VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
TRẦN HỒNG VÂN

A STUDY ON PROJECTION AND ITS
REALIZATION IN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S
SPEECH AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN LAS VEGAS NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHÓNG CHIẾU VÀ SỰ THỂ HIỆN CỦA NÓ
TRONG BÀI PHÁT BIỂU CỦA TỔNG THỐNG BARACK
OBAMA TẠI CUỘC VẬN ĐỘNG TRANH CỬ Ở LAS VEGAS
M.A. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15

M.A .Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60 22 15
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân
Hanoi - 2013

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS vi
LIST OF TABLES vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Aim of the study 2
3. Research question 2
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Methods of the study 2
6. Design of the study 2
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1 4

2.4.2. Analysis 30
2.4.2.1. Hypotactic projection 30
2.4.2.2. Paratactic projection 38
2.4.2.3. Embedded projection 39
2.5. Summary 40
PART C: CONCLUSION 42
1. Recapitulation 42
2. Implications 44
3. Suggestion for further study 45
REFERENCES 46
APPENDIX 1 I
APPENDIX 2 IX
vi
NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS
 Boundary markers
||| : clause complex boundary
|| : clause boundary
 Types of dependency
1, 2, 3, …: Parataxis
α, β, γ, …: Hypotaxis
 Logico-semantic relations
Expansion:
= : Elaboration
+ : Extension
x : Enhancement
Projection:
“ : Locution

Table 2
:
Projection of propositions and proposals
16
Table 3
:
Positions of projecting clauses
17
Table 4
:
Verbs used in projecting clauses
17
Table 5
:
Quoting and paratactic reporting
18
Table 6
:
Paired verbs of the like type and the please type
20
Table 7
:
Verbs serving in hypotactic projection
21
Table 8
:
Projection nouns and fact nouns
22
Table 9
:

generative grammar by Noam Chomsky and his followers. However, the most
popular trend of grammar is functional grammar that is developed by Halliday and
some other linguists such as Hassan, Morley, Bloor, etc. While other trends of
grammar focuses on the rules of wordings, functional grammar is concerned with
the meaning and functions of a language.
In Vietnam, functional grammar is studied by such grammarians as Cao
Xuân Hạo (1991) with Tiếng Việt: Sơ thảo Ngữ pháp chức năng and Hoàng Văn
Vân (2005) with Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của cú tiếng Việt: Mô tả theo quan điểm
chức năng hệ thống.
In Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, students have a chance to take an
approach to functional grammar to discover new features of this innovative trend of
grammar. For the author, what attracts her the most is projection. That is the reason
why she chooses to analyze the realization of projection in a speech by President

2
Obama. It is expected that the analysis of projection will reveal the underlying
meaning of the President‟s speech.
2. Aim of the study
The aim of the study is to explore how different types of projection are
realized in President Obama‟s speech at a Campaign Event in Las Vegas. In order
to achieve this aim, an overview of the key concepts of functional grammar relevant
to the study is in need of exploration to provide the theoretical framework for the
analysis.
3. Research question
With such an aim as mentioned, the following question is raised for
exploration:
How are projections realized in President Obama’s speech at a Campaign Event
in Las Vegas?
4. Scope of the study
In order to make the most convenience for the author, the study only focuses
4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Introduction
In the first chapter of the study, the author attempts to present some concepts
of systemic functional grammar including three metafunctions of a language and to
review some related studies. The main content of this chapter is the notion of clause
complex and projection. In the clause complex, the logico-semantic relations
between clauses are focused because one of the two logico-semantic relations,
projection, is the main interest of the study.
1.2. An overview of systemic functional grammar
Language is an important tool in our life. We use it not only to make
ourselves understood but also to maintain a relationship with other people in our
society. Grammar is part of a language. According to Matthiessen & Halliday
(1997), grammar is “the system of wordings of a language”. However, the
interpretation of how a language is worded depends on different theories of
grammar. In linguistics history, there have been many trends of grammar, most of
which began with European languages such as Greeks, Romans or Latin. These
grammar trends are mainly based on the two theoretical perspectives. Those who
are in favor of the first viewpoint consider language “a set of rules” and grammar is
a structure to specify those rules. From this perspective, it is important to define

closer to people‟s communicative language. It not only mentions form and meaning
of a language but also the relationship between them (Thompson, 1996: 6). In
functional grammar, there is no “right” or “wrong” in terms of structure like in
traditional grammar, but functional grammarians only consider something
“appropriate” or “inappropriate” to achieve high effectiveness in language (Eggins,
1994: 22).
1.2.1. Review of related studies
The founder of SFG is M.A.K Halliday (1994) with a famous book An
Introduction to Functional Grammar. In this book, he explores the clause as

6
message, the clause as exchange and the clause as representation, which correspond
to textual metafunction, interpersonal metafunction and ideational metafunction.
Besides the clause, the author presents some concepts about below, above and
beyond the clause such as groups and phrases, the clause complex, intonation and
rhythm and cohesion and discourse. These concepts are considered the theoretical
foundation for many of his followers to base on in their research and publications.
Ten years later, Mathiessen (2004) revises Halliday‟s book with more specifications
and examples to illustrate the concepts. Some other scholars such as Eggins (1994),
Bloors (1995), Thompson (1996), Martin, Mathiessen and Painter (1997) also pay
much attention to SFG. While Thompson (1996) focuses on analyzing examples to
clarify some concepts of SFG, Martin, Mathiessen and Painter (1997) provides
some exercises for students to work with functional grammar. In Eggin‟s (1996)
book, she focuses more on some concepts such as genre or register. Bloors (1995)
attempt to analyze English in the light of SFG.
In Vietnam, the history of research on Vietnamese grammar dates back to
long ago. However, the very first studies of Vietnamese grammar were just some
simple notes of different parts of speech or the role of word order, etc. in the
bilingual dictionaries developed by Western scholars in order to teach Vietnamese
grammar to foreigners (Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, 2012). Later, there appeared some

language and has no significance for the analysis of language itself” (Halliday &
Hasan, 1985; Martin, 1990 cited in Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004).
1.2.2.1. Interpersonal metafunction
People use languages to establish and maintain the social relationship with
other people. The metafunction of language that expresses the interaction between
speakers and addressees is called interpersonal metafunction. People can use their
language to ask a question, to make an order, an offer or to express their emotion
towards other people and other things.
Interpersonal metafuntion is realized through the Mood system. The mood
element consists of two parts: (1) the Subject, which is a nominal group, and (2) the
Finite operator, which is part of a verbal group (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:

8
111). The remainder of the clause is called Residue constituted by three elements:
Predicator, Complement and Adjunct. The following example is analyzed on the
basis of interpersonal metafunction:
It
has
hurt
me
so much.
Subject
Finite
Predicator
Complement
Adjunct
Mood
Residue
1.2.2.2. Textual metafunction
While interpersonal metafunction enacts the social world, textual

theory, experiential metafunction is realized through the system of transitivity. He
emphasizes that “transitivity system construes the world of experience into a
manageable set of process types”, namely material process, mental process,
relational process, behavioral process, verbal process, and existential process
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 170). In each process, he continues to analyze the
participants and circumstances taking part in the process.
Logical metafunction is the relationship between the expressed ideas. It is
realized through the relationship of coordination (parataxis) or subordination
(hypotaxis) between the two clausal units. The example below illustrates the
experiential and logical metafunction of a clause:
Peter
says
that
he
was
an engineer.
Sayer
Process: Verbal

Carrier
Process: relational
Attribute
||| Peter says || that he was an engineer. |||
α “β
In summary, three metafunctions of language play a very important role in
functional grammar. They are closely related and “they all contribute to the overall
meaning and structure of the text” (Morley, 2000: 16). In order to see the
relationship between three metafunctions, an example is analyzed in relation to
transitivity, mood and thematic structure. In the following sections, the author will
focus on the logical metafunction of clause complex which is the main interest in

Predi-
-cator
Adjunct
Adjunct
Mood
Residue
Textual
THEME
Theme
Rheme
1.3. The notion of clause complex and projection in SFG
1.3.1. The notion of clause complex in SFG
Functional grammarians pay much attention to the notion “rank scale”
related to “constituency” “whereby larger units are made up out of smaller ones”
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:5). There exists the rank scale in the grammar of
every language. In English, the rank scale can be represented as below:
Clause
Phrase/ group
Word
Morpheme
Unit rank scale in English
Each unit of rank can consist of one or more units of the rank next below. It
can form complexes, hence, functional grammar may be concerned with clause
complexes, phrase complexes, group complexes, word complexes and even
morpheme complexes (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 9).
It can be seen that a clause is the largest unit of the rank scale. It is also a
basic unit in functional grammar. As Bloor (1995) emphasizes, it is at this rank that
people start to exchange information and interact with each other (Bloor, 1995: 7).
From Hallidayan linguists‟ perspective, clauses include clause simplexes and clause
complexes. As it is called, a clause simplex consists of only one clause while a

β α
Interestingly, in clause complexes, parataxis or hypotaxis does not exist
separately but there is a mixture of parataxis and hypotaxis. This is called “clause
nexus” by Halliday (2004:375). The clauses making up clause nexus are primary
and secondary clauses. The clauses making up clause nexus are primary and
secondary clauses. The primary may be the initiating clause in a paratactic nexus or

12
the dominant clause in a hypotactic while the secondary is the continuing clause in
parataxis or the dependent clause in hypotaxis. The mixture of parataxis and
hypotaxis in clause nexus can be illustrated in the following example:
||| I would || if I could, || but I can‟t. |||
1α 1β 2
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:376)
1.3.1.2. Logico-semantic relation
There is a wide range of logico-semantic relations between primary and
secondary clauses in a clause nexus; however, it can be summarized as two kinds:
expansion and projection.
Expansion is the relationship where the secondary clause expands the
primary clause by elaborating it, extending it or enhancing it. In elaboration, one
clause does not add new information to the other clause but specify, clarify and
describe what has been said in the primary clause instead.
||| She sang poorly, || the audience was bored with her voice. |||
1 =2
On the other hand, extension is the relation when the secondary clause adds
new information to the primary clause.
||| I am tired || and I don‟t want to have breakfast. |||
1 +2
The third type of expansion is enhancement in which the qualifying clause
enhances the main clause by adding some information relating to “time, place,

(b) extension
1 John ran away,
+2 and Fred stayed
behind.
α John ran away,
+β whereas Fred
stayed behind.
(c) enhancement
1 John was scared,
X2 so he ran away.
α John ran away,
xβ because he was
scared.
(2) projection
(a) locution
1 John said:
“2 “I‟m running away”
α John said
“β he was running
away.
(b) idea
1 John thought to
himself:
„2 „I‟ll run away‟
α John thought
„β he would run away.
Table 1: Relation between clauses in clause complexes
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 380)

14

my parents.
Sayer
Process: verbal
Verbiage

Receiver
Each projection process is realized through projecting element and projected
element. In fact, there are three systems involving the categorization of projection:
the level of projection, the speech function of projection and the mode of
projection.
1.3.2.1. Level of projection
The two processes mentioned above directly affect level of projection. If the
projecting clause is verbal process, then the projected clause is called “locution”,

15
whereas if the projecting clause is a mental process, the projected clause is “idea”.
“Locution” and “idea” constitute two levels of projection. For example, in the
clause complex “John said that she was beautiful”, “she was beautiful” is a
locution, while in “John thought that she was beautiful”, “she was beautiful” is an
idea. It can be said that locution is the projection of wording and idea is the
projection of meaning (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 443).
1.3.2.2. Mode of projection
As it was mentioned in the previous part, taxis and logico-semantic relations
are two kinds of relationship between clauses. When projection is in combination
with taxis, we have paratactic projection and hypotactic projection which are
conceptualized as mode of projection. Paratactic projection is known as quoting
where the projected clause is directly quoted. In contrast, hypotactic projection is
similar to reporting in which the projected clause is indirectly reported.
||| The girl said: || “I saw a young man in the house.” |||
1 “2

α „β She thought
she could
Major: proposal
He willed her „Do‟
He wanted her to
do
Locution “verbal
Major:
proposition
1 “2 She said, “I
can”
α “β She said she
could
Major: proposal
He told her “Do”
He told her to do
Minor
1 “2 She said,
“Wow!”
-
Table 2: Projection of propositions and proposals
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 445)
1.3.3. Paratactic projection
Paratactic projection is a kind of projection in which projecting clause and
projected clause are of equal status. It means that projected clause does not depend
on projecting clause in terms of mood, reference, register or dialect…. The
projected clause focuses on the wording of an original language event. It possesses
all the features of the clause as exchange such as the mood or the tone selection and
it can occur alone, without the appearance of the projecting clause. In the clause
complex “He says that “I am an architect.””, the projecting clause “He says”

1
said Brutus.
2
Table 3: Positions of projecting clauses (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 446)
In paratactic projection, the verb “say” is the general member of the group.
Besides that, there are many other verbs which add more connotation meaning to
themselves. The following table illustrates the verbs for paratactic projection of
both propositions and proposals:

Proposition
Proposal
(1) general
verb
say
say
(2) verbs
specific to
speech
function:
(a) statements: tell, remark,
observe, point out, report,
announce
(a) offers: suggest, offer;
threaten, vow, promise, agree
(b) questions: ask, demand,
inquire, query
(b) commands: call, order,
request, tell, propose, decide;
urge, plead, warn
(3) verbs with

both propositions and proposals.
Process
types
Speech
function
Quoting
(direct)
Paratactic reporting
(free indirect)
Verbal

Proposition

Proposal
“1 2
“I can”, he said.
“Are you sure?” asked Fred.
“Wait here,” she told him.

He could, he said.
Was she sure, Fred asked.
Wait there, she told him.
Mental

Proposition „1 2
„I can‟, he thought.
„Am I dreaming?‟ wondered

α „β
(2) desideration
||| I want || him to go out. |||
α „β
For cognition hypotactic projection is applied in both (a) like type and (b)
please type, two ways to express mental process without changing the active voice
of clauses. For example:
(a) like type