1
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
POST – GRADUATE DEPARTMENT
  
NGUYỄN NGỌC QUYÊN VERBAL PROCESS AND ITS REALIZATION IN
THE U.S. PRESIDENT BARRACK OBAMA’S
VICTORY SPEECHES

(QUÁ TRÌNH PHÁT NGÔN VÀ SỰ THỂ HIỆN CỦA NÓ
TRONG CÁC BÀI DIỄN VĂN CỦA TỔNG THỐNG MỸ BARRACK OBAMA) M.A. Minor Programme Thesis
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60. 22. 15
Hanoi, July, 2010
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NOTATIONAL CONVENTION

 Tran: transitivity
 Pre: predicate
 Fini: Finite
 Com: complement
 Cir: circumstance
 Adj: Adjunct
 Sub: Subject
 Pro: process
 Mate: material

2.3. Textual metafunction
3. The grammar of Experiental meaning: Transitivity
3.1. Process, Participant and Circumstance.
3.2. Process types
3.2.1. Material process
3.2.2. Mental process
3.2.3. Behavioral process
3.2.4. Relational process
3.2.5. Existential process
3.2.6. The circumstance

4. Verbal process in English
i
ii
iii
iv
v
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
6
6
7
7

3.5. Target
4. Data analysis
4.1. The verb “Say”
4.2. The verb “Tell”
4.3. The verb “Ask”
4.4. The verb “Promise”
4.5. The verb “Speak”
4.6. The verb “Call”
4.7. The verb “Respond”
4.8. The verb “Question”
4.9. The verb “Wonder”
4.10. The verb “Agree, Disagree”
4.11. The verb “Offer”
4.12. The verb “Answer”
4.13. The verb “Declare”
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17
17
18
19
19
21
21
21
21
22
26
26
26
26

37
38
I
II
VII
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functional grammar has provided the learners of language with an analytic tool of looking
at the whole text and the grammatical features which are characteristics of that kind of text.
Functional grammar has been studied by many functional grammarians like Halliday
11 (1985, 1994), Bloor (1994), Eggins (1994), Thompson (1996), Morley (1985), etc. In
Vietnamese, the first functional grammar studies that should be counted as Cao Xuân
Hạos (1991) Tiếng Việt: Sơ thảo ng pháp chức năng; Hoàng Văn Vâns (2002), Ng
pháp Tiếng Việt Vị từ hành động. These studies are the first attempts to bring the
diagram which has not yet been highlighted in Vietnamese schools closer to the
Vietnamese learners. With the same purpose, I choose functional grammar as the area of
study for my M.A thesis.
However, because of the limitation of time and resources, I am not able to cover all
aspects of functional grammar. What I would like to do is to limit myself to a sub-area of
functional grammar, the transitivity system, of which the study focuses on one of the
processes in the transitivity system of English verbal process. My thesis would like to
touch upon how verbal process operates and the its applications in spoken text speeches
and how it helps speakers persuade the listeners. The study will use Hallidays functional
grammar as the theoretical framework.
2. Aims of the Study
Within the framework of an M.A thesis, the study is aimed at:
examining some of the most important issues related to verbal process.
analyzing the use of verbal process in some victory speeches of the U.S
President.
offering some suggestions for learning and teaching.
3. Scopes of the Study
As stated in 2., the study does not cover all aspects of functional grammar but
limits itself to a sub-area of functional grammar. In particular, the study focuses on
examining verbal process in two victory speeches delivered by U.S. President Barrack

The first chapter – The Introduction – presents the rationale of the study, the aims
of the study, scopes of the study, methods of the study, data collection and the research
design.
Chapter two – Theoretical Background- is concerned with the theoretical
orientations of the study, systemic-functional theory, the notions of language and context,
the metafunctions of the language, the grammar of experience: transitivity, and the
different process types in the transitivity system.
Chapter three – The Study – focuses on the application of this process in a real life
text.
Chapter four – The Conclusion – provides the major findings of the thesis and
offers some implications of the study and some suggestions for further study.

13
theoretical linguists interested in representation and formalism and descriptive linguists
interested in data and analysis.
Halliday developed a theory of the fundamental functions of language, in which he
analyzed lexicogrammar into three broad metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal and
textual. Each of the three metafunctions is about a different aspect of the world, and is
concerned with a different mode of meaning of clauses. The ideational metafunction is
about the natural world in the broadest sense, including our own consciousness, and is
concerned with clauses as representations. The interpersonal metafunction is about the
social world, especially the relationship between speaker and hearer, and is concerned with
clauses as exchanges. The textual metafunction is about the verbal world, especially the
flow of information in a text, and is concerned with clauses as messages.
In each metafunction an analysis of a clause gives a different kind of structure
composed from a different set of elements. In the ideational metafunction, a clause is
analyzed into Process, Participants and Circumstances, with different participant types for
different process types (as in Case Grammar). In the interpersonal metafunction, a clause is
analyzed into Mood and Residue, with the mood element further analyzed into Subject and
Finite. In the textual metafunction, a clause is analyzed into Theme and Rheme.
Systemic functional linguistics is one of several functional theories in the current
disciplines of linguistics which conceives of text as social interaction. It is thus suited not
only for increasing the interpreter‘s understanding of the language of texts to be
15 interpreted, but also for relating those texts to theirs context. Systemic functional linguists
view language as systems of meaning potential in human interaction that are realized by
various structures. The organizing concept is not a structure described by rules, but as
communicative behavior, as meaning making in a context of a culture, the behavior matrix
within which all social interactions take place. The choice to engage in a culturally
recognized social process is made at the level of genre plane . Martin (1992: 505) defines
genre as ‗a staged, goal-oriented social process‘

2. Metafunctions
According to Halliday, the three metafunctions are ideational, sometimes, treated
as separate experiential and logical components, interpersonal, and textual. These
metafunctions illustrate the polysystemic nature of language; each metafunction can be
described independently of the others as a system of choices that relate to certain aspect of
context and are realized by certain structures. Halliday (1994) sets the following
correspondences as the working hypothesis: field-ideational; tenor-interpersonal; and
mode-textual. The structural (grammatical) realizations of the multiple system are
simultaneous; i.e., independent choices made in each of the metafunctions must be realized
in overlapping grammatical structures. In other words, a single clause can be analyzed in
terms of different structures which reflect the realizations of the various kinds of meaning
simultaneously in that clause.
Newcomers to functional grammar are sometimes confused by metafunctions
because they expect them to operate independently and discretely. This is a mistaken
expectation. As Bloor stated in his book (1995: 9) that in almost any instance of language
use, all three metafunctions operate simultaneously in the expression of meaning. This is
because certain aspects of the grammar realize the ideational function, the other aspects
realize the interpersonal function, and yet others realize the textual function.
2.1. Ideational Metafunction
The ideational component on the semantic plane consists of experiential
meanings and logical meanings. Experiential meanings at the grammatical rank of the
clause are those functions that reflect or represent processes, participants, and
circumstances. In Halliday‘s analysis of English (Halliday, 1994: 106-161), experiential
meanings are accounted for in clauses by the transitivity system. The transitivity system
includes choices of process type and the configuration of possible participants, process and
circumstances which are associated with a particular process type.
Logical meanings are realized by relationship of coordination (or parataxis) and
subordination ( or hypotaxis) between clauses and other structural units, often through the
use of conjunctions, relative pronouns, ellipsis and so on. The way of analyzing the clause
17

and interpersonal meanings (as well as interpersonal and textual ones) will be shaped by
textual meanings, including information structure and theme. The system of theme is
realized through a structure in which the clause falls into just two main constituents: a
Theme and a Rheme. Theme is basically what comes first in the clause and it is what is
18 being talked about, it is the point of departure for the clause as a message. According to
Halliday (1994), in spite of the fact that they are often conflated, Theme and Rheme are not
the same as Given and News in information structure. Whereas information structure is
listener-oriented, thematic structure is speaker-oriented. The following example shows the
analysis of the textual perspective. The relationship of these three functions, which are in
the discourse-semantic stratum is called ‗metafunction resonance‘ by Halliday (1994) (for
more detail, see Hasan, 1993; Hoµng V¨n V©n, 2002).
In his book (1994:34), Halliday summarizes what we have discussed the three
different ways of looking at the clause as follows:
+ The Actor functions in the structure of the clause as a representation. A clause has
meaning as a representation, a construal of some process in ongoing human experience; the
Actor is the active participant in that process. It is the element the speaker portrays as the
one that does the deed.
+ The Subject functions in the structure of the clause as an exchange, a transaction between
speaker and listener; the subject is the warranty of the exchange. It is the element the
speaker makers responsible for the validity of what he is saying.
+ The Theme functions in the structure of the clause as a message. A clause has meaning
as a message, a quantum of information; the Theme is the point of departure for the
message. It is the element the speaker selects for ‗grounding‘ what he is going on to say.
3. The Grammar of Experiential Meaning: Transitivity
In the previous sections, the three ways in which human beings use language have
been carefully touched upon. Since the study focuses on the clause as representation, in
this section, I shall be more concerned with the clause in its experiential function, its guise

The lion
chased
the tourist
lazily
through the
bush
Participant
process
participant
circumstance
circumstance
Nominal group
verbal group
nominal group
adverbial group
prepositional
phrase

It can be obviously seen from the table and the example that the most typical way to
realize the Process is by the verbs. However, in some cases, the Process can also be
encoded by another constituent apart from the verbal group. This is the case of phrasal
verbs:
- What are you looking for?
- My mother is taking care of my boy while I am away from home.
- I cannot give up smoking.
The clause concludes at least one Participant, which is normally realized by nominal
group although sometimes the participant is not explicitly mentioned in the clause but
understood as part of the experiential meaning. The most popular examples are in the
imperative clauses as follows:
20

b. Verbal (encode experiences of bringing the inner world outside by speaking)
 Being
a. Existential (set up the existence of a sole participant)
b. Relational (encodes relations of being and having between two participants)
21 In the subsections that follow, five are presented. As verbal process is the main focus of the
thesis, it will be treated in a separate chapter.

3.2.1. Material Process
According to Thomas Bloor and Meriel Bloor (The Functional Analysis of
English): Material process are the process of doing and happening and about action. The
basic meaning of material process is that some entity does something or undertakes some
actions. A clause which reflects a material process can be read as the answer to a question,
‗what did x do?‘ where ‗do‘ is a (usually) concrete, tangible action. Material processes
have an obligatory participant, the Actor, which is the doer of the action. A second
participant, the goal of the action, is the participant in some material processes to which the
doing is done. Traditionally, the term transitive is used for verbs which required a goal
22 (whether it is made explicit in the clause or not), and intransitive is used for verbs which do
not take a goal participant. The following example provides an analysis of a clause which
reflects the material process:
She
carried
the bag
into the house
Actor

a song
Actor
Process: material
Range
3.2.2 Mental Processes
While ‗material‘ clauses are concerned with our experience of the material world,
‗mental‘ clauses are concerned with our experience of the world of our own consciousness.
It may be constructed either as flowing from a person‘s consciousness or as impinging on
it; but not as a material act. Or in other words, metal processes encode meanings of
thinking or feeling.
We can recognize that these are different from material processes because it no
longer makes sense to ask ―What did x do to y?‖
23 e.g.: What did you do to the injections? I hated it.
Or what don‘t I do to her behavior? I don‘t understand it.
With these clauses, it makes more sense to ask: ―What do you think / feel / know about x?‖
e.g.: What do you think about injections? I hate them.
Or What do you think about her letter? I don‘t understand it.
Mental processes can be divided into 3 classes.
- Cognition: verbs of thinking, knowing, understanding
e.g.: I don‘t know her name.
- Affection: verbs of liking, fearing, etc.
e.g.: I hate injections
- Perception: verbs of seeing, hearing.
e.g.: Simon heard it on the news.

identify.
The process is realized by the verb be in the simple present or past and they appear
to have two inherent participants.
e.g. Every fourth African is a Nigerian.
The second participant may be a ―non-specific‖ (―indefinite‖) nominal group or it
may be a prepositional phrase.
―Relational‖ clauses have a distinct grammar of their own. They model this
experience as ―being‖ rather than as ―doing‖ or ―sensing‖.
Relational processes are a rich and varied process type in which a relationship is
established between two terms. This relationship can be one of two sub-types, attributive
or identifying. In the former sub-type, an attribute is assigned to a carrier, specifying a
quality, classification, or description of the carrier. In the latter, the emphasis is not
describing or classifying, but defining. The participants in identifying processes are called
Token and Value. In addition to the distinction between attributive and identifying sub-
types, relational processes, whether attributive or identifying, can also be differentiated
into intensive, circumstantial, and possessive relational processes.
3.2.5. Existential Process
Existential processes, in contrast to relational processes, have only one participant
(not counting circumstantial elements), namely the Existent, or that participant which is
said to exist. Existential process clauses can be frequently be translated by English
existential process dummy subject ‗there‘.
3.2.6. The Circumstance
In addition to the participants, all the processes in the transitivity system may also
be accompanied by circumstantial elements, typically realized by adverbial groups
prepositional phrases and even by nominal groups. Figure 2.3 represents the range of
choices available to the speaker or writer once the choices has been made to include a
circumstantial element.
The Circumstances are identified by considering what the questions are used to
explicit them. Following are the questions that are helpful in identifying circumstances
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Actor, Goal
Recipient, client,
scope, initiator,
attribute
Behavioural
‗ behaving‘
Behaver
Behaviour
mental:
perception
cognition
desideration
emotion
‗sensing‘
‗seeing‘
‗thinking‘
‗wanting‘
‗feeling‘
Senser, Phenomenon

verbal
‗saying‘
Sayer, Target
Receiver, Verbiage
relational:
‗being‘
Carrier, Attribute
Attributor,
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not describe the world of psychological and behavior. On the other hand, they have some
features of mental process, especially if we assume that verbalization of thoughts is a kind
of inner speech. These verbs can be cases made for postulating a process named verbal
process. As a results, a verbal process can be defined as a process of saying. The typical
participants in the process are the Sayer, the Receiver, the Target, and the Verbiage.
A typical verbal process can be structured as follows:
Sayer + Process: verbal + (-) Target + (-) Receiver + (-) Verbiage
It must be noticed that unlike the mental process, the verbal processes do not require
conscious participants. The Sayer can be anything which puts out the signal, like the notice
or my watch in the following examples:
- My watch says it‘s half past ten.
27 - The notice tells you to keep quiet.
For this reason, verbal processes can be called ‗symbolic‘ processes.
4.2. Components of the Verbal Process
As mentioned in the above section, a verbal process clause can have maximally
four potential participants: the Sayer, the Receiver, the Target, and the Verbiage. Before
discussing the details of each participant, it would be helpful to look at the process first.
4.2.1. The Process
Again, the verbal process can be defined as the process of saying. The
typical verb used to encode the process is say, but there are many others, probably the most
important of which are ask and tell:
- ‗Hold on a moment‘, said she.
- I asked her if she had heard him.
- He told me to go to bed early.
In fact, there are a large number of verbs that can be exploited to realize the
process, each carrying some extra element of meaning. Sometimes this meaning can relate
to the speech act realized: just as we can ask to indicate a question or tell to indicate a

imperative mood:
- He said, ‗Talk to me, please!‘
However, we can always in principle ask for the identification of the Sayer
(‗who reproached you?‘), indicating that role is inherently present in the meaning.
4.2.3. The Receiver
- Another participant that involves in the verbal and is also typical human is the Receiver.
This is the participant to whom the saying is addressed. With some verbs, the Receiver is
nearly always mentioned as in the following examples:
So
I
asked
him
a question.

Sayer
Pr: verbal
Receiver
Verbiage

- The Receiver is also the one to whom the verbal process is directed, the beneficiary of
verbal message. Besides, the Receiver may be subject in a clause which is passive:
+ We weren‘t told the truth
4.2.4. The Verbiage:
- The Verbiage is a nominalized statement of the verbal process: a noun expressing some
kind of verbal behavior (e.g.: statement, questions, answer, story)
So
I
asked
him
a question.