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Transitivity. By Dr. lubna Riyadh Abdul Jabber. Traditional Definition of Transitivity. If it takes a direct object, then it is described as transitive It is called intransitive if it does not
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Transitivity By Dr. lubna Riyadh Abdul Jabber
Traditional Definition of Transitivity • If it takes a direct object, then it is described as transitive • It is called intransitive if it does not • An extension of this concept is the ditransitive verb, which takes both a direct and an indirect object
Functional definition of Transitivity • Transitivity generally refers to how meaning is represented in the clause. It plays a role in showing how speakers encode in language their mental picture of reality and how they account for their experience of the world around them. Since transitivity is concerned with the transmission of ideas it is considered to fall within the realm of the ideational function of language.
The Difference between the Traditional Approach and Halliday’s Approach • In traditional approach oversimplifies or neglects some important differences of meaning between various types of verbs, and, therefore various types of clauses. • The differences concern what kind of process the verb designates: kick designates a kind of action, which has an effect on another entity, the ball; ran refers to an action, which affects only the actor(s). In Jane is tall, we find a quite different state of affairs encoded, namely, no action but a description of a physical state. Peter meditates refers to a mental process, not a physical action
More differences • A central insight of Halliday's is that transitivity is the foundation of representation; it is the way the clause is used to analyze events and situations as being of certain types. • Transitivity also has the facility to analyze the same event in different ways,. Highly used in newspaper . Since transitivity makes options available, some possibilities are always suppressed, so the choice a speaker makes indicates that the speaker's point of view is ideologically significant. 1
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs • The possibilities in the conventional distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs.
(1)The Material Process Material processes are processes of doing in the physical world. Material processes have two inherent participants involved in • the Actor( obligatory) the doer of the process • Goal, (optional) expresses the person or entity whether animate or inanimate affected by the process.
Examples on material process • John kicked the ball. Actor Process Goal (material) John hit the man very hard. in the bay Actor Process Goal Circumstance material Manner Place
(2) The Relational Process • Relational processes are concerned with the process of being in the world of abstract relations. • It exists between two participants associated with the process • A participant does not affect the other participant in a physical sense.
Examples on Relational Process John is talented Carrier attributing attribute John is the leader. identified identifying identifier
Types of relational processes: • The intensive type establishes a relationship of sameness between two entities; • The circumstantial type defines the entity in terms of location, time, manner etc.; whilst • The possessivetype (as its name implies) indicates that one entity owns another.
(3)The Mental Process Mental processes encode the meanings of feeling or thinking. They differ from material processes, which express concrete, physical processes of doing. Mental processes are “internalized" processes, in contrast to the “externalized” processes of doing and speaking Unlike the case of material process, it is odd to ask “What did X do to Y?” in mental process. Grammatically, all mental processes involve two participants:
Participants of Mental Process Senser the conscious being who is involved in a mental process by feeling, thinking, or perceiving and Phenomenon that which is felt, thought, or perceived by the conscious Senser Mental process verbs can be subcategorized into three types: Cognition verbs of thinking, knowing, understanding, Affection verbs of liking, loving, fearing, hating, and Perception verbs of seeing, hearing
Examples on Mental Process Cognition : I don’t understand his theory. Senser mental Phenomenon Affection : I fear the coming war. Senser mental Phenomenon Perception : I heard the music Senser mental Phenomenon .
(4)The verbal Process A verbal process is the process of saying, and it exists on the borderline between mental and relational processes. Just like saying and meaning, the verbal process expresses the relationship between ideas constructed in human consciousness and the ideas enacted in the form of language
Participants of verbal process The participant who is speaking is called Sayer, the addressee to whom the process is directed is Target, and what is said is Verbiage
Examples on Verbal Process The committee announced that the new bill will be passed. Sayer verbal Verbiage I told her how to play the piano. Sayer verbal Target Verbiage
(5)The Behavioral Process Behavioral processes are processes of physiological and psychological behavior, and they are on the borderline between material and mental processes. Behavioral processes “represent outer manifestations of inner workings, the acting out of processes of consciousness and physiological states” Halliday Behavioral processes are the least salient of Halliday’s six process types, and the boundaries of behavioral processes are indefinite.
Participants of The Behavioral Process The participant who is behaving is called Behaver. Like the Senser, Behaver is usually a conscious being, but the process is more like one of doing, as in material processes.
Examples on the Behavioural process John is crying. Behaver Process : behavioral Some other examples of behavioral processes are sit, dance, sing, near material processes, think, watch, look, listen near mental processes, talk, gossip, grumble, chatter near verbal processes, smile, laugh, cry, frown physiological processes expressing states of consciousness, sleep, breathe, cough, yawn
(6)The Existential Approach These processes are processes of existing and happening, as in “There was a little house on the big prairie,” “There isn’t enough space," or “Has there been any problem?” Existential sentences typically have the verb be, and the word there is necessary as a Subject although it has no representational function. The object or event that is being said to exist is called Existent. An Existent can be any kind of phenomenon, such as a thing, person, object, institution or abstraction, action, or e
There was a little house on the big prairie. existential Existent Circumstance Place
Number of participants • Behavioural and existential processes have only one participant each, • whereas the other processes may have two. • second participants of material and relational processes may or may not be present.
Number of participants • Two further points: • firstly, the participants are usually represented by nominal groups, and • secondly, processes with single participants make use of intransitive verbs, whilst those with two participants make use of transitive verbs (except for relational processes which make use of intensive verbs).
Passivization Passivization changes the roles of the participants the second participant becomes the subject, whereas the first participant becomes the adjunct.
Subject and Actor • Halliday's conception of the actor in transitivity analysis: • The actor (or first participant) and subject occur in the same position only in the active voice. • In the passive voice, they occur in different positions.
First Participant • First Participant is realized • by the Subject in the active voice and • by the Adjunct in the passive voice.
Circumstantial Adjunct • The presence of the circumstantial adjunct depends on the level of description needed by the speaker/writer
