A STUDY ON THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF AN ENGLISH FAIRY TALE a SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

i

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT

NGUYỄN THỊ LAN

A STUDY ON THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE
OF AN ENGLISH FAIRY TALE A SYSTEMIC
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS
M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
CODE: 602215
SUPERVISOR: PROF. DR HOANG VAN VAN

HANOI, 2011


ii

DECLARATION

I certify that this thesis does not incorporate without acknowledgement any
material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any university; and that to my
best of my knowledge it does not contain any material previously published or written
by other people where due reference is not made in the text.

Nguyễn Thị Lan

iii

ABSTRACT
In this thesis I will study the meaning and structure of a chosen fairy-tale as seen from
the systemic functional perspective. Systemic functional grammar is a powerful
analytical tool for analyzing a text with the transitivity system, the mood, the thematic
pattern and the cohesion. Also, a fairy-tale may be very familiar with a lot of people
because they are told so many times when they are just little boys and girls and until
they are mature already; therefore the analysis of the meaning and the structure of a
fairy-tale is useful in some ways.


iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like first to express my deep gratitude to Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân, my
supervisor, for his untiring and benevolent assistance granted to me throughout the
process of my writing. His practical advice, useful suggestions and critical feedback
have been generous and beneficial, without which I would not have been able to
complete this thesis.
I am greatly indebted to my teachers at Viet Nam National University – Hanoi
and Thai Nguyen University of Education and Training for their valuable teaching and
their profound knowledge that have enlightened me and guided my research.
I would further like to thank my colleagues at Hung Nhan Upper-Secondary
School for their help and kind encouragement during the research period.
Finally, I especially wish to thank all my family members for their love, support
and understanding while I was writing this thesis.

Hanoi 9/ 2011.

Nguyễn Thị Lan


v

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION

i

ABSTRACT

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

iii

LIST OF TABLES

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

v

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1

1.1. Rationale of the study..................................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the study.........................................................................................2
1.3. Scope of the study........................................................................................2
1.4. Methods of the study....................................................................................2
1.5. Design of the study......................................................................................2
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

3

2.1. Introduction..................................................................................................3
2.2. Systemic functional grammar......................................................................3
2.2.1. Introduction to systemic functional grammar...............................3
2.2.2. Clause and clause complex...........................................................4
2.2.3. The transitivity system..................................................................6
2.2.4. The mood structure.......................................................................12
2.2.5. The thematic structure...................................................................14
2.2.6. Cohesion.......................................................................................15
2.3. Theoretical backgrounds of fairy tales

20

2.3.1. What is fairy tales?........................................................................20


vi

2.3.2. History of English fairy tales........................................................21
2.3.3. Features of English fairy tales.......................................................21
CHAPTER 3. THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF THE FAIRY-TALE
“CINDERELLA”

24

3.1. Introduction..................................................................................................27
3.2. The chosen text............................................................................................29
3.3. Contextual configuration of the text............................................................29
3.4. Clause and clause complex analysis............................................................30
3.5. The transitivity pattern of the text................................................................37
3.6. The mood pattern of the text........................................................................38
3.7. The thematic pattern of the text...................................................................39
3.8. The cohesion of the text...............................................................................39
3.9. The structure of the fairy tale text................................................................41
CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSION

43

4.1. Recapitulation..............................................................................................43
4.2. Implications for the study............................................................................43
4.3. Suggestions for further study.......................................................................44
REFERENCES
APPENDIXES

45


vii

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale of the study
There are many different approaches to describe the grammar of a language. One
approach sees grammar as a set of rules which specify all the possible grammatical
structures of the language where grammatical and ungrammatical sentences are
distinguished clearly and so, its main concern is the forms of grammatical structures
rather than with their meanings or their uses in contexts, therefore, the analysis of
sentences isn’t connected to real world sources.
Another approach sees language as a system of communication and analyses
grammar to discover by what means it allows speakers and writers to make and
exchange meanings. Its main focus is not a clear distinction between grammatical and
ungrammatical forms but on the appropriateness of a form for a particular
communicative purpose in a particular context. In this approach, the function of
structures is not concerned with their constituents and their meanings in context.
Grammarians who are interested in this kind of description is likely to use data from
authentic texts.
The two approaches are clearly different from each other: the former approach
refers to grammatical analysis and it is often called formal while the later one is called
functional. However, they are certainly exclusive.
For me, I find functional grammar very useful and interesting because it offers us
an analytic tool of looking at the whole text. Functional grammar is a complex but
comprehensive model. Although it has been studied by many famous linguists in the
world, such as M. A. K. Halliday (1961, 1967, 1970, 1978, 1985, 1994), it has not been
studied much in Vietnam. Up to now, there have been only two grammarians studying


viii

the functional approach: Cao Xuân Hạo (1991) with the work Tiếng Việt – Sơ thảo ngữ
pháp chức năng and Hoàng Văn Vân (2002) with Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của cú Tiếng
Việt –Mô tả theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống.

Being a teacher of English, I want to contribute something to this field. I would
like to choose “A study on the meaning and structure of an English fairy tale: a
systemic functional analysis” for my thesis, using Halliday’s functional grammar as the
theoretical framework.
1.2. Aims of the study
This thesis attempts to study the meaning and the structure of an English fairy
tale as seen from the systemic functional perspective.
1.3. Scope of the study
This study does not mention all aspects of meaning and structure of the fairy tale
but only some precious features are discussed. They are the transitivity, the mood, the
theme pattern and the cohesion of the text.
1.4. Methods of the study
The methods used in the study are descriptive and analytic.
Descriptive method is concerned with the description of main areas of functional
grammar and analytic method is concerned with the analysis of the text.
1.5. Design of the study
This thesis is divided into 4 chapters:
-

Chapter 1: Introduction – presents the rationale of the study, the aims, the scope,
the methods and the design of the study.

-

Chapter 2: Literature Review -- provides the theoretical background of the study.
Its focus is on introducing important concepts in systemic functional linguistics
relevant to the topic of the study and knowledge surrounding the kind of fairy
tales.

ix

-

Chapter 3: The meaning and structure of an English fairy tale Cinderella –
analyzes the fairy tale as seen from the systemic functional point of view

-

Chapter 4: Conclusion – summarizes the results of the study, suggests some
implications for discourse analysts, students and teachers of discourse analysis
and then presents some suggestions for further research.


x

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Introduction
In this chapter we will present background knowledge on systemic functional
grammar and overview some aspects of this theory (the transitivity system, the mood
structure, the thematic structure and cohesion)
2.2. Systemic functional grammar
2.2.1. Introduction to systemic functional grammar
Systemic functional grammar is a grammatical model developed by M.A.K.
Halliday. In his book An introduction to Functional Grammar (1994), Halliday
explained that his grammar is called functional because “the conceptual framework on
which it is based is a functional one rather than a formal one. It is functional in three
distinct although closely related senses: in its representation (1) of texts, (2) of the

system, and (3) of the elements of linguistic structures”. (Halliday, 1994). According to
Halliday, language is functional in sense that it is designed to account for how language
is used and language has evolved to satisfy human needs. Therefore, the fundamental
components of meaning in language are functional components and each element in a
language is explained by reference to its function in the total linguistic system.
Halliday’s grammar model is also called systemic because he developed the detailed
system networks named mood type for many areas of English grammar.
Hoang Van Van states that systemic functional grammar owns “a very rich pool
of analytical instruments which help researchers tackle not only phonological but also
grammatical (syntax), semantic and discoursal problems of a text” (Hoang Van Van
2006: 161). This theory encompasses all levels of language: phonology, lexico-grammar,
semantics and context of situation where language occurs. In terms of phonology, it
studies the resources of intonation, rhythm, and syllabic and phonemic articulation.


xi

Lexico-grammar includes lexis or vocabulary and grammar in a unified system.
Semantics is concerned with the system of meaning. Unlike other grammatical theories,
this theory develops a model for contextual analysis which consists of three components
or parameters: field, tenor, and mode. His model can be represented as follows:

 Field: refers to what it 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 features as some essential components?


Tenor: 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 of 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: 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 and Hasan 1989: 12)

2.2.2. Clause and clause complex
2.2.2.1. Clause complex
In Halliday’s theory of functional grammar, a sentence can be interpreted as a
clause complex: a Head clause together with other clauses that modifying it. There is the
same kind of relationship between sentence and clause as there is between group and
word: the sentence has evolved by expansion outwards from the clause. However, we
can not account for all of sentence structure simply in terms of Head + Modifier because
there are a lot of kinds of modifying and also other similar relationships.


xii

With the notion of clause complex, we are able to account in full for the
functional organization of sentences. A sentence can be defined as a clause complex. The
clause complex will be the only grammatical unit which we shall recognized above the
clause. Therefore, there is no need to bring in the term “sentence” as a distinct
grammatical category.
The relations between clauses are interpreted in terms of the “logical” component

of the linguistic system: the functional-semantic relations that make up the logic of
natural language. There are two systemic dimensions in the interpretation: one is
interdependency including parataxis and hypotaxis which is general to all complexesword, group, phrase and clause alike, and the other is the logico-system of expansion
and projection, which is specifically an inter-clausal relation.
2.2.2.2. Types of relationship between clauses
2.2.2.2.1. Type of interdependency
In this type, the relation of modifying, whereby one element ‘modifies’ another,
is not the only relationship that may obtain between the members of a complex. Where
one element modifies another, the status of the two is unequal; the modifying element is
dependent on the modified. But two elements may be joined together on an equal
footing, neither being dependent on the other.
Hypotaxis:
The general term for the modifying relation is Hypotaxis. Hypotaxis is the
relation between a dependent element and its dominant, the element on which it is
dependent. The dominant element is free, but the dependent element is not.
Hypotaxis will be represented by the Greek letter notation already used for
modification on the structure of the group
Parataxis:
Parataxis is the relation between two like elements of equal status, one initiating
and the other continuing. Paratactic structures are presented by a numerical notation 1 2


xiii

3… Both the initiating and the continuing element are free, in the sense that each could
stand as a functioning whole.
2.2.2.2.2. Type of logico-semantic relation
In this type of logico-semantic relation, there is a wide range of different logicosemantic relations any of which may hold between a primary and a secondary member
of a clause nexus and it is possible to group these into a small number of general types,
based on the two fundamental relationships of Expansion and Projection.

Expansion: the secondary clause expands the primary clause, by elaborating it,
extending it, or enhancing it.
Projection: the secondary clause is projected through the primary clause, which
instates it as a locution or an idea.
Within the general categories of expansion and projection, we recognized first of
all a small number of subtypes: three of expansion, and two of projection. The names
these, with suggested notation, are as follows:
(1) Expansion:
- elaborating

= (equal)

- extending

+ (is added to)

- enhancing

x ( is multiplied by)

(2) Projection:
- locution

“ (double quotes)

- idea

‘ (single quotes)

These symbols combine with those for parataxis and hypotaxis:

=2

=ß

+2

+ß

x2

xß

“2

“ß

‘2

‘ß

Elaborating: one clause expands another by elaborating on it (or some portion of
it): restating in other words, specifying in greater detail, commenting, or exemplifying.
Extending: one clause expands another by extending beyond it: adding some new
element, giving an exception to it, or offering an alternative.


xiv

Enhancing: one clause expands another by embellishing around it, qualifying it
with some circumstantial feature of time, place, cause, or condition.

Locution: one clause is projected through another, which presents it as a locution,
a construction of wording.
Idea: one clause is projected through another, which presents it as an idea, a
construction of meaning.
2.2.3. The transitivity system
According to Halliday (1970), language has three functions: ideational,
interpersonal, and textual. Each of the three metafunctions is about a different aspect of
the world, and is concerned with different mode of meaning of clauses and all these
functions are reflected in the structure of the clause. The ideational metafunction, which
includes experiential function and logical function is about the natural world, including
our own consciousness, and is concerned with clause as representation. The
interpersonal metafunction is about the social world, especially the relationship between
speaker and hearer, and is concerned with clause as exchange and the third metafunction
-- textual metafunction is about the verbal world, and is concerned with clause as
messages.
Experiential meanings are realized through the system of TRANSITIVITY and
the transitivity construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types.
In the transitivity system of English, six process types are recognized: Material, Mental,
Verbal, Behavioural, Relational, and Existential.
2.2.3.1. Material process
Material process is the process of doing or action/ event such as running,
walking, catching, kicking, etc. The basic meaning of material process is that some
entity does something or undertakes some actions, so to realize this type of process we
often ask question “What did X do?”


xv

There may be one, two or even three participants in this process but there must
be an obligator one which is Actor. The Actor is the doer of the action. When a process

has only one participant (Actor), it is called intransitive. When there are two participants,
the process is called transitive and these transitive clauses are probed by “What did X do
to Y?” and in this case, these roles are referred to respectively as Actor and Goal (one
that is affected by the action). In some material processes, there appears the third
participant which is called Receiver, which is the one benefiting from the process. The
following examples reflects the material process.
(e1)
He
Actor

is running
Material Process

(e2)
The lion
Actor
(e3)

caught
Material Process

Mary
Actor

gave
Process: material

the tourist
Goal
her brother

Goal

a book
Receiver

The representation of a material process can come either the active form or the
passive form. The examples above are in active form and the following example is in
active form.
(e4).
The tourist
Goal

was caught
Process: material

by the lion
Circumstance

2.2.3.2. Mental process
Mental process is the process of sensing such as thinking, loving. It is divided
into four main types: cognition (thinking, knowing, realizing), perception (hearing,


xvi

sensing, feeling), affection (loving, hating, adoring, pampering) and desideration
(wanting, desiring, wishing). In this process, we do not talk about what we are doing but
about what we think or feel. Therefore, we do not probe mental process by asking “What
did X do to Y?” but we often ask “What do you think/ feel/ know about X?”. In mental
processes, there are often two participants: Sensor (one who senses, feels, thinks, or

wants..) and Phenomenon (one that is sensed, felt, thought of, and wanted).
(e5)
I
Sensor

know
Process: mental

the city
Phenomenon

2.2.3.3. Relational process
Relational process is the process of being, being at, or having. It consists of three
main subtypes: the intensive, the circumstantial and the possessive.
Intensive: “X is a”
Circumstantial: “X is at a” (where “is at’ stands for “is at, on, in, for, with, about,
along, etc)
Possessive: “X has a”
Each of these comes in two modes: attributive and identifying.
Attributive: “a is an attributive of X”
Identifying: “a is the identify of X”
When a relational process is in the attributive mode, it has one participant
referred to Carrier and the quality or the thing showing that the Carrier belongs to a class
of things, which is usually realized by an adjective or an indefinite nominal group, is
usually referred to as Attribute. The participants in identifying process are called Token
and Value or sometimes they are called Identified and Identifier.
For example,
(e6)

xvii

Sarah
Carrier

is
Process: relational

wise
Attribute

is
Process: relational

Peter’s
Value

(e7)
The piano
Token

2.2.3.4. Behavioural process
Behavioural process is the process of physiological and psychological behaviour
such as crying, breathing, drinking, coughing, laughing, and dreaming. Halliday
describes this process semantically as a “half way house” between mental and material
process. The meanings it realizes are midway between the material on the one hand and
the mental on the other hand. They are in part about action, but it is action that has to be
experienced by a conscious being. Usually there is only one participant in a behavioural
process which is called Behaver, and typically a conscious being, and not a lifeless thing.
For example,

(e8)
She
Behaver

laughed
Behavioural Process

We can say “She laughed” but not “The door laughed” or “The tree laughed”.
Behavioural process can contain a second participant that is like a Range (a restatement
of the process). This participant is called Behaver.
For example,
(e9)
He
Behaver

smiled
Process: behavioural

a broad smile
Behaviour

If the second participant is not a restatement it is called a Phenomenon
(e10)


xviii

Peter
Behaver

sniffed
Process: behavioural

the soup
Phenomenon

2.2.3.5. Verbal process
Verbal process is the process of saying such as saying, telling, talking, speaking.
The typical participants in this process are Sayer (the one who does the verbalization),
Receiver (the one to whom the saying is addressed, Target (the one that the verbalization
is directed to), and the Verbiage (the message itself).
For example,
(e11)
He
Sayer

told
Verbal Process

me
Receiver

a ghost story
Target

As with all processes, Circumstance can occur in verbal process, mostly is manner.
(e12)
They
Sayer

are talking
Process: verbal

about this problem
Circumstance: manner

2.2.3.6. Existential process
Existential process is the process of existing, indicating that something or some
natural force exists. It has normally one participant called Existent and some
circumstantial elements. In an existential clause, the subject “There” is often used
although it does not receive any functional label in an existential process.
(e13)
There

is
Process: existential

a man
Existent

These process types can be summarized in the table below:

in the room
Circumstance


xix

Process type
Material

Category meaning
‘doing’

action

‘doing’

event
Behavioural
Mental

‘happening’
‘behaving’
‘feeling’

perception

‘sensing’

affection

‘emotive’

cognition
Verbal
Relational

‘thinking’
‘saying’

‘being’

Sayer, Target, Verbiage, Recipient
Carrier, Attribute

Attributive

‘attributing’

Identified/ token

Identification
Existential

Participants
Actor, Goal, Recipient

Behaver,
Sensor, Phenomenon

‘identifying’
Identifier/ Value
‘existing’
Existent
Table 1: Process types, their meanings and key participants
(Source: Halliday 1994: 143)

2.2.4. The mood structure
An obvious thing is that people use their language to communicate with each
other, to exchange information, or to influence their behaviour and get something done.

When one uses a language he plays a role such as questioner or an informant. The roles
of “questioner” and “informant” tend to alternate between the interlocutors engaged in a
conversation. And the language here has an interpersonal metafunction.
Interpersonal metafunction is concerned with the interaction between speaker
and hearer or writer and reader. The functions within this component include giving or
demanding information, expressing intention, expressing attitude, etc. These functions
have more to do with social interaction than with content. It is concerned with the clause
as exchange.
As an exchange or an interactive event, a clause consists of two components: the
Mood and the Residue. The Mood is “the component that is bandied” (Halliday 1994:


xx

72). Its function is to carry the argument forward. The Mood comprises of two
functional elements: the Subject and the Finite. The Subject is a nominal group and the
Finite is a verb element which has the function of making the proposition finite. The
Residue is the remainder of the clause. It consists of three functional components: the
Predicator, the Complement, and the Adjunct. The Predicator is presented in all nonelliptical major clauses, and it is realized by a verbal group; the Complement is an
element within the Residue that has the potential of being Subject, and is typically
realized by a nominal group; and the Adjunct is an element that has not got the potential
of being a subject, and it is realized by an adverbial group or a prepositional phrase.
For example,
(e14)
The duke
Subject
Mood

has
Finite

given
Predicator
Residue

that teapot away
Complement

As we know all the roles of speech are traced back to a form of either giving or
demanding and these roles are simultaneously related to the two general things of
commodity negotiated between people -- goods-&-services, or information, for example
giving information is a statement and demanding goods-&-service makes up a
command, etc. Giving information is typically realized by a declarative clause;
demanding goods-&-services is typically realized by an imperative clause and
demanding information is typically realized by an interrogative clause. Therefore, we
have different types of Mood which are represented in the figure below:
Mood

indicative

interrogative
declarative

imperative

inclusive
exclusive

Figure 1. A fragment of the Mood system in English

xxi

Also we have different types of Modality such as ability (e.g., I can swim),
possibility (e.g., Can I have an English book, please?), supposition (e.g., He must be the
thief), permission (e.g., May I go out?), etc.
2.2.5. The thematic structure
As mentioned above, textual metafunction is about the verbal world and it is
concerned with clause as message. When we look at the clause from the perspective of
what is being talked about we are turning to examine aspects which can only be properly
understood by looking at the clause in its context in the rest of the language around it.
Seeing language from the point of view of the textual metafunction, we are
trying to see how speakers build up their messages in a way which makes them fit
smoothly into the unfolding language event. The speaker’s organization of the clause as
message is represented through the thematic structure. Thematic structure “gives the
clause its character as message” (Halliday 1994: 37), and thus creates relevant to the
context. Relevant to the realization of the system of theme are two elements: Theme and
Rheme.
The Theme serves as the departure of the message, which coincides with the
initial elements of the clause in English. The Rheme is the remainder of the message.
The theme can be realized by a nominal group, an adverbial group or a prepositional
phrase. It may be single or multiple, marked or unmarked. When the Theme “consists of
two or more groups or phrases forming a single structure element”, it is single (Halliday
1994: 40). On the contrary, a multiple theme is the one that has a further internal
structure of its own. Here we distinguish between Topical theme, Textual theme and
Interpersonal theme. A topical theme is the one that is conflated with an experiential
element of the clause. It means that the theme ends with the first constituent that is either
participant, circumstance, or process. A textual theme is any combination of continuative
(yes, no, now), structure (and, but..), conjunctive (also, next, finally…). And within
interpersonal theme, we may have a modal, the finite verbs (in Yes/No interrogative

clause) and also a vocative element.


xxii

In the declarative clause, an unmarked theme “is the mapping of theme onto
subject” (Halliday 1994: 43). And a marked theme “is something other than the subject”
(Halliday 1994: 44) such as Complement, Adjunct, or even Predicator.
Below are some examples to illustrate the thematic structure of the clause.
Well

but

then

Ann

surely

wouldn’t

the best idea

be to join
the group

continuative structural

conjunctive

Textual
Theme

vocative

modal

finite

Interpersonal

topical

Rheme

experiential

(Source: Halliday 1994: 55)
My mother

usually gets up early.

Unmarked Theme
On Monday

we have three lessons

Marked theme
Another perspective on the clause as a message is concerned with the
information structure or the Given –New structure. Given information is the information

which has already introduced into the text and the New is the information which is
introduced into the text for the first time.
2.2.6. Cohesion
2.2.6.1. The concept of cohesion
The concept of cohesion is a semantic one which refers to relations of meaning
that exists within the text, and that defines it as a text. Cohesion occurs where the
interpretation of some element in the discourse is dependent on that of another. The one
presupposes the other, in the sense that it can not be effectively decoded except by
recourse to it. When this happens, a relation of cohesion is set up, and the two elements,


xxiii

the presupposing and the presupposed, are thereby at least potentially integrated into a
text.
There are four ways by which cohesion is created in English: by reference,
ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical organization. We will mention these types of cohesion
in the next parts.
2..2.6.2. Reference
According to Halliday, “a participant or circumstantial element introduced at one
place in the text can be taken as a reference point to something that follows”. Reference
expresses the relationship of identity which exists between units in discourse. Reference
can be divided into anaphoric reference, cataphoric reference, exophoric reference,
personal reference, demonstrative reference, and comparative reference.
Anaphoric Reference is the item(s) that “point backwards to the preceding text.”
(Halliday 1994: 312).
For example,
This lady is a professor. She works in a large university in New York.
Cataphoric reference is a cohesive device which points the reader or listener
forwards –it draws us further into the text in order to identify the elements to which the

reference items refer.
For example,
He coughed all night. The boy has been got a cold.
Exophoric reference is “a mean of linking ‘outwards’ to some person or object in
the environment” (Halliday 1994: 312)
E.g.: The spaceship flew around the new planet several times
Personal reference is reference by means of function in the speech situation,
through the category of person.


xxiv

E.g. The two astronauts put on their space suits.
Demonstrative reference is reference by means of location, on a scale of
proximity. It is expressed through determiner: this, that, these, those and adverbs here,
there.
Comparative reference is expressed through adjectives and adverbs and serves to
compare items within a text in terms of identity or similarity. Any expression such as the
same, another, similar, different, as small, smaller, less small, and related adverbs such
as likewise, differently, equally, presumes some standard of reference in the preceding
text. According to Halliday (1994) comparative reference “set up a relation of contrast.”
E.g. He then bought a smaller house
2.2.6.3. Substitution
According to Halliday and Hasan (1997), substitution is “a relation between
linguistic item, such as words and phrases”. It refers to the process or result of replacing
one item by another at a particular place in discourse. There are three types of
substitution: nominal substitution, verbal substitution, and clausal substitution.
Nominal substitution is the use of a substitute word to replace the Head of a
corresponding nominal group. The noun which is functioned as the Head is always a
countable noun. In English, nominal substitution is often realized by items such as one,

ones and same.
For example,
I like the blue hat. I do not like the red one
Verbal substitute in English is do. This functions as head of a verbal group, in the
place that is occupied by the lexical verb. Its position is always at the end of the group.
E.g. They don’t like this shirt but I do.


xxv

Clausal substitution is the one “in which what is presupposed is not an element
with in the clause but an entire clause” (Halliday and Hasan 1997: 130). The words are
used as clausal substitute are so and not.
E.g. She said it would rain the following day but I didn’t think so
Will it rain tomorrow? – I think not
2.2.6.4. Ellipsis
Another form of cohesion is ellipsis. Ellipsis can be thought of as the omission of
an item within the text. Like substitution, ellipsis can be studied in terms of nominal
ellipsis, verbal ellipsis and clausal ellipsis.
Nominal ellipsis, at the experiential level, is typically realized by the structure of
“Deictic + Numerative + Epithet + Classifier + Thing” (Halliday 1994: 180), for
example, the two floppy cotton hats. When the Thing is omitted, the Head will be taken
on by the one of the other element.
E.g. - I like the blue shirt.
- I like the green + ( 0)
Verbal ellipsis means ellipsis with in the verbal group.
E.g. – What are you doing?
– ( 0 ) watching TV.
Clausal ellipsis is related to the question–answer process in dialogue. There are
two kinds: Yes/No ellipsis and Wh –elipsis .Besides, there may be ellipsis of the whole

clause or just one part of it.
E.g. – Mary broken this teapot.
– Did she? She didn’t tell me ( 0).
2.2.6.5. Conjunctive cohesion