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Basic stuf
Right from the start, it would be a good idea to separate the
traditional notion of mood from the technical sense in which
Halliday uses it. Traditionally, mood refers to the verb forms that
express a fact or action (a.k.a. indicative = declarative,
interrogative), command (imperative), or doubt(subjunctive).
Note, though, that subjunctives are not discussed in the
Hallidayan framework.
In the Hallidayan framework, mood, unless otherwise specified,
refers technically to the mood block, which comprises the
following components:
Subject (S)
Modal adjunct
[To disambiguate the terms, we shall use "clausal mood" to refer
to the traditional notion of mood (declarative, interrogative,
etc.), and "mood" to refer simply to how it is used in the
Hallidayan framework.]
Moving on. The S, F, and modal adjuncts all come under the
mood block. All other elements come under residue, except the
following which are to be omitted from your analysis:
now
need
to
make
some
slight
Halliday
No change
Change to F (finite), P
(predicator)
Change to C (complement)
Retain as C (complement)
Change to AR or AM
What about adjuncts then? Aha ... you need to be a little careful
here. There are two types of adjuncts you need to worry about -modal adjuncts and the residue adjuncts. For ease of reference,
let's refer to the latter as ARs (short for "residue adjuncts"). ARs
provide circumstantial information (things to do with time, place,
manner, etc.), including the by agents of passive clauses, such
as "the cake was eaten by him". All ARs form part of the residue.
Modal adjuncts (let's call them AM), on the other hand, form part
of the mood block. They provide additional information on
likelihood, usuality, etc. (mood adjuncts), or the speaker's
opinion, comment, etc. (comment adjuncts). Please note that
AMs include both mood and comment adjuncts.
To give you a feel of what is involved in mood and comment
adjuncts, have a look at the table below. Please note that the
table is merely for your reference; you do not need to memorise
the wretched thing. From the table, hopefully, you should get a
sense of what an AM is, and how you can identify it:
Type
Mood
Probability
adjuncts Usuality
Obligation
Examples
probably, possibly, certainly, perhaps, maybe
always, ever, seldom, rarely, usually
definitely, absolutely, at all costs, by all means
Comment Admissive
frankly, to be honest, to tell you the truth
adjuncts Desiderative (un)fortunately, to my delight, luckily, regrettably,
hopefully
Entreaty
please, kindly
Evaluative
Opinion
Persuasive
Predictive
S, F, AM: mood
P, C, AR: residue
Beam me up, Scottie!
Declarative
-The tutorials made him hypertensive.
S^F
Wh-interrogative
(wh-word
What made him hypertensive?
Wh-interrogative
(others)
When did he become hypertensive?
Polar
interrogative
Did the tutorials make him hypertensive?
Imperative
(exclusive)
Complete the tutorial worksheet!
Imperative
(inclusive)
Let's complete the tutorial worksheet.
S)
---
--
S^F
F^S
F^S
--
none
--
Bothersome stuf
1. Marrying and divorcing F and P
In a finite clause, if the VG consists of only one verb, F is
conflated with P -- you therefore label the verb as F/P. (Of
course, if the clause is NF, there is no F element to worry about.)
Hence:
1. The durian
fell (F/P)
be eating (P)
switched (F/P-)
on (-P)
the radio.
He can sleep
all
he
wants! (obligation)
He desperately tried to stay awake. (inclination)
Do note that the labels above are for verbs only, not for AMs.
(The AM labels are more complex -- as you must have realised
by now unless you scrolled down this page too quickly.)
When analysing verbs, it might be helpful to consider how they
are used from this modality angle (... "might" here is an example
of modalisation:probability). At an introductory level, you should
perhaps keep it simple by restricting your choices to just
modalisation (probability, usuality) and modulation (obligation,
inclination).
Do we need to analyse every single finite verb for modality?
Well, nope. You should think of modality only in terms of
modalisation and modulation. There is no modality, for instance,
in the finite verbs below -- at least, the pea in my head can't
detect any:
4. Alvin realised, to his horror, that he had put on someone
else's briefs by mistake.
3. Schizophrenic S
In English, there are constructions where the anticipatory it is
used.
In
such
constructions
(a.k.a.extraposed-subject
constructions), the content of the anticipatory subject is placed
at the end:
5. It is a shame to see a bruise on Newton's
(= To see a bruise on Newton's head is a shame.)
head.
is
Sub- F/P C
-ject
8.
9.
You
come
here!
AR
MOOD
RESIDUE
Let's
go
home!
AR
MOOD
RESIDUE
Do
n't
go
home!
AM
AR
MOOD
RESIDUE