TRANSITIVITY AND ITS REALIZATION IN THE SHORT STORY “THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE” BY OSCAR WILDE FROM SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR PERSPECTIVE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES



NGUYỄN QUỲNH TRANG



TRANSITIVITY AND ITS REALIZATION IN THE SHORT
STORY “THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE” BY OSCAR
WILDE FROM SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
PERSPECTIVE
(Chuyển tác và sự thể hiện của nó trong truyện ngắn “The
Nightingale and the Rose” của Oscar Wilde dưới góc độ ngữ pháp
chức năng hệ thống)


M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS


Field: English linguistics
Code: 60220201




Hanoi – 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES


NGUYỄN QUỲNH TRANG


TRANSITIVITY AND ITS REALIZATION IN THE SHORT
STORY “THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE” BY OSCAR
WILDE FROM SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
PERSPECTIVE

(Chuyển tác và sự thể hiện của nó trong truyện ngắn “The
Nightingale and the Rose” của Oscar Wilde dưới góc độ ngữ pháp
chức năng hệ thống)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS


Field: English linguistics
Code: 60220201
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân




Hanoi – 2014

i

DECLARATION

A thesis submitted for the partial fulfillment of degree of Master of Art in English
Linguistics
Vietnam National University, Hanoi
University of Language and International Studies
Faculty of Postgraduate Studies
I declare that this thesis hereby is the presentation of my original work.
Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate this
clearly, with due reference to the literature, and acknowledgement of collaborative
research and discussions.
The work was done under the guidance of Professor Hoang Van Van, at the
University of Language and International Studies, Hanoi.
Hanoi, September 2014



Nguyễn Quỳnh Trang









ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study has, in many senses, been accomplished with the help and
encouragement of many people. Therefore, I hereby would like to express my
appreciation to all of them.
First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor,
Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van, for his invaluable inspiration, assistance and guidance
during the time I tried to complete this thesis.
My sincere thanks go to all my teachers at University of Languages and
International Studies (ULIS) for their enthusiastic lectures during this M.A program.
I also thank Assoc. Dr. Le Hung Tien and the staff members of the Faculty of
Postgraduate Studies for their enthusiastic support.
Last but not least, I also owe my family, my friends and my classmates for their
whole-hearted support and encouragement in bringing this study to a success.













iii

ABSTRACT

This study offers an analysis of the transitivity system used in the short story
“The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde using Halliday's systemic functional
grammar as the theoretical framework. The main goals are to explore systemic
functional grammar concepts and to use them as the framework for the analysis and
discussion of the story. It also conducts an analysis of how Oscar Wilde uses the
different types of process and the attending circumstances in his story. The emerging
patterns will be summarized to reveal the experiential meanings of the short story;
some educational implications will be made and some suggestions will be offered for
further studies.
















iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration………………………………………………………………………….….i
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………ii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… iii
Table of contents…………………………………………………………………… iv
List of tables………………………………………………………………………… vi
Abbreviations……………………………………… ………………………….……vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………….…………1
1. Rational of the study … 1
2. Aim and objectives of the study ………………………………………………… 3
3. Scope of the study … 3
4. Methods of the study……………………………………………………………… 3
5. Design of the study………………………………………………………………… 4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………………….….5
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND………………………………….5
1.1. An overview of systemic functional grammar ………………………………… 5
1.2. The theory on transitivity……………………………………………….………….7
1.3. The transitivity system……………………………………………………….…….8
1.3.1. Material process……….………………………………………….………9
1.3.2. Mental process…………….……………………………………….….….9
1.3.3. Relational process………….……………………………………… … 10
1.3.4. Behavioral process………………………….………… ………………11
v

1.3.5. Verbal process……………………………….……………… ……… 12
1.3.6. Existential process……………………………………………………….12
1.3.7. Other participant functions…………… …………………….…………12
1.3.8. Circumstances……….………………………………………………… 13
1.4. Summary………………………………………………………………………….14
CHAPTER 2: TRANSITIVITY AND ITS REALIZATION IN THE SHORT
STORY “THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE”…….……………………… 15

2.1. The context of the chosen text……………………………….………………… 15
2.2. The analysis of the story into clauses ………………………………………… 16
2.3. The transitivity analysis of the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose”… 17
2.3.1. The transitivity pattern of the text…………………………………… 17
2.3.2. Circumstances used in the text………………………………………… 20
2.4. Summary………………………………………………………………………….22
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION …………………… ……… … 23
3.1. Findings………………………………………………………………………… 23
3.2. Discussion……………………………………………………………………… 25
3.2.1. The first part of the story……………………………….………………25
3.2.2. The second part of the story……………………………………………29
3.2.3. The third part of the story………………………………………………32
3.2.4. The fourth part of the story……….…………………………………….34
3.3. Summary…………………………………….……………………………………35
PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………36
vi

1. Summary……………………………………………………………………………36
2. Limitations of the study…………………………………………………………….37
3. Implications…………………………………………………………………………37
4. Suggestions for further studies……………………………………… ……………38
REFERENCES…… ……………………………………………………………… 39
APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………… I
Appendix 1: The clause analysis of the text………….……………………………….I
Appendix 2: The analysis of the text in terms of transitivity……………………… IX

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Process types in English…………………………………………………….9
Table 2: Types of circumstance elements…………………………… …………….14
Table 3: Frequency of process types in the story………………… ……………….24




ABBRIVIATIONS

Circ: Circumstance
Pheno: Phenomenon
SFG: Systemic functional grammar
Accom: Accompaniment

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Of all possible human qualities, the one that wields the most power is the ability
to use, understand and communicate effectively through language. A proficient use of
language allows us to communicate an exact idea from one person to another person or
group of people. We can use language to let others know how we feel, what we need,
and even ask questions. Clearly, language cannot be separated from human life. Being
aware of the importance of language, many well-known linguists have studied the way
the language is structured. We usually call this grammar.
There are many ways of describing the grammar of language. If pre-twentieth
centuries approach represents traditional grammar, most twentieth-century approaches
are varieties of formal grammar and functional grammar. The main thing that
traditional grammar set out to teach was the parts of speech, or word classes: noun,
verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and so on (Cope, 1993). However,
according to Christie (1981), it will be a “jail” when teaching traditional grammar for
the students, because the teachers will be bound to teaching language structure without
any reference to the learning context (cited in Cope, 1993).
Like traditional grammar, formal grammar specifies all the possible
grammatical structures of a language. It viewed grammar as set of rules and focused on

forms of grammatical structures and their relationships to one another. Through this
period of teaching both types of grammar, some linguists were thinking to generate one
more developed grammar which is systemic functional grammar (Halliday et al, cited
in Cope, 1993). Many approaches to linguistics focus entirely on the purely structural
characteristics of language, and ignore the possible functions of language. Thus,
functional grammar appeared as a means for seeking and solving problems such as
using words “in context” (Halliday, 2004). Functional grammar offers us an analytical
2

tool of looking at the whole text and grammatical features, which are typical
characteristic of that kind of text.
When attending the English class about functional grammar, I was immediately
attracted by the question that Michael Halliday raised in his mind: “Have you ever
wondered why language is structured in that way but not other ways?” His answer to
this question is very simple: because it reflects the functions which language is
required to serve as a means of social communication. Besides, being a teacher of
English, I am trying to find the best way for my student to approach English. After
learning functional grammar, I find that describing language in terms of functional
grammar enables teachers to introduce students explicitly and systematically to the
choices available for making meanings about human experience in an English clause.
This will be a very useful way to look at English grammar as a live system in English
language and to study and apply English grammar more appropriately. With these
above reasons, I decide to carry out a study on one aspect of functional grammar – the
experiential meaning which is expressed through the system of transitivity. The data
supporting for analysis is the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose” written by
Oscar Wilde. Although this is a fairy tale with very simple plot, it contains valuable
lesson about love. Moreover, I really like the way this story was told. It was a bit
fanciful in that the animals and trees could speak to one another about true love,
sacrifice, and death. It is a story that could easily be memorized and retold orally. This
will provide an easy understanding for the readers to approach the transitivity system

of functional grammar.
As shown by the title, “Transitivity and its realization in the short story “The
Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde”, I hope that this thesis will be of some
helps for my student to approach English in particular, and is a reference for anyone
who wants to make researches using functional grammar as the theoretical framework.

3

2. Aim and objectives of the study
This study aims to explore the experimental meanings of the short story “The
Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde, using systemic functional grammar as the
theoretical framework. To achieve this aim, some of the following objectives are set for
exploring:
- Exploring systemic functional grammar concepts to establish the framework for
the transitivity analysis.
- Analyzing the transitivity of the story to see how Oscar Wilde uses the different
types of process and the attending circumstances to reveal the experiential
meanings in the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose”.
3. Scope of the Study
This study does not attempt to cover all aspects of functional grammar but limits
itself to one aspect: transitivity and its realization in the short story “The Nightingale
and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde.
4. Methods of the Study
The study is carried out as an attempt to understand more about the nature of
transitivity and its realization in the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose”. To
complete the study, the descriptive and analytical methods will be used as the principal
methods. The descriptive method is concerned with the description of concepts related
to systemic functional linguistics as well as transitivity system. The analytical method
is used to analyze the text. In some cases, some statistics are made to qualify the
frequency of use of the processes used in the story. The procedures and conventions

used in the thesis are based on Halliday‟s (1994) An Introduction to Functional
Grammar.


4

5. Design of the study
The study consists of three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion.
Part A, the Introduction, deals with the rationale, aim and objectives, scope and
methods of the study, and design of the study.
Part B, the Development, which is the main part of the thesis, includes three
chapters. Chapter 1 provides the theoretical background of the study including an
overview of systemic functional linguistics, its metafunctions and the transitivity
system to establish the framework for analysis and discussion in Chapter 2. Chapter 2
analyzes the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose” in terms of the transitivity.
Chapter 3 summarizes the types of process and the types of circumstance used in the
story, and discusses the significance of their uses.
Part C, the Conclusion, offers a summary of what has been studied, points out
the limitations of the study, presents educational implications and gives some
suggestions for further studies.

5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter will provide the theoretical background of the research. I will begin
with an overview of systemic functional grammar. Then, I will present six types of
process in the transitivity system and their incumbent circumstances.
1.1. An overview of systemic functional grammar
Systemic functional grammar developed by Michael Halliday and his colleagues
has had a great impact on the approach to language . It is different from other models
of grammar in that it interprets language as interrelated sets of options for making
meaning and seeks to provide a clear relationship between functions and grammatical
systems (Halliday, 1994).
Functional linguists analyze a text, whether spoken or written, from a functional
point of view. A text is “a harmonious collection of meaning appropriate to its context”
(Butt, et al., 2000). A text cannot be fully understood without any reference to the
context in which it occurs. And context can be observed from two perspectives: the
context of culture and the context of situation. If the context of culture refers to the
broad sociocultural environment such as ideology, social conventions and institutions,
the context of situation relates to the specific situations within the sociocultural
environment (Droga & Humphrey, 2002). Montgomery (2006: 105) said that
“language is sensitive to its context of situation”, and with respect to this, all the
situational differences between texts can be explained by three aspects of the context
that Halliday & Hasan (1989) developed. They are called field, tenor, and mode.
The field is the social action in which the grammar is embedded, what is going
on, what is being talked about in a particular setting of space and time. It also includes
what the interaction is about (the subject matter) and what the participants know about
it (shared knowledge). Tenor is the term denoting the relationship between the

6

participants, which is visualized as a continuum of formality (from most casual to most
formal). Mode is concerned with what part the language is playing in the interaction. It
also refers to the channel of communication (spoken or written) (Eggins, 1994). For
example: a recipe in a cook book.
- Field: cooking (ingredients and process of preparing food)
- Tenor: expert writer to a learner, learner is beneficiary of the advice
- Mode: written, prepared. Text often read as part of process of cooking.
These three aspects reflect the three main functions, or metafunctions, of
language. Halliday (1994) describes the three metafunctions based on language choices
which are obviously affected by the register variables because they reflect three main
functions of language. The first metafuncion is ideational function; it uses language to
represent experience. It is realized in field through the transitivity patterns of the
grammar. In this function, language gives structures to experience, and helps to
determine our ways of looking at things and combining things in a logical way (Hoang
Van Van, 2006: 28). Secondly, the interpersonal function uses language to encode
interaction and to create interpersonal relationships. This is realized within tenor
through the pattern of grammar used. According to Halliday, the interpersonal
component represents the speaker's meaning potential as an intruder. Through
language, the speaker intrudes himself into the context of situation. Lastly, the textual
function uses language to organize information into a coherent written or spoken text
which is realized in mode through theme patterns of grammar. Accordingly, if choice
of word or grammar pattern is changed, the meaning of the language will be different
too. In the systemic functional approach to language study, the three metafunctions
exist simultaneously in the certain text (Eggins, 1994:78), more detailed, in a certain
clause. “A clause in English is the simultaneous realization of ideational, interpersonal
and textual meanings.” (Halliday,1981:42)
7

As mentioned in the title, the purpose of this study is to concentrate on the
transitivity analysis of the story “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde;
therefore we will provide an overview of the theory on transitivity to establish the
framework for the analysis of the story in Chapter 2.
1.2. Theory on Transitivity
In this part, we are looking at the clause from the point of view of its
experiential function – a way of representing patterns of experience. Language
therefore represents external reality by happenings and states, which are referred to as
Processes; entities, known as Participants, and circumstances in which the happenings
and states occur, which are referred to as Circumstances (White, 2000:4). Halliday
(1994:107) stated our most powerful impression of experience is that it consists of
“goings-on” – happening, doing, sensing, meaning, being and becoming. In the process
of presenting, the clause plays a central role to be sorted out and embodied a general
principle for modeling experience which is made up of process. The process is to show
out the entire things which we usually call “states of affairs” or “representation”. As I
have mentioned above, language has three metafunctions of which transitivity is
concerned with representating the ideational metafunction which includes the
experiential and logical metafunctions. When the experiential function of the clause is
described, the clause can be broken down into three functional constituents: participant,
process and circumstance.
- The process: Process is a powerful concept which represents the possible
worlds as consisting of goings-on: doing, happening, feeling, and being. Halliday
(1994: 106-107) states that the processes in a language like English are construed by
the transitivity system. These goings-on are expressed through the structure of the
clause. Apart from the structural meaning, the meaning of the clause also expresses the
experiential aspect, called transitivity. Process can be classified into: material,
relational, mental, verbal, behavioral, and existential processes.
8

- Participants: Can be a person, place or object and they are usually realized by

nominal group. They are all to answer the questions: Who? Which? What? To Whom?
For Whom? about the process.
- Circumstances: they are the background against which the process takes
place, usually realized through a prepositional phrase, adverbial group, or even noun
group. For example:
I
played
football
in the garden
Participant
Process: material
Participant
Circumstance
A process and participant analysis of the text will “reveal the way language
users manipulate language to represent their perceptions of reality” (Bloor & Bloor,
1995:107). The relationship between processes, participants, and their circumstances
are expressed through what Halliday terms “transitivity network”. To understanding
about the transitivity system, the next section will present six types of process in detail.
1.3. The Transitivity system
In the transitivity system, there are six types of process, namely: material,
mental, relational, behavioral, verbal, and existential. We can see the processes at
the table below:
Process type
Category meaning
Participants
Material:
action
event
“doing”
“doing”

“happening”
Actor, Goal
Mental
perception
affection
cognition
“sensing”
“seeing”
“feeling”
“thinking”
Senser, Phenomenon
9

Relational
attribution
identification
“being”
“attributing”
“identifying”
Token, Value
Carrier, Attribute
Identified, Identifier
Behavioural
“behaving”
Behaver
Verbal
“saying”
Sayer, Target
Existential
“existing”

Existent
Table 1: Process types in English (Halliday, 1985: 131)
1.3.1. Material process
According to Halliday (1985:110), material processes are those that express our
outer experiences. Material processes are processes of doing: action and event such as
running, beating. Related to the process itself, there can be one, two, or even three
participants. If there is only one entity, it is the Actor (one that performs the action),
e.g. He (Actor) was coming (Process: material); when it has two participants, they are
Actor and Goal (one that is affected by the action), e.g. The mechanic (Actor) repaired
(Process: material) my car (Goal); and when it has three participants, these roles are
referred to Actor, Goal, and Receiver (one that benefit from the process), e.g. I
(Actor) gave (Process: material) her (Receiver) a flower (Goal).
The representation of a material process can come either in active voice (e.g. He
kicked the dog) or passive voice (e.g. The dog was kicked by him).
1.3.2. Mental process
Mental processes are those that express our inner experiences. Mental clause
construes processes of perception, cognition and affection such as thinking, loving.
Mental processes involve two entities – two participants: a Senser (the conscious being
that feels, sees or thinks) and a Phenomenon (which is sensed, felt, thought or seen).
E.g. Mary (Senser) liked (Process: mental) the gift (Phenomenon).
10

Mental processes can be categorized into four principle sub-types: Perception
(seeing, hearing, noticing, feeling, tasting and smelling), affection (liking, loving,
admiring, missing, fearing, hating), cognition (thinking, knowing, realizing, believing,
doubting, remembering, forgetting), and desideration (wanting, desiring, wishing).
1.3.3. Relational process
Relational processes are those that connect our experiences. They are the
processes of being, having, and being at (Hoang Van Van, 2006:50). In relational
clauses, there are two parts of „being”: something is said to “be” something else. In

other words, a relation is being set up between two entities.
The Relational process in English operates with three main types:
+ (1) intensive: “x is a”
+ (2) circumstantial: “x is at a” (Where “is at” stands for is at, in, on, for, with,…)
+ (3) possessive: “x has a”
Relational process has two different modes – attribution and identification,
resulting in two relational clause types, with different sets of participant roles: i)
attributive clauses with Carrier and Attributive, and ii) identifying clauses with
Identified and Identifier.
In attribute mode, an entity has some quality ascribed or attributed to it.
Structurally, we label this quality the Attribute, and the entity to which it is ascribed is
the Carrier.
Judy
seemed
so nervous
before the interview
Carrier
Process: relational
Attribute
Circumstance: time
When a relational clause is in the identifying mode, two equating participants
are referred to respectively in two pairs of terms: Identified/Identifier and
Token/Value.
11

The clever one
is
Alice
Identifier/Token
Process: relational

Identified/Value
Circumstantial process expresses being in terms of circumstantial elements such
as time, place, distance, reason. The relation between the participants and its
circumstantial element is that of Carrier and Attribute. Possessive process expresses
being in terms of ownership, the relation between the two terms can be characterized as
Possessor and Possessed but for generalization and convenience of analysis, they are
still referred to Carrier and Attribute (Hoang Van Van, 2006:50).
Peter
has
a piano
Carrier: Possessor
Process: relational
Attribute: Possessed
1.3.4. Behavioral Process
Behavioral processes are those describing physiological and psychological
behavior like coughing, breathing, smiling, dreaming, and staring. They are partly like
the material and the mental processes. The participant who is behaving, labeled
Behaver, is typically a conscious being – Senser, but the process is grammatically
more like one of doing. E.g. She (Behaver) is smiling (Process: behavioral).
The distinction between behavioral process with material and mental process is
indeterminate, but we can recognize the following types as typical:
a. Process of consciousness (near mental processes) represented as forms of behavior:
watch, stare, listen, think, dream
b. Verbal processes as behavior (near verbal processes): chatter, grumble, talk
c. Physiological processes manifesting states of consciousness: cry, smile, frown, sigh
d. Other physiological processes: cough, sleep
e. Bodily postures and pastimes (near material processes): sing, dance, lie down, sit
(down/ up)
12

1.3.5. Verbal Process
Verb processes are processes of saying such as telling, insulting, praising,
promising. They are representing symbolic relationships constructed in human
consciousness and enacted in the form language. They involve four entities: Sayer,
Verbiage, Target, and Receiver. Sayer can be anything that puts out a signal, Target
is one that the verbalization is directed to, Receiver is one that benefits from the verbal
process, and Verbiage is the name of the verbalization itself.
They
complained about
Peggy
to the principal.
Sayer
Process: verbal
Target
Receiver
1.3.6. Existential Process
Existential clauses resemble relational clauses by the way that they construe a
participant involved a process of being but different from relational ones by the way
that there is only one participant, the Existent. Frequently existential clause contains a
distinct circumstantial element of time or place. In English the word “there” is needed
as Subject, but it has no experiential meaning.
Suddenly
there
appeared
a man
Circumstance

Process: existential
Existent
1.3.7. Other participant functions

The participant functions above are those that are directly involved in the
process: the one that does, behaves, senses, says, is or exists, together with the
complementary function where there is one – the one that is done to, sensed etc. There
are other participant functions in English clause, also specific to each particular process
type. That is beneficiary. It is the one to whom or for whom the process is said to take
place. It appears in material and verbal processes, and occasionally in relational.
- In a material process: The beneficiary is either Recipient or Client. The
Recipient is one that goods are given to; the Client is one that services are done for.
13

The preposition is “to” with Recipient and “for” with Client. E.g. She gave the parcel
to John; He painted a picture for John.
- In a verbal process: The Beneficiary is the one who is being addressed (the
Receiver) E.g. John told Mary a story.
- In a relational process: There are also a few relational (attributive) processes
containing a Beneficiary. We shall just refer to this a Beneficiary. E.g. She makes him
a good wife.
1.3.8. Circumstances
Circumstances essentially encode the background against which the process
takes place. Circumstances are concerned with such matters as the settings temporal
and physical, the manner in which the process is implemented. Circumstance elements,
typically realized by adverbial groups, prepositional phrases and even by nominal
groups, tend to occur freely in all types of process. Halliday (1994) proposes nine main
types of Circumstance elements, which are summarized in Table 2 below:
Type
Sub-types
Examples
Location
Temporal (when?)
Get up at six o’clock

Spatial (where?)
Work in the kitchen
Extent
Temporal (for how long?)
Stay (for) two hours
Spatial (how far?)
Walk (for) seven miles
Manner
Means/quality/comparison
(how? what with? in what
way? like what?)
The pig was beaten with a stick
It was snowing heavily
Cause
Reason (why?)
I love her because she is rich
Purpose (what for?)
She went out for lunch
Behalf (who for?)
I am writing on behalf of Aunt Jane
14

Contingency
Condition/ concession/
default (under what
conditions?)
Despite the rain, the excursion was a
great success
Accompaniment
(Who/what with?

Who/what else?)
Fred came with/ without Tom
Fred came instead of Tom
Role
Guise (what as?)
I came here as a friend
Product (what into?)
Aren’t you growing into a big girl?
Matter
(what about?)
They talked of many things
Angle
(from what point of view?)
They are guilty in the eyes of the law
Table 2: Types of circumstance elements
1.4. Summary
This chapter has provided the theoretical background of the study. This will be a
basic foundation to analyze the chosen data in the next chapter in terms of the process
types: material, behavioral, mental, relational, verbal, existential and their incumbent
circumstances: extent, location, manner, cause, contingency, accompaniment, role,
matter and angle. Now I finished chapter 1 and turn to chapter 2 where I will explore
the experiential meanings of the story “The Nightingale and the Rose” through the
transitivity analysis.

15

CHAPTER 2: TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF THE SHORT STORY
“THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE”
In this chapter, I will analyze the story “The Nightingale and the Rose” in terms
of transitivity. The analysis is based on the framework of Halliday‟s (1994) An
Introduction to Functional Grammar. Firstly, I will introduce the context of the chosen
text in order to have a general understanding about the story. Then, the story will be
analyzed into clauses, which are the basic units for analyzing in functional grammar.
From the clause analysis of the story, I will present a detailed analysis of the clauses
and their components as shown in Appendix 2. Finally, based on the analysis of the
clauses, I will find out the transitivity pattern in the story.
2.1. The context of chosen text
No name is more inextricably bound to the aesthetic movement of the 1880s and
1890s in England than that of Oscar Wilde. This connection results as much from the
lurid details of his life as from his considerable contributions to English literature. “The
Nightingale and the Rose” is one of Wilde‟s best short stories. It was published in 1888
with some other short stories. To have a deep understanding of the story, let us look at
content of the text. As I have mentioned above, filed answers “what is being talked
about?”, and it has direct connection with ideational metafunction that transitivity is the
main focus; therefore, it is very important to look at the field of the story. The plot of
the story is very simple. It starts with a student who wanted to dance with the girl he
liked. The girl said she would dance with him if he got her a red rose. But the student
was unable to find a red rose. A nightingale overheard the story and went to search for
a red rose. The bird ended up sacrificing itself to come up with a red rose. But the
following day, the girl disregarded the rose and the student flung it to the gutter. The
field of the story is reflected through a wide range of process types used in the text. I
will go for more detailed in the next section.
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Besides, this story belongs to the narrative genre with typical features of the
narration. The author developed the story with a sequence of events and experiences
from the beginning to the end. Besides, the setting of the places and times that the
events happened were modified clearly in the text. A young lover, a beautiful girl, a red
rose and a nightingale with the sweetest voice and a most gentle heart – everything
seems ready to set the scene for a simple but touching story of love. These above
features are very important for identifying the meaning and the intention of the author
when creating this story.
2.2. The analysis of the story into clauses
In order to explore the transitivity system of the story “The Nightingale and the
Rose”, I will divide the story into smaller parts, called clauses (See Appendix 1). Then,
each clause will be analyzed in detail to see how the different components of the
transitivity system reflect the functions of language. After that, the transitivity pattern
of the story can be set up based on the functions of the components (See Appendix 2).
The analysis of the story into clause will use the following notions: two vertical
strokes “||… ||” represents clause boundary. The number of clause will be marked as 1,
2, 3, etc. The presentation of the clause analysis will be shown in a box; the first line is
the components of the clauses which are divided into smaller units based on their
function in a clause; the second line provides the configuration of the functions that
each component has. Due to the limited space, some functions of each component in a
clause will be abbreviated and appear in bold type; but wherever they are enough
spaces, they are written in full form. Below are some instances of how a clause is
presented in terms of transitivity.
The sample text:
(1) ||| The young student was still lying on the grass, (2)|| where she had left
him, (3)|| and the tears were not yet dry in his beautiful eyes.|||