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TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS: “AN ENCYCLOPAEDIC REPORT ON THE NUMBAT” “A TEXT FOR CHILDREN ON SOUNDS”. Instructions and preliminary comments.
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TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF TWO TEXTS: “AN ENCYCLOPAEDIC REPORT ON THE NUMBAT” “A TEXT FOR CHILDREN ON SOUNDS”
Instructions and preliminary comments -The texts for analysis have been segmented into clauses and the clauses into their constituent parts to facilitate analysis. This is the usual practice. This does not mean you have to accept the segmentation proposed here. If you want to propose a different segmentation, feel free to ask in class or in office hours. - Remember that certain elements are not analyzed for transitivity, like conjunctions (and, but), conjunctive adjuncts (besides, moreover, however) modals (can) and modal adjuncts (unluckily, fortunately; always, sometimes; probably)
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF “THE ENCYCLOPAEDIC REPORT ON THE NUMBAT”
Comments on analysis One might wonder why the first relational process is said to be classifying, whereas all other intensive processes are said to be describing, especially since there is so much description in the first one (“unmistakeable” “slender” and “with a pointed muzzle and short erect ears”). Note that description in the first clause is to be found not at the level of the clause, but within the Ngp that makes up the Attribute of the clause (“an unmistakeable slender marsupial with …ears”). At the level of the clause the meaning is one of classification (the numbat is a member of a class of animals (= marsupials). The classification is thus foregrounded, and the description backgrounded by being made at a lower rank. To see this, compare the first clause with clauses such as “The numbat is slender/small”, “The numbat has short erect ears”, where description is foregrounded now by being made at the level of the clause.
Comments on analysis “On the rump” in “with about eight transverse white stripes on the rump” is a Qualifier within the NGp that functions as completive of the preposition “with”, the head of which (Th) is “stripe”. There are several indication of this. If we pay attention to meaning, “on the rump” is specifying “stripes”, by telling us where the stripes are located. Given that this is its function it cannot be moved around in the clause as it would be in clauses like the following, where if is not a Qualifier : “The numbat has 8 stripes on the rump” = “On the rump the numbat has eight stripes” “The numbat has, on the rump, eight stripes.” “There are 8 stripes on the rump of the numbat” = “On the rump of the numbat there are 8 stripes”
Comments on analysis The PP “through it” has been analyzed as Circumstance because it is not specifying “stripe” but relating to the verb “have” and expressing the location of the process expressed by the verb. Evidence of this is the fact that it can be moved around (“The eye has, through it, a black stripe”)
Comments on analysis The PP “during the day” is also a “Circums-tance of extent: duration”, but it is somewhat different from the PP “during the night” in that it is not functioning as Circumstance to the verb “is”, but as Circumstance to “being” within the embedded clause functioning as completive of the preposition “in” (“being active during the day”). This is why in a first level of analysis it is shown as part of the attribute.
Comments on analysis Why identifying and not attributive? The main reactance and test showing it is “identifying” is the fact that the participants can be reversed, while all the other pocesses in the text with the verb “to be”, which are all attributive, cannot have their participants reversed. Another piece of evidence is the fact that “be” can be replaced by “represent”.
Transitivity patterns in “The numbat” 1 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./intens./classifying) ^ Attribute. 2 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./intens./describing) ^ Attribute ^ Circ. of accompaniment: additive. 3 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./possessive/describing) ^ Attribute ^ Circ. of location: spatial. 4 Carrier ^Process (relational/attrib./intensive/describing) ^ Attribute 5 Carrier ^Process (relational/attrib./intensive/describing) ^ Attribute 6 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./intens./describing) ^ Attribute ^Circ. of manner: comparison 7 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./intens./describing) ^ Attribute ^ Circ. of cause: purpose 8 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./intens./describing) ^ Attribute ^ Circ. of extent: duration
Transitivity patterns in “The numbat” 9 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./intensive/describing) ^ Attribute 10 Actor ^ Process (material middle) ^ Circumst. of spatial location 11 Actor ^ Process (material middle) ^ Circumst. of cause: purpose 12 Carrier ^ Process (relational/attrib./intens./describing) ^ Attribute ^ Circ. of temporal location 13 Actor ^ Process (material middle) ^ Circumst. of temporal location ^ Circumst. of spatial location 14 Token ^ Process (relational identifying) ^ Value
What pattern of transitivity emerges in the text? • The process type that prevails/is dominant in the text is the relational attributive process of the intensive describing/descriptive type • Next in frequency are the material middle processes (3), and less frequent are the relational attributive intensive classifying processes (1 in first clause), the relational attributive possessive processes (only 1) and the relational identifying processes (1 in closing sentence). • The Circumstances that prevail are of spatial location, followed by Circumstances of temporal location (2) and of cause: purpose (2), and Circumstances of manner: comparison (1), and extension: duration (1).
What does the pattern of transitivity identified tell us about the text? • The prevalence of/high proportion of relational attributive intensive processes can be explained by, and reflects, the descriptive character of the text. We could expect narrative texts and instructional texts, for example, to favor material processes. The presence of an attributive possessive process reinforces this descriptive character, as this also serves to describe the animal or parts of its body.
What does the pattern of transitivity identified tell us about the text? • The shifts in process type, from a relational attributive intensive classifying process in the first clause to relational attributive intensive describing/descriptive processes and relational attributive possessive processes (also descriptive in function) in the body and to material middle processes towards the end and a closing identifying process reflects the structure of the text, the generic structure (Classification ^ Description of animal ^ Description of animal habits ^ Reference to animal’s value or significance ).
What explains this pattern? Why this pattern? The structure of the text can be accounted for by the fact that every descriptive report, as one could find in an encyclopedic entry, must necessarily start by placing the unknown animal or plant that it provides information on in a known class of entities (through the classifying process) for the sake of those who do not know it, so they can start to grasp the unknown through what’s known to them, and only then proceed to describe the animal or plant (through relational attributive processes) and its habits/physiology (mainly through material middle processes).
What do the Circumstances suggest? • The Circumstances of spatial location in the text can be explained because in a descriptive report o an animal for an encyclopedic entry one needs to locate the animal for the sake of the readers who do not know the animal and are looking for information, though some circumstances of spatial location relate to the physical description of the animal and indicate where certain features are to be found in the body.
What do Circumstances suggest? • Circumstances of manner: comparison could be explained as a way of facilitating the understanding of the unknown (the numbat) by comparing it to what’s known (mamalians; marsupials) • Otherwise, circumstances in the text are not so prominent
Conclusions on transitivity • Transitivity patterns reflect the nature of the text (descriptive, narrative, etc) • Changes or shifts in transitivity along the text reflect changes in function (Classification, Physical description, Description of habits, Appraisal of animal) and thus the structure of the text, the stages or sections that result from changes in function
Conclusions on transitivity • A perspective on verbs like this focuses on semantics, and tells us more about what meanings the verbs make and what meanings their participants make. A Direct Object can now be a Goal created, a Goal affected, a Range, a Phenomenon, a Verbiage, where meaning of the Direct Object is more explicit; • A perspective on verbs like this focuses on text and patterns of verbs or processes in text, that is, it does not attend to isolated sentences but seeks to establish patterns in text;
Conclusions on transitivity • A perspective like this is functional in that it seeks to determine the function of patterns (what they tell us about the nature of the text or the structure of the text) • A perspective like this helps us gain a better understanding of the grammar involved in more traditional terms. Such is the case of relational processes, where we realize, for example, that saying only that the verb “to be” is a linking verb with S and SC provides a very limited understanding of the grammar of this verb that can take different structures (+ adjective groups, + indefinite nominal groups, + definite nominal groups; structures where S and C are reversible and structures where they are not), which reflect different meanings ranging from classification to symbolization and involving description also.
TEXT II ANALYSING A TEXT ON SOUNDS
Purpose of analysis In analyzing this text we will also seek to explore the advantages of adopting a more semantic, textual and functional approach to verbs
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
Why “talk” and “sing” behavioural Processes like “talk” and “sing” are behavioral because, through there is sth verbal in them (talk) or paraverbal (sing, since it includes the voice), they do not involve direct saying, that is, they do not project another clause as locution (*He talked/sang that he had to leave, would not be grammatical). So verbs which have a verbal quality but do not ptoject, that is, do not introduce a locution (like chat, discuss, gossip, chant, recite, describe, etc.) are behavioural verbal/paraverbal
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN A TEXT ON SOUNDS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
