For instance:
(11 a) Nam đã lấy vợ. Anh ấy có vẻ rất hạnh phúc.
(personal reference)
(11 b) Kia là nhà anh.
(demonstrative reference)
(11 c) Lan cao hơn Mai.
(comparative reference)


14



2.4.2.1.2. Substitution
According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), substitution is the relation between linguistic items,
such as words or phrases and in terms of linguistic level, it is a relation on the lexico-
grammatical level, the level of grammar and vocabulary. It consists of three subtypes:
nominal substitution, clausal substitution and verbal substitution. However, in Vietnamese,
the two formers seem more common.
Nominal Substitution is the use of a substitute word to replace the Head of a corresponding
nominal group. The noun functioning as the Head is always countable such as cái, con, đứa,
etc. Here is an illustration:
(12) Có ba cậu bé đang bơi trên sông. Cậu lớn nhất là con bác Ba.
Verbal Substitution in English is ‘do’. This operates as Head of a verbal group, in the place
that is occupied by the lexical verb and its position is always final in the group. However, this
is hardly seen in Vietnamese.

Clausal Substitution is the one “in which what is presupposed is not an element within the
clause but an entire clause.” The linguistic items used as substitutes in Vietnamese are “như
vậy, vậy, thế, etc.” For example:
(13) A: Cô ấy xinh đấy chứ!
B: Tôi không nghĩ thế.
2.4.2.1.3. Ellipsis
Ellipsis is an omission of certain elements from a sentence or clause and can only be
recovered by referring to an element in the preceding text. Like substitution, ellipsis can be
studied in terms of nominal ellipsis, verbal ellipsis and clausal ellipsis.
(Halliday & Hasan, 1976: 144)
Nominal Ellipsis occurs within nominal group. It is the ellipsis of a Head with optional
modification (premodifier / postmodifier). For example:
(14) A: Ăn bánh nữa không?
B: Không. Đây là cái (bánh) thứ ba rồi.
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Verbal Ellipsis appears within verbal group. An elliptical group presupposes one or more
words from a previous verbal group. This hardly takes place in Vietnamese.
Clausal Ellipsis takes clause as the point of departure. It relates to the question and answer in
a dialogue. There may exist Yes / No Ellipsis or Wh – Ellipsis. For instance:
(15) A: Này, Nam bay vô Sài Gòn chiều nay rồi.
B: Thật sao? Vậy mà nó chẳng nói cho tao biết (chiều nay nó bay) gì cả.
2.4.2.1.4. Conjunctive Cohesion
Another type of cohesion is conjunction that “constitutes a cohesive bond between two
clauses” (Halliday, 1994: 180). Cohesive conjunction is the logical-semantic organization of
propositions within a discourse. It allows the speaker/ writer to set up relationships between
ideas. It is viewed in different ways, however, in this thesis; I would like to put an emphasis on
Halliday’s classification: Elaboration, Extension and Enhancement.

In elaboration, “one clause elaborates on the meaning of another by further specifying or
describing it” (Halliday, 1994: 225). A clause can be elaborated by apposition (in which some
element is represented or restarted like “ví dụ, chẳng hạn như, nói cách khác….) or by
clarification (in which some element is summarized, reinstated, made more precise or clarified
for purposes of discourse, for example, “thật ra, tóm lại, tựu trung lại, ít nhất, etc.)
In Halliday’s view when “one clause extends the meaning of another by adding something new
to it”, it is called extension. It is displayed by (i) addition which consists of positive (thêm vào
đó, và…), adversative (mặt khác, tuy nhiên, nhưng…) and (ii) variation that is made up by
replacive (thay vào đó, trái lại), subtractive (ngoài ra, ngoại trừ), and alternative (thay vào
đó).
Halliday (1994) also states that in enhancement, one clause enhances the meaning of another
by “qualifying it in one of a number of possible ways”. There are four elements that constitute
enhancement: (i) spatio-temporal (đằng sau, bất cứ nơi đâu, sau đó, tiếp theo, cuối cùng thì,
ngay lập tức, lần tới,etc.); (ii) manner (vì thế, theo cách khác, tương tự, mặt khác, etc.); (iii)
16



causal-conditional (vì vậy, kết quả là, vì lí do đó, vì mục đích đó, trong trường hợp đó, etc);
and (iv) matter (đây, đó, theo mặt đó, nơi nào đó, etc.)
2.4.2.2. Lexical Cohesion
Halliday and Hasan (1976) view lexical cohesion as the “phoric” cohesion established
through the structure of the lexis, or vocabulary, and hence (like substitution) at the
lexicogrammatical level. According to them, reiteration and collocation are two main types of
lexical cohesion.
2.4.2.2.1. Reiteration
Reiteration includes five subtypes: repetition, synonymy, antonymy, superordinate,
meronymy and general word.
2.4.2.2.1.1. Repetition
Repetition refers to the same lexical item with the same meaning occuring more than one in

the same discourse. (Hoang Van Van, 2006: 81)
E.g: Hôm qua tôi đã gặp cậu bé. Cậu bé xem chừng rất thích đi với anh.
2.4.2.2.1.2. Synonymy
Synonymy refers to the relation between different words bearing the same meaning or nearly
the same meaning for a particular person, object, process or quality.
(Hoang Van Van, 2006: 81)
E.g: - Mời bác xơi cơm ạ!
- Ừ, cháu ăn đi.
2.4.2.2.1.3. Antonymy
Antonymy describes opposite or contrastive meaning between two word items.
(Hoang Van Van, 2006: 81)
E.g: Nam dạo này béo lên đấy, chẳng bù cho khi trước, nó gầy quá.

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2.4.2.2.1.4. Hyponym and co – hyponym
The main idea of hyponymy is “inclusion”; that is, a lower term (hyponym) is included in an
upper term (the superordinate). (Hoang Van Van, 2006: 82)
E.g: Trong số các loại hoa quả bán ở chợ, táo và cam là loại giá rẻ và an toàn nhất.
In the example above, “táo, cam”’ are hyponyms of “hoa quả” and “táo” and “cam” are co-
hyponyms.
2.4.2.2.1.5. Superordinate and meronymy
Superordinate is known as co-occurence of the same or some higher level of generality.
Meronymy is where lexical items are in a “part-whole” relationship with each other.
Consequently, the relation between two parts is one of co-meronym.
(Hoang Van Van, 2006: 83)
E.g: Cây cam này cành, lá tươi tốt, nhưng chẳng thấy quả đâu cả.
In the example above, “cành, lá” are meronymy of “quả”, “quả” is superordinate of “cành,

lá”; “cành” and “lá” are co-meronymys.
2.4.2.2.1.6. General word
General word is known as a class of general nouns which have generalised reference within
the major noun classes, such as “human nouns”: people, person, man, woman, boy; “object
nouns”: thing, object; “place nouns”: place. (Hoang Van Van, 2006: 83)
E.g: Lan là một giáo viên nữ rất thành đạt trong hội đồng sư phạm nhà trường.
In this example, “hội đồng sư phạm” is general word for human participant. It includes “giáo
viên nữ” anaphorically.
2.4.2.2.2. Collocation
Collocation is obtained as cohesion that is achieved through the association of lexical items
that regularly co-occur in certain context. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976: 319)
According to Hoàng Văn Vân (2006), collocation is made up of three types as follows:
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 Resultative collocation refers to the relation of one item leading to the outcome of another
item: gió – thổi; đêm – tối; giết – chết…
 Modificational collocation refers to the relation holding between an item and one of its
inherent qualities: mưa – to; gió – lớn; chạy – nhanh…
 Contextual collocation does not represent a cause-effect relation but expectation can be
made between the process and the participant. The words concerned are merely nouns and
verbs: giáo viên – dạy / giải thích; học sinh – học tập / nghiên cứu ……
2.5. Concluding Remarks
In this chapter, some fundamental and theoretical concepts relevant to the purpose of the
study have been discussed. They are field, tenor and mode that make up linguistic system and
also three functions of language that serve to express three largely independent sets of
semantic choice: (i) the transitivity pattern shows representative meaning: what the clause is
about, which is typically some process, with associated participants and circumstance; (ii) the
mood pattern expresses interpersonal meaning: What the clause is doing as a verbal exchange

between speaker / writer and audience/ reader; and (iii) the theme pattern represents the
organization of the message: how the clause relates to the surrounding discourse, and to the
context of situation in which it is being produced. Moreover, cohesion concept and types are
taken into consideration in the study so as to provide a brief framework of systemic functional
grammar for analysis. The following chapter focuses on the speech addressed by President
Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion of the 1000
th
anniversary of the foundation of Thang
Long - Hanoi based on the systemic functional approached mentioned before hand.





19



CHAPTER 3
THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF PRESIDENT NGUYEN
MINH TRIET’S SPEECH ADDRESSED ON THE OCCASION
OF THE 1000
TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF
THANG LONG - HANOI
3.1. Introduction
Systemic functional grammar was originally developed by M.A.K Halliday in the 1960s and
has now come to be recognized as a major force in linguistics. It is functional grammar
because the conceptual framework on which it is based is functional rather than formal as it
approaches the language from a semantic point of view; more precisely, it examines the

semantic functions of the language forms. In order to analyze a text in terms of systemic
functional grammar, it is necessary to view the term “text” from different perspectives.

In the most general conception, a text can be “a written or spoken passage.”
(Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, 1990)
A text can be defined as “any written record of a communicative event. The event itself
involves oral language (for example, a sermon, a casual conversation, a shopping transaction)
or written language (for example, a poem, a newspaper advertisement, a wall poster, a shop
list, a novel)”
(D. Nunan, 1993: 7-8)
In terms of linguistics, the word text itself is used “to refer to any passage, spoken or written,
of whatever length, that does form a unified whole… It is a unit of language in use. It is not a
grammatical unit, like a clause or a sentence; and it is not defined by its size…… A text is best
regarded as a semantic unit.”
(Halliday & Hasan, 1985)

20



Obviously, the more notions the term “text” carries, the harder it is to obtain. With these
difficulties, in this study, an effort is made to explore the structure and meaning of a political
speech as a text. The procedures and conventions used in the analysis are based on the
framework of Halliday’s (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar; Halliday and
Hasan’s (1985) Language, Text and Context: Aspect of Language in Social-Semiotic
Perspective; Halliday & Hasan (1976) Cohesion in English. The analysis will be carried out
from the context of the text chosen, the context situation of the text in terms of the three
contextual parameters: field, tenor, mode; clauses and clause complexes analysis; the
transitivity pattern; the mood pattern; the theme - rheme pattern to the grammatical and
lexical cohesion analyses.

3.2. The Context of the Chosen Text
The text is the speech addressed by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion
of the 1000
th
anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long - Ha Noi on 10
th
October 2010.
The speaker is President Nguyen Minh Triet, a famous politician, who became the sixth
Vietnamese President and held this post from June 2006 to July 2011. His speech marked the
turning point to Hanoi as it officially celebrated its 1000
th
anniversary. The targeted hearers,
therefore, are firstly all the Vietnamese leaders “Thưa các đồng chí lãnh đạo Đảng, Nhà
nước, Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam,” secondly the Vietnamese who made great contributions to
Vietnam’s independence “Thưa các đồng chí lão thành cách mạng, các mẹ Việt Nam anh
hùng”, thirdly Vietnamese people “Thưa toàn thể đồng bào, đồng chí và chiến sỹ cả nước,”
and lastly all the honored guests. However, this speech is to publicize the whole world about
the 1000
th
Thang Long anniversary so the targeted audience is extended to people all over the
world who care about the history as well as the development of Vietnam in general and Hanoi
in particular.
It is a Vietnamese text; however it carries its own features in meaning and structure.
3.3. Contextual Configuration of the Text
It is undeniable that context is an integral part of language. It does not reveal everything but it
can help understand a great deal about the language used. According to Halliday (1994),