Material process in The Old man and the sea by Hemingway and its Vietnamese translated version A systematic funtional comparison= Quá trình vật chất trong bản g20150227.PDF

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT ………………………………………………………… i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………… ii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………… iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………… iv
ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………………………… vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… 1
1.1. Rationale of the study…………………………………………………………………. 1
1.2. Aims of the study……………………………………………………………………… 2
1.3. Scope of the study…………………………………………………………………… 3
1.3.1. The theoretical framework………………………………………………… 3
1.3.2. The chosen text……………………………………………………………… 3
1.4. Methods and data of the study………………………………………………………… 4
1.5. Design of the study……………………………………………………………………. 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND……………………………………… 5
2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 5
2.2. Functional Grammar – A model of language in context ………………………………5
2.2.1. Strata of the systemic functional model…………………………………… 6
2.2.2. Metafunctions……………………………………………………………… 6
2.3. Transitivity system: processes, participants and circumstances………………………. 8
2.3.1. Three components of the process…………………………………………….8
2.3.2. Types of process…………………………………………………………… 9
2.3.3. Circumstances……………………………………………………………… 12
CHAPTER III: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF MATERIAL PROCESS IN ENGLISH
AND VIETNAMESE……………………………………………………………………… 14
3.1. The framework of the material process in English……………………………………. 14
3.1.1. The process………………………………………………………………… 14
3.1.2. Participants in Material processes……………………………………………15

3.1.3. Circumstances in Material processes…………………………………………16
3.1.4. Material Processes and tense……………………………………………… 17
3.1.5. Material processes and voice……………………………………………… 18
3.2. The framework of the material process in Vietnamese………………………………. 18
3.2.1. Identifying Material processes……………………………………………….19
3.2.2. Material Processes and voice…………………………………………………20

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CHAPTER IV: MATERIAL PROCESS IN THE ORIGINAL AND VIETNAMESE
TRANSLATED EXTRACT FROM “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA” BY HEMINGWAY: A
FUNCTIONAL COMPARISON………………………………………………………… 22
4.1. The author Hemingway and the novella “The old man and the sea”…………………. 22
4.1.1. Hemingway and his individual style………………………………………… 22
4.1.2. The novella “The old man and the sea”…………………………………… 23
4.2. The Vietnamese translated version by Lê Huy Bắc…………………………………… 25
4.3. A Functional Comparison of Material Process in the original and Vietnamese translated
extract from “The old man and the sea” by Hemingway………………………………… 25
4.3.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………. 25
4.3.2. Transitivity………………………………………………………………… 26
4.3.3. Material Processes in the original and the translation………………………. 27
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………. 38
5.1. Recapitulation…………………………………………………………………………. 38
5.2. Implications of the study……………………………………………………………… 40
5.3. Suggestions for further study…………………………………………………………. 42
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………… 43
APPENDIX 1……………………………………………………………………………….I
Text 1: Analysis of the English text into clause complexes
APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………………………………….IV
Text 2: Analysis of Vietnamese-translated text into clause complexes
APPENDIX 3……………………………………………………………………………….VII

Table 2: Transitivity pattern of the English text
APPENDIX 4……………………………………………………………………………….XIV
Table 3: Transitivity pattern of the Vietnamese – translated text


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ABBREVIATIONS
A. ENGLISH
Pro : Process
Rel. : Relational
Mat. : Material
Per. : Perception
Cir. : Circumstance
Extent. T : Extent, Temporal
Extent. S : Extent, Spatial
Loc. T : Location, Temporal
Loc. S : Location, Spatial
Man. Q : Manner, Quality
Man. C : Manner, Comparison
Man. M : Manner, Means
Cause. P : Cause, Purpose
Acc. C : Accompaniment, Comitative
Role. G : Role, Guise
Fini. : Finite
Pred. : Predicate
Fig. : Figure
No. of occ. / NOC : Number of occurrence
B. VIETNAMESE
QT : Quá trình
vc : Vật chất

tt : Tinh thần
pn : Phát ngôn
hv : Hành vi
ĐTh : Đương thể
TT : Thuộc tính
CT : Cảm thể
HT : Hành thể

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ĐT : Đích thể
PNT : Phát ngôn thể
UT : Ứng thể
CC : Chu cảnh
pc : Phong cách
tg : Thời gian
đv. tg : Định vị, thời gian
pc. cl : Phong cách, chất lượng
pc. ss : Phong cách, so sánh

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study
Not until I had pursued Master degree of Applied Linguistics at Hanoi University of
Languages and International Studies, did I have the first chance to familiarize myself with
one of the most important schools of linguistics, which is so-called “Functional Grammar”
from Professor Hoang Van Van’s lectures. This type of grammar deeply impressed me
especially when it was brought into comparison with another well-known subtype of
grammar; that is, Traditional Grammar.
I got to know Traditional Grammar, through its simple grammatical rules from my first
days of the 6
th
grade. When I studied at the university, it seemed that I was fully aware of
the notion “Traditional Grammar”. Williams (2005) defined the Traditional Grammar as
“the collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structures of language that is
commonly taught in schools”. This means that Traditional Grammar refers to ways of
analyzing words into such functions as Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (O), Complement (C)
and Adverbial (A) and analyzing sentences basing on seven major clause types: SV, SVO,
SVC, SVA, SVOO, SVOC and SVOA. All of these rules are presented clearly by Quirk et
al. (1985) in “A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language”. All in all, this kind
of grammar takes linguistic structures as its priority; therefore, it has limitations on
interpreting the organization of a discourse. As a result, Functional Grammar or Systemic
Functional Grammar was developed by the linguist Halliday in the 1960s in order to solve
the problems of discourse analysis.

In fact, a functional grammar was designed to study the wording and interpret the wording
by reference to what it means (Halliday, 1994). In detail, it is particularly helpful for
explaining how language is selected and organized in particular ways for particular socio-
cultural purposes. Three important variables are Field (subject matter), Tenor (roles and
relationships), and Mode (mode and medium). Other Systemic Functional Grammar terms
which people might have approached include circumstance, participant and process.
Moreover, Systemic Functional Grammar is useful for explaining the structuring of
clauses, sentences, texts, discourses by analyzing their cohesive devices. Among all of
these categories, what I am most interested in is types of process in general and material
process in particular since material process is a popular process in English. So I have
decided to choose “material process” as the topic of my minor thesis.
In addition, functional grammar has been studied by many famous linguists in the world
like M.A.K. Halliday (1985, 1994), Bloor (1995), Eggins (1994) and Thompson (1996);

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among all of whom, Halliday is considered to be a vanguard grammarian because of his
great contributions. In Vietnam, firstly Cao Xuân Hạo and then Hoàng Văn Vân did
researches on Vietnamese in the light of systemic functional grammar. Their studies
respectively are Tiếng Việt – Sơ thảo ngữ pháp chức năng (1991) and Ngữ pháp kinh
nghiệm của cú Tiếng Việt: mô tả theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống (2002), in which
types of process especially material process in Vietnamese are investigated. Thus, however
small my study is, I myself would like to contribute to this fledgling field by examining
material process through both English and Vietnamese using the same theoretical
framework – systemic functional linguistics.
The functional comparison between material process in English and Vietnamese was
carried out by Huỳnh Thị Cẩm Nhung in 2002. However, in my opinion, the scope of this
thesis is rather broad because the analysis is not attached to any specific texts or
discourses. As far as I am concerned, I have chosen to compare material process in an
extract from “The old man and the sea” by Earnest Hemingway and its Vietnamese

translated version by Lê Huy Bắc for three reasons. Firstly, I find myself have a passion for
literature. Secondly, in order to compare items in two languages, it is vital to show that
they are contextually equivalent. Such equivalence can be best achieved by reference to
translation as “translation is the replacement of textual material in one language by
equivalent textual material in another language” (Cartford, 1965). In the end, assuming
English to be the control language and Vietnamese to be the comparative one, the
comparison will become easier and more effective if I compare the translation which is
translated by an experienced and excellent linguist and has won public recognition with the
original.
From all reasons above, it is hoped that this study will provide some insights into the
understanding of the translation of material process in literature.
1.2. Aims of the study
The aim of this study is to answer the following questions:
a. What is material process?
b. Are Material processes in the original extract from “The old man and the sea” written
by Hemingway the same as those in its Vietnamese translated version?
c. What implications of translation equivalence does the study have for Vietnamese
teachers, students and translators of literary works?
In order to find the answers to the research questions above, an attempt is made to examine
how material process is conceptualized in English and Vietnamese by synthesizing the
works of Halliday (1994) and Hoàng Văn Vân (2002).

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So as to make the comparison between the original and translated version, Halliday’s and
Hoàng Văn Vân’s theoretical framework are chosen to be the descriptive framework of my
study.
Finally, basing on the findings of the study, I would like to offer some implications for
translating material process in literature into Vietnamese.
1.3. Scope of the study

1.3.1. The theoretical framework
In this study, I do not have an ambition to cover all aspects of functional grammar. Only
issues related to material process such as framework, elements and features are taken into
consideration.
Moreover, material process is a small domain in a grammatical space which is known as
transitivity. In fact, the Systemic Functional Linguistic model of language recognizes three social
functions: ideational, interpersonal and textual. Among them, ideational function is divided into
experiential and logical. Experiential function is realized by transitivity system. As a result,
metafunctions, the grammar of experience and its representation in the transitivity system are
also examined briefly.
1.3.2. The chosen text
The scope of investigation is limited to the written extract from Hemingway’s novella
“The old man and the sea” and, equivalently, its Vietnamese version which is translated
by Lê Huy Bắc. The original extract is from page 88 to 94 and the translated version is
from page 64 to 70 of the whole story. However, during the process of analysis, I have cut
down some unnecessary clauses so that I can analyze the text more easily. As a result, the
chosen text in both languages has shrunk (from 6 to 4 pages).
The reason is that there is not enough space for a minor thesis to investigate the whole
novella of more than 125 pages. An extract of only 4 pages seems to be more feasible.
Furthermore, this extract is about the old man’s fierce battle with a giant marlin on the sea.
So, it is supposed to contain a high density of verbs of action which are frequently the
representation of material process – process of DOING.
This study is confined to an analysis at clause-level.
1.4. Methods and data of the study
From these aims above, the study is carried out basing mainly on two methods: descriptive
and comparative. The former concerns with the description of material process in English
and Vietnamese and the latter concerns with the comparison of the process in the two
languages.

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As I have said above, the data used for the study are taken from page 88 to 94 of the source
language text and the corresponding pages in the Vietnamese version. The analysis of the
source language text’s clause is based on Halliday’s theory (1994). The investigation of the
translated text is based on both Halliday’s and Hoàng Văn Vân (2002)’s theory.
1.5. Design of the study
This thesis is designed in five chapters:
Chapter I: introduces rationale, aims, scope and methodology of the study
Chapter II: provides the theoretical orientations for the study: systemic functional theory
and its related issues to the topic of my thesis.
Chapter III: discusses some basic notions of material process such as Actor, Goal and
Circumstance.
Chapter IV: is concerned with the comparative analysis between participants, process and
circumstances of material process in English and Vietnamese.
Chapter V: tries to reach the most clear-cut possible conclusions about the equivalence
between the two versions and provides some implications for translation task.

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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1. Introduction
Material process, in reality, is considered to be a small domain in a grammatical space
which is known as TRANSITIVITY. Within the scope of my study, this chapter will be
devoted to a review of the issue most relevant to the thesis’s topic; that is transitivity
system. Before that, we would like to give a brief introduction of Halliday’s Functional
Grammar and three types of meaning which are closely related to transitivity system.
2.2. Functional Grammar – A model of language in context
Functional grammar is a way of looking at language as “a social semiotic resource for
expressing meaning in contexts” (Halliday, 1994). It is implied that language is not “a set
of all grammatical sentences” but only makes sense when placed in context. Context is
divided into two communication planes: genre (context of culture) and register (context of
situation).
Genres are “staged goal – oriented social processes in which speakers engage as members
of a culture” (Martin, 1985). They include a wide range of routinized structures from
everyday genres such as buying and selling, telling stories, gossiping, etc to the genres of
“recognizable social activity” like educational genres, literary genres, etc.
Register is a semantic concept. It can be defined as “a configuration of meanings that are
typically associated with a particular situational configuration of field, mode and tenor”
(Halliday, 1985). That is to say, register constrains the meanings that are likely to be made

in situational contexts in society. It is studied in terms of three contextual variables or
parameters: field, mode and tenor. It can be summarized briefly from Halliday’s theory
(1994) that field refers to “what is happening” (by analyzing texts), tenor refers to “who is
taking part” (by analyzing the interaction) and mode refers to “what part the language is
playing” (by analyzing the ways messages are constructed).
Not only does Halliday put language in context, he also has an idea of language in use
when claiming that a language consists of a set of systems, each of which offers the
speaker (or writer) choice of ways of expressing meaning. The form of language that
people use to express meanings is influenced by complex elements of specific situations.
For example, a business letter requesting payment of a debt is likely to be very different in
format and style from a letter on a similar topic written to an old friend (Bloor, 1995).
Halliday’s grammar is both semantic and functional. The former which is concerned with
meaning or language in context is represented by four strata: Context – Semantics –

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Lexicogrammar – Phonology; while the latter concerning with function or language in use
is represented by three metafunctions: experiential – textual – interpersonal.
2.2.1. Strata of the systemic functional model
The following strata are set up in Systemic Functional Linguistics:

Fig. 1-2 Four strata of SF Model (Teich, 1999: 13)
Phonology refers to the sound system of a language; Lexico-grammar refers to the words
and the structure of words; and Semantics refers to the systems of meaning in a language.
There is a general principle that the categories of a lower stratum realize the categories of a
higher stratum (Halliday and Matthiessen, 1997). In this sense, the relation between strata
is natural.
2.2.2. Metafunctions
The SFL model of language recognizes three social functions:
(i) The interpersonal function to enact relationships

(ii) The ideational function to represent experience
(iii) The textual function to organize text
(Martin & Rose, 2003: 6)
These three functions are interwoven with each other so that we can achieve all three social
functions simultaneously. They are also of equal status; none is more important than any
other. In detail:
(i) Ideational function: is concerned with “the speaker’s experience of the real world”
(Halliday, 1970: 143). Ideational function reflects the field parameter of register. Within
the ideational, there is a subdivision into experiential and logical. The experiential refers to
“propositional content encoded as processes, events, participants, and the accompanying
circumstances, etc” (Teich, 1999: 15). In other words, experiential function is realized by
TRANSITIVITY system. These issues of transitivity which are the focus of my study will
be discussed further in one section below. The logical refers to “some general organizing
relations expressed”, for instance, paratactic versus hypotactic organization. The following
example is an illustration for the experiential and logical analysis of a clause:

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The bird
looked at
him
when
he
spoke
experiential
Sensor
Pro: Mental
Phenomenon

Sayer
Pro: verbal
logical
α (primary clause)
β (secondary clause)

(ii) Interpersonal function: is reflected by the parameter of tenor and “serves to establish
and maintain social relations” (Halliday, 1970: 143). This means that language is used to
enable us to participate in communicative acts with other people, to take on roles and to
express and understand feelings, attitude and judgments (Bloor, 1995: 9). One of its major
grammatical systems is MOOD – the grammaticalization of speech function (Halliday &
Matthiessen, 1997: 13). Mood expresses the choice of roles that the speaker may adopt for
himself and assign to his hearer in the speech situation. From this perspective, a clause
consists of two components: Mood and Residue. The Mood which is made up of the
Subject (a nominal group) and Finite (part of a verbal group) carries “the burden of the
clause as an interactive event” (Halliday, 1994: 72). The Residue accommodates the
remainder of the clause, namely predicator, complement and adjunct. Below is an analysis
of a clause in terms of interpersonal function:
Sister Sue
is
sewing
shirts
for soldiers
Subject
Finite
Predicator
Complement
Adjunct
MOOD
RESIDUE

(iii) Textual function: “enables the speaker or writer to construct texts” (Halliday, 1970:
143). It is related to establishing coherence and cohesion in texts. It is realized by the
system of THEME. Theme is the starting point of the utterance or “point of departure” and
the rest of the clause is referred to as Rheme. The Theme position lets the reader or listener
know what the clause is going to be about. Theme may be a nominal group, a prepositional
phrase, an adverbial group or even a clause. It can be unmarked (the one that conflates with
the subject in the sentence) or marked (the one that can be a constituent functioning as
complement, adjunct, predicate). We need to distinguish topical, textual and interpersonal
theme which relates to three metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal and textual. It can be
said that topical theme always represents what the clause is about (Bloor, 1995: 77). To
put it another way, the topical theme is always realized by one of the following elements:
Subject, Predicator, Complement or Circumstantial Adjunct. In a conversation, when
people use expressions like oh, well, etc, to be about to continue an idea or refute an
argument, it is indicated that textual theme is being used. Moreover, when speakers address
listeners directly by using a name or a term, they can be said to be using an interpersonal
theme. Here is an example showing the analysis of textual function:

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Well,
children,
the story
is about to continue
Textual Theme
Interpersonal Theme
Topical Theme
Rheme
In brief, all three metafunctions are systemically and structurally simultaneous in general.
Bloor (1995) explained that this is because the ideational function is realized by certain
aspects of the grammar, the interpersonal function is also realized by other aspects and yet

others realize the textual function. In particular, Mood (interpersonal), Transitivity
(ideational) and Theme (textual) operate simultaneously as three simultaneous layers
within the structure of the clause (see Figure 1-3). Also, the relationship of these three
metafunctions is called “metafunctional resonance” by Halliday (1994) (see also Hoang
Van Van, 2002).
Metafunction
System
In the
open
glade
the wild
rabbits
danced
with their
shadow
Textual
THEME
Theme
Rheme

Interpersonal

MOOD
Adjunct
Subject
Fini.
Pred.
Adjunct

Mood

Residue
Ideational
TRANSITIVITY
Location
Actor
Pro:
Material
Accompaniment
Fig. 1-3 The simultaneous metafunctions in the structure of the clause
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 1997: 15)
In the following section, the clauses with experiential meaning and its realization in the
transitivity system will be carefully discussed.
2.3. Transitivity system: processes, participants and circumstances
2.3.1. Three components of the process
Bloor (1995: 107) said that “language is a means of representing worlds, perceived or
imagined”. There is also an indisputable fact language enables people to represent their
experience of persons, objects, qualities, relations, etc of the external and internal world
through categories such as goings-on (verbs), involving things (nouns) and the associated
conditions like time, place, manner (adverbs). It is pointed out by Halliday (1994: 107) that
a process is composed of three components which provide the framework of reference for
interpreting our experience of what goes on; those are:
(i) the process itself;
(ii) participants in the process;
(iii) circumstances associated with the process.
The interpretation of a process can be noted as in the table below.
Types of elements
Typically realized by

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(i) process
(ii) participant
(iii) circumstance
verbal group
nominal group
adverbial group or prepositional phrase
Fig. 1-4 Typical functions of group and phrase classes (Halliday, 1994: 109)
The table indicates that the interpretation of processes lies behind the grammatical word
classes. The process is realized by the verbal group in the clause and is the central
component of the message from the experiential perspective. Every clause normally
includes at least one participant, which is typically expressed by a nominal group. One
participant is usually Subject and others will be Complements. Nevertheless, in some
cases, participants are absent in the clause as in an imperative. Circumstances which
incorporate adjuncts or adverbials are normally realized by adverbial groups or
prepositional phrases. Because they reflect the background of the clause, they can be
optional or obligatory in specific situations. An example is given in figure 1-5:
The lion
chased
the tourist
lazily
through the bush
participant
process
participant
circumstance
circumstance
nominal group
verbal group
nominal group

adverbial group
prepositional phrase
Fig. 1-5 Clause as process, participants and circumstances (Halliday, 1994: 109)
In reality, the concepts of process, participants and circumstances are too general to
explain the grammar of the clause. Consequently, we need to use more specific terms
which all derive from these three general categories, for various types of process being
represented. Different types of process will be explored in the following sections.
2.3.2. Types of process
In English, there are three main types of process including material, mental and relational.
Three other less important types are behavioral process (on the border line between
material and mental process), verbal process (on the border line between mental and
relational process) and then existential process (on the border line between relational and
material process). Process types (except for Material process will be discussed in chapter
III) are summarized in the figure below and will be clarified one by one after that.


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Fig. 1-6 The grammar of experience: types of process in English (Halliday, 1994: 108)
2.3.2.1. Mental process
Mental process is a process of cognition, perception and affection. It always involves one
participant who is human who can senses, thinks, or perceives. Mental processes tend to be
realized through the use of verbs like think, know, feel, smell, hear, see, want, like, hate,
please, repel, admire, enjoy, fear, frighten. In this type of process, the Subject is labeled
SENSOR (who experiences the process) and the Complement is labeled PHENOMENON
(what is experienced). But this is not always the case especially in passive counterparts of
some clauses.
Paul
didn’t see
me

Sensor
Process: Mental
Phenomenon
I
wasn’t seen
by Paul
Phenomenon
Process: Mental
Sensor
We should be aware that the Sensor must be a human or at least animate creature (except
in metaphorical uses) since only animate beings (human and animals) can think or feel.
Phenomenon may be animate or inanimate.
Especially, there are numerous examples of a full clause as Phenomenon, usually involving
the verb “see” or “know”.
He
could not see
that the fish was circling
Sensor
Process: Mental
Phenomenon
2.3.2.2. Relational process
These are the processes of being. They are typically realized by the verb “be” or some
copular verbs; for instance, seem, become, appear or other verbs such as have, own,
possess. Relational process is sub-classified into 2 categories: attribute and identifying
process.
When the relational process is in the attribute mode, it has an ATTRIBUTE and a
CARRIER of the attribution, the process is locally focused on the verb “be” or some
copular verbs as in the example below:
He
felt

faint
Carrier
Process: Relational
Attribute
He
was
that big
Carrier
Process: Relational
Attribute
In identifying mode, the participant roles are respectively IDENTIFIER and
IDENTIFYING (one identifies the other):
Carpenter
is
his profession

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Identified
Process: Relational
Identifier
What makes attribute mode different from identifying mode is that Attribute cannot switch
role with Carrier whereas Identifier can do with Identifying.
2.3.2.3. Verbal process
Speaking is not only a kind of action but also a verbalization of thoughts. That is to say, it
shares the features of both material and mental process. So a new category of process has
been made up, namely Verbal process. The potential participant roles are: SAYER (doer of
the process), RECEIRVER (addressee of the speech), TARGET (the object of the talk),
and VERBIAGE (what is said in form of a nominal group or an embedded clause). The
roles of receiver, target and verbiage can be omitted in some circumstances. The primary

clause containing the verbal process is the projecting clause and the secondary clause is a
projected clause.
The company’s letter
says
kind things
to my aunt
Sayer
Process: Verbal
Verbiage
Receiver

John
said,
“I’m hungry”
Sayer
Process: Verbal
Projected clause
2.3.2.4. Behavioral process
Behavioral process construes philosophical or psychological behavior like breathing,
coughing, smiling, dreaming and staring. This is a grey area between material and mental
process. In this type of process, only one participant is normally required which is given
the title of BEHAVER. Sometimes, there is another participant known as BEHAVIOR.
The following example can be a candidate for this process:

Betty
cried
bitter tears
Behaver
Process: Behavioral
Behavior

2.3.2.5. Existential process
This process represents that something exists or happens. Like behavioral process, it has
only one participant, the EXISTENT. This type of process has two main forms of
grammatical realization:
(i) With a copular verb and an empty there as Subject.
There
were
ten of us
in the party

Process: Existential
Existent
Circumstance

(ii) With a copular verb, the Existent as Subject and usually a Circumstantial Adjunct

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Ten of us
were
in the party
Existent
Process: Existential
Circumstance
2.3.3. Circumstances
In this section, the third component of the clause as representation will be touched on,
Circumstance. Circumstance, as the name suggests, is concerned with such matters as
settings, temporal, physical, manner in which the process is implemented, and the people
or other entities accompanying the process. All of these things are realized by adverbial
groups or prepositional phrases. According to Halliday (1994: 151), there are 9 main types

of circumstantial elements:

TYPE
SPECIFIC CATEGORIES (SUBTYPES)
1.
Extent
distance, duration
2.
Location
place, time
3.
Manner
means, quality, comparison
4.
Cause
reason, purpose, behalf
5.
Contingency
condition, concession, default
6.
Accompaniment
comitation, addition
7.
Role
guise, product
8.
Matter

9.
Angle

SUMMARY
In conclusion, Hallidayan grammar is the grammar for analysis so I have spent the whole
of this chapter discussing theoretical background in which material process is identified.
First, language can be described basing on three lines of meaning: ideational, interpersonal
and textual. The chapter also goes through the transitivity system with its three general
components in all 6 types of processes: process, participant and circumstance. Among the
3 major and 3 minor processes, material process is one of the processes with high
frequency of occurrence in English and Vietnamese. Before carrying out a survey of
material process in my chosen texts, the next chapter will give an insight into the
theoretical framework of material process in English and Vietnamese.










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CHAPTER III
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF MATERIAL PROCESS IN ENGLISH AND
VIETNAMESE
This chapter aims at re-examining configurations of material process in English and
Vietnamese based on Halliday’s (1994) and Hoàng Văn Vân’s (2002) theory.
3.1. The framework of the material process in English
3.1.1. The process
Material processes, according to Halliday (1994), involve outer experience. They express
the notion that someone does something and can be probed by asking “What did X do?” In
the example “The lion sprang”, we can ask in this way: “What did the lion do?” In the
witnesses’ point of view, the process is not one of “doing” but one of “happening”, so we
can also probe like this “What happened?” All in all, material processes construe doings
and happenings – including actions, activities, and events.

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In Thomas and Meriel’s (1995) view, material process involves “doing words”. This
means that material process is typically realized by the grammatical category of verbal
group and these verbs often refer to concrete or physical actions.
As Halliday and Matthiessen (1997: 17) claimed, a material process is characterized by
particular structural configurations, such as
(i) Actor + Process
(ii) Actor + Process + Goal
(iii) Actor + Process + Range
(iv) Actor + Process + Recipient + Goal
(v) Actor + Process + Goal + Recipient
(vi) Actor + Process + Beneficiary + Goal
(vii) Actor + Process + Goal + Beneficiary
For instance:
(i) [Actor:] The policeman [Process:] ran.
(ii) [Actor:] The policeman [Process:] hunted [Goal:] the demonstrator.
(iii) [Actor:] He [Process:] climbed [Range:] the mountain.
(iv) [Actor:] The judge [Process:] gave [Recipient:] the demonstrator [Goal:] a legal
document.
(v) [Actor:] I [Process:] gave [Goal:] a ring [Recipient:] to her.
(vi) [Actor:] He [Process:] painted [Beneficiary:] John [Goal:] a picture.
(vii) [Actor:] He [Process:] painted [Goal:] a picture [Beneficiary:] for him.
3.1.2. Participants in Material processes
3.1.2.1. Actor and Goal
Actor and Goal are the two most frequent participants in material processes. They are also
called direct participants. The Actor is the performer of the action; for example, Jerry
explicitly performs the action described by the Process returned. We therefore label Jerry
as Actor as in:
Half an hour later
Jerry

returned
Circumstance
Actor
Process: Material
The Actor may be elliptical in the case of passive clauses:
He
was hit
on his head
Goal
Process: Material
Circumstance
Or many clauses with the same Subject:
Jerry
opened
the door
and

took
the money
Actor
Pro: Mat.
Goal

Actor [Jerry]
Pro: Mat.
Goal

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The Goal is what undergoes the action. In traditional grammar, it often plays the role of

Direct Object. There can only one Goal per clause.
Something
hit
the door
Actor
Process: Material
Goal

3.1.2.2. Recipient and Beneficiary
The third participant (in the Indirect Object position) is the one who receives the Goal.
This participant is called the Recipient.
I
will give
you
your paper
Actor
Process: Material
Recipient
Goal

When we rephrase the Recipient as a Prepositional Object, the preposition “to” must be
used “I will give your paper to you”.
If the participant is not someone who receives the Goal; rather, it is someone for whose
benefit the action is carried out. The term Beneficiary is used to describe this participant.
I
will find
you
some paper
Actor
Process: Material

Beneficiary
Goal

Unlike Recipient, the preposition “for” must be used when we want to rephrase the
Beneficiary as a Prepositional Object: “I’ll find some paper for you”.
3.1.2.3. Range (versus Goal)
The Range is the element that specifies the range or scope of the process. The range either
expresses the domain over which the process takes place or expresses the process itself.
Ranges are similar to Goals in that they are mapped onto the Direct Object in active
clauses and the Subject in passive clauses, for example:

and


and

If the participant is a Range, the probing question “What did X do to Y?” cannot be used
whereas a Goal can. Obviously, it does not seem to quite right to say “What did Jim do to
a bath?” The argument is that a bath is not so much the recipient of the action, hence we
label it Range. Meanwhile, the probing question “What did Jim do to the money?” is
Jim
took
a bath
Actor
Pro: Material
Range
Jim
took
the money
Actor

Pro: Material
Goal
A bath
was taken
by Jim
Range
Pro: Material
Actor
The money
was taken
by Jim
Goal
Pro: Material
Actor

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acceptable when the money is labeled Goal. In a nutshell, Goals are considered to be
highly affected material participants while Ranges are non-affected material participants.
3.1.3. Circumstances in Material processes
According to Matthiessen (1989: 208), circumstance is understood as the resource for
expanding the process; phenomena are represented as attendant on (rather than involved
with) the process. Circumstances are typically realized by adverbial groups, prepositional
phrases, or even nominal groups. They are less closely associated with the process and are
not usually inherent in it.
According to Hoang Van Van (2002: 142), some kinds of circumstance are used more
frequently than others in certain type of process. He also explained that circumstances of
location are more typical of material processes than other types. Within the scope of my
thesis, only the kinds of circumstances frequently occurring in material process type are
mentioned as follows (with circumstantial elements relevant to questions to which the

circumstances provide answers).





Circumstance
Types
Typical probe
Example
Realization
Circumstance
Subcategory
Subcategory
Probe
Location
at what point?
in September;
recently
in the yard; from
Paris
temporal

spatial
when?

where?
Manner
how?
with a hammer;

by trickery
quickly
as fast as
possible; like a
top
means

quality
comparison
by what means?

how?
what like?
Table 1: Types of circumstance in material processes
(Extracted from Martin, Matthiessen & Painter, 1997)

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3.1.4. Material Processes and Tense
In general, English processes are often located by absolute tense and relative tense.
Absolute tense essentially locates a process in time relative to the here and now. Relative
tense further locates the process relative to the absolute tense. (Lock, 1996)
In particular, English Material processes is distinguished with other types by checking the
unmarked tense selection used. When referring to action processes going on now, at the
moment of speaking or writing, the normal tense choice is present continuous (present-in-
present) rather than the simple present, as in “The cat’s waving its tail” rather than “The
cat waves its tail”.
Verbs in any narratives are usually action process verbs. In the simplest kind of narrative,
simple past may be the only tense form used. In more sophisticated narratives, the other
past tenses are typically used to flesh out the narrative with processes tangential to the

main narrative, the relative tense locating them before or simultaneous to a point in the
story line. Thus the past perfect (past-in-past) and the past continuous (present-in-past) are
also used. For example, in “He had put to sea”, the absolute tense is past and the relative
tense is also past. This represents past in the past. In other words, the process is located at a
time before a time in the past.
3.1.5. Material processes and Voice
In a transitivity pattern, if there is Actor only, the verb is intransitive and active in voice. If
both there are two participants – Actor and Goal, the verb is transitive and may be either
active or passive. In this case, the item which is Complement in the active is Subject in the
corresponding passive, but the items retain the same roles of Actor or Goal regardless of
voice:
Active:
Jerry
opened
the door
Subject
Finite
Predicate
Complement
Actor
Process: Material
Goal

Passive:



In some cases we have 3 participants: Actor, Beneficiary and Goal. Beneficiary is usually
the Indirect Object complement, but in passive it is often the subject:
Active:

The door
was opened
by Jerry
Subject
Finite
Predicate
Adjunct
Goal
Process: Material
Actor

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He
Gave
her
a cake
Subject
Finite
Predicate
Complement (Oi)
Complement (Od)
Actor
Process: Material
Beneficiary
Goal

Passive:
She
was given

a cake
by him
Subject
Finite
Predicate
Complement
Adjunct
Beneficiary
Process: Material
Goal
Actor

3.2. The framework of the material process in Vietnamese
Theoretical framework of material process in Vietnamese has been developed further from
Halliday’s theory and in very fine detail by Hoàng Văn Vân in 2000. On the one hand, he
has acquired Halliday’s basic notions such as its definition and its various configurations.
He established a definition of the material process that “A material process is one that
typically represents some kind of physical actions or happening in the external world”.
Added to this, it is typically realized by the structure Actor + Process: material+ (Goal).
Detailed configurations of the material process are the same as those in English which have
been mentioned in Section 3.1.1. On the other hand, he has suggested some criteria for
identifying Vietnamese material processes.
3.2.1. Identifying Material processes
Material process in Vietnamese may be distinguished by the following recognition criteria:
3.2.1.1. Number and nature of participants
Like English, material process in Vietnamese may involve one participant – Actor or two
participants – Actor and Goal as in:
Hắn
đến

Hắn
đánh
Tuyết
He
Came

He
beat
Tuyet
Actor
Pro: Mat.

Actor
Pro: Mat.
Goal

Actor is the entity that does the deed; it is typically realized as a nominal; and the nominal
can either be animate or inanimate. Goal is the entity to which the process is extended. It
can be realized either as an animate nominal or as an inanimate nominal.
Another participant is called Range. Look at this example:
Hắn
chơi
cờ
He
played
chess
Actor
Pro: Mat.
Range

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Here, cờ/ chess is not an autonomous entity and cannot exist independently of the process
chơi/ played. There is no such thing as “cờ” other than the act of playing it. Range is a
distinct function from that of Goal. Unlike Goal, Range is typically realized by an
inanimate nominal. We often come across leo núi/ climbed the mountain, chơi ghi ta/ play
guitar etc., but not chơi người/ play a person, nhảy bạn/ dance a friend etc. Moreover,
Range has the characteristics of both a participant which is realized by a nominal group
(đàn ghi ta/ guitar) and a circumstance which is realized by the preposition + nominal
complex (qua hàng rào/ over the fence). Last but not least, the conflation of Range with
Subject in Vietnamese is much rarer than that of Goal.
One more participant is Beneficiary which can be broadly defined as “the one for whom or
to whom the process is said to take place”. Like Range, Beneficiary may be realized either
as a participant or as a circumstance as in the following examples:
Giáp
gửi
mẹ
một món quà
Giap
send
mother
one present
Actor
Pro: Mat.
Beneficiary (participant)
Goal


Tôi

tưới
nước
cho cây
I
pour
water
for tree
Actor
Pro: Mat.
Goal
Beneficiary (circumstance)

The participant can also play the function of Recipient in material processes. Recipient is
“one that goods are given to”. It can occur naturally without the preposition cho/ to:
Tôi
đưa
(cho) bà cụ
bức thư
I
gave
(to) the old lady
a letter
Actor
Pro: Mat.
Recipient
Goal

3.2.1.2. Strong collocation of the process with Co-verb of Direction
This concerns the strong collocational tie between verbs of action and directional proverbs
such as đi (off, away), lại (back), lên (up), xuống (down) etc. In Vietnamese, this tie is so

strong that it can be regarded as a criterion for identifying material processes and
distinguishing them from other process types. For example:
Lúc
Mâm
cơm
bưng
lên
Moment
Tray
rice
bring
up

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Circumstance
Goal
Pro: Material
3.2.1.3. The Probe
The third recognition criterion for material processes has to do with the ways they can be
probed. From the perspective of doing, a material process can be probed by asking X đã
làm gì Y? (What did X do to Y?), and from the perspective of happening, it can be probed
by asking Y làm sao thế? or Cái gì xảy ra với Y thế? (What happened to Y?). Thus, a
material process such as Hắn đánh Tuyết (He beat Tuyet) can be probed by asking either
Hắn đã làm gì Tuyết? (What did he do to Tuyet?) or Cái gì xảy ra với Tuyết thế? (What
happened to Tuyet?). However, neither the “do to” nor the “happen to” questions seems to
be an appropriate for the clause without Goal like Hắn đến (He came). For such a material
clause, an appropriate probe would be a simple “do” question.
3.2.2. Material Processes and Voice
As mentioned in Section 3.2.1.1, a material process may involve one participant, Actor, or

two participants, Actor and Goal. The traditional grammar claims that an intransitive
clause has one participant, Actor, and a transitive clause has two, Actor and Goal. Thus,
the transitive clause has two possible patterns: active and passive. When the clause is
passive, the passive particle “được” precedes the Actor and the obligatory participant is
Goal, not Actor.
Active: Passive:
Cường
mở
cửa

Cửa
được
Cường
mở
Cuong
open
Door

door
passive
particle
Cuong
open
Actor
Pro: Mat.
Goal

Goal

Actor

Pro:
Mat.
SUMMARY
In short, I have provided an investigation into material process in English and Vietnamese
with the emphasis on its structure. The framework of material process in English which is
based on Halliday’s functional grammar (1994) will be taken as control parameter to
compare with that in Vietnamese which is described by Hoang Van Van (2002).









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CHAPTER IV
MATERIAL PROCESS IN THE ORIGINAL AND VIETNAMESE TRANSLATED
EXTRACT FROM “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA” BY HEMINGWAY: A

FUNCTIONAL COMPARISON
4.1. The author Hemingway and the novella “The old man and the sea”
4.1.1. Hemingway and his individual style
Earnest Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. His father is a doctor and his mother
is an opera singer. When small, he showed an aptitude for music; however, his love for nature as
well as his activeness made him become close to journeys for fishing and hunting. He started his
career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen. Before becoming
a serious writer, he had been a soldier who joined a volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army
in the First World War. He was wounded in his leg when coming back to the United States.
Then, “A Farewell to Arms” (1929) was written basing on the experience of an American
ambulance officer's disillusionment in the war and his role as a deserter.
Also, Hemingway used his experiences as a reporter during the civil war in Spain as the
background for his most ambitious novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (1940).
Among his later works, the most outstanding is the short novel, “The Old Man and the
Sea” (1952), the story of an old fisherman's journey, his long and lonely struggle with a
fish and the sea, and his victory in defeat.
He died at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, on July 2, 1961, of a self-inflicted gunshot
wound.
Hemingway is a representative of a “Lost Generation” who finds themselves victims of
the First World War and suffers from the destruction of dignity together with the feeling of
moral and intellectual emptiness. Therefore, it is strongly believed that Hemingway's style
was fundamentally shaped in reaction to his experience of world war.