从奥巴马的胜选感言看语言人际功能的实现11-16

Chapter ThreeTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKThis chapter sets out to provide a full account of the theoretical framework for the present study. First of all, the basic assumptions within systemic functional linguistics are introduced as the theoretical background. Secondly, the elaborated framework of Appraisal theory is illustrated as the other major theoretical framework at the operational level.3.1 Basic assumptions of system functional linguisticsAccording to SFL, language is viewed as a social behavior and a mode of action to perform functions intended by the speaker, what's more, language is regarded as a system of meaning potential from which language users make choices to express meanings. The meaning can generally be divided into three domains: experiential meaning, interpersonal meaning and textual meaning. Actually, the understanding of choice here is twofold: on the one hand, it refers to the choice of meaning as the speaker intends to communicate; on the other hand, it refers to the choice of wordings the speaker uses to express his or her intention ( Thompson, 2000:8).In functional view, language and context are interdependent (Thompson, 2000:9). Broadly speaking, the material world influences what we talk about and how we talk about it. Conversely what and how we talk about the world influence our view on the material world. In this sense, language use is a process of making choices amongst relevant options in context (Thompson, 2000:9).3.2 Interpersonal function in systematic functional linguisticsFirstly, the author focuses on the theory of interpersonal function in SFL and studies how Interpersonal meaning is realized on the clause level. According to Halliday, the interpersonal function consists of mood and modality.3．2.1 MoodMood is one of the grammatical means to represent interpersonal functions. Generally mood involves following components: the kind of exchange going on, the roles of the participants, and the attitudes and judgments of the speaker. The analysis of mood can tell us what is the speaker's perception when they exchange the proposition; it also helps us find the speakers' discourse roles: who is asking or demanding information and who is giving information and thus providing insight into their relationships;According to Halliday, the clause can be divided into two parts: mood and residue. The mood consists of two parts : subject and finite (Halliday, 1994:72) .The subject, usually a nominal group, is the entity that something is predicated in the rest of the clause. In communication, by amending certain finite, the listener can confirm, reject or qualify what is being said about the subject. The finite is the verbal group expressing tense or modality. We can recognize the subject and finite in the clause by adding a tag question.3.2.1.1 SubjectThe subject is a familiar term in traditional grammar, although it should be remembered that here it is being reinterpreted in functional terms (Halliday, 1994:72). In this sense, subject is the entity that something is predicated in the rest of the Clause. Subject expresses the entity that the speaker wants to make responsibility for the validity of the proposition being advanced in the clause. The listener can then confirm, reject, query or qualify the validity by repeating or amending the finite, but the subject must remain the same: if that is altered, the exchange has moved on to a new proposition. In this sense, the clause is "about" the subject from the interpersonal relationship (Thompson, 2000:45).Halliday (1994:73) tells us the way to distinguish the subject from the functional consideration: "the subject, in a declarative clause, is that element which is picked up by the pronoun in the tag. So in order to locate the subject, add a tag and see which element is taken up. For example, that teapot was given to your aunt: here the tag would be wasn't it? It is the subject of the clause." So we can draw a conclusion: subject refers to the nominal group that is repeated in pronoun form in the tag. Because pronoun is the main component of subject, the author focuses on analyzing the choice of pronoun in the speech. The speaker uses proper pronoun to position his/herprospective social status and solidarity. In our daily life, politicians employ the pronoun system to indicate their solidarity within a particular ideological paradigm. So different personal pronouns can achieve different power in the speech. According to Rees (1983, cited in Liang, 2006:63), personal pronouns have a continuum representing distancing from self:0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8I We You One You It She He They→Figure3.1 :( Indefinite) Distancing from selfIn many languages, the choice of personal pronouns is influenced and limited by communicator's social status and distance of power relationship.3.2.1.2 FiniteAccording to Halliday, Finite makes it possible to negotiate about the validity of the proposition. The finite element has the function of making the proposition finite. That is to say, it circumscribes it; it brings the proposition down to earth, so that it is something that can be argued about. This can be done by two ways: one is by reference to the time of speaking; the other is by reference to the judgments of the speaker. In grammatical terms, the first is primary tense, the second is modality. Primary tense means past, present or future at the moment of speaking; it is time relative to "now". Modality means the speaker's judgment of the probabilities, or the obligations, involved m what he is saying (Halliday, 1994:75).Because the function of finiteness provides reference for judging proposition, it is expressed by verbal operators in two ways: temporal and modal. Temporal operator mainly refers to primary tense which includes past, present or future at the moment of speaking. In addition to the two operators, there is another feature which is an essential concomitant of finiteness, i.e. polarity. This is the choice between positive and negative in order for something to be arguable. It has to be specified for polarity: either it is so,or it isn't so.Finiteness combines the specification of polarity with the specification of either temporal or modal reference to the speech event.Table 3.1 : Finite verbal operators (Halliday, 1994:76)3.2.1.3 ResidueWe have talked about the subject and frnite which comprises "mood", and now we come to the "residue". The residue of a clause consists of three kinds of functional elements: predicator, complement and adjunct. Every clause includes only one predicator, one or two complements, and an indefinite number of adjuncts (Halliday, 1994:78).The predicator is realized by a verbal group minus the temporal or modal operator. In other words, it can be expressed by the rest of the verbal group. According to Halliday, the function of the predicator is fourfold: Firstly it specifies time reference other than reference to the time of the speech event; secondly it specifies various other aspects and phases like seeming, trying, hoping; thirdly it specifies the voice: active or passive; fourthly it specifies the process (action, event, mental process, relation) that is predicated of the subject (Halliday, 1994:79).A Complement is an element in the residue that has the potential of being a subject but is not (Halliday, 1994:80). It is typically realized by a nominal group. So we can see any nominal group that can't be subject in a clause must be a complimentAn adjunct is an element that does not have the potential of being subject (Halliday, 1994:80). The role of adjuncts is typically performed by an adverbial group or a prepositional phrase. Typical order of elements in the residue is: predicator +complements +adjunct. Within the general category of adjunct, if the adjunct belongs to the residue, it's called circumstantial. But there are two special types which do not follow the same principles of ordering, even do not fall within the residue at all. They are modal adjuncts and conjunctive adjuncts (Halliday, 1994:81). Actually, the basis of the distinction among them is a meta-functional one. Circumstantial Adjunct is experiential, telling us things like when, or how, or where, or why the event happened, and conjunctive adjunct is textual, signaling how the clause as a whole fits in with the preceding text. They are not regarded as playing any part in the interpersonal meanings of the clause and thus are not included in the discussion here. Modal Adjunct focuses on the interpersonal. It will be the key point we will discuss here.According to Halliday, modal adjunct is further divided into Comment Adjuncts and Mood Adjuncts (Halliday, 1994:82). Mood Adjuncts are most closely associated with the meanings constructed in the mood system: those of polarity, modality, temporality and mood. They usually modify the whole sentence, expressing a judgment about a proposition, or an attitude towards a proposition, or a state of affairs as a whole, rather than give circumstantial information about the event. For example, "already" is related to temporality, "yes" is related to polarity, and "maybe" is related to modality. The following list of the main items which function as Mood Adjunctsis given by Halliday (Halliday, 1994:82).Adjuncts of polarity and modality(a) Polarity: not, yes, no, so(b) Probability: probably, possibly, certainly, perhaps, maybe(c) Usuality: usually, sometimes, always, never, ever, seldom, rarely(d) Readiness: willingly, readily, gladly, certainly, easily(e) Obligation: defrnitely, absolutely, possibly, at all costs, by all means .Adjuncts of temporality :(f) Time: yes, still, already, once, soon, just(g) Typicality: occasionally, generally, regularly, mainlyAdjuncts of mood(f) Obviousness: of course, surely, obviously, clearly(g) Intensity: just, simply, merely, only, even, actually, really, in fact(h)degree:quite,almost,nearly,scarcely,hardly,absolutely,totally,utterly,entirely,completelyThe other type of the modal adjunct is the comment adjuncts. Actually, there is not a very clear line between the comment adjuncts and the mood adjuncts. The difference is that comment adjuncts are less closely tied to the grammar of mood; they express the speaker's attitude to the proposition as a whole (Halliday, 1994:83). Modal adjuncts occur at various scattered but functionally significant locations throughout the clause. They relate most closely to the system of mood; this is obviously, truer of the mood adjuncts than of the comment adjuncts, but since the two types form a continuum we shall analyze both as part of the mood constituent of the clause.3.2.2ModalityPolarity is the choice between positive and negative. The intermediate degrees between the positive and negative poles are known collectively as modality. Halliday (1994:89) defines modality as the "area of meaning that lies between yes and no-the intermediate ground between positive and negative polarity." That is to say, there exists a kind of modal space between yes and no. But there is more than one way of getting from "yes" to "no". In order to account for this, we need to refer to the distinction in speech roles that we exchange propositions Ceinformation", i.e. statement and questions) or proposals ("goods-&-services", i.e. offers and commands) in communication.If the commodity being exchanged is information, the modality relates to how valid the information is in terms of probability or usuality. Degrees of probability are: possible /probable/certain and degrees of usuality are: sometimes/often/always. The former is equivalent to ‘either yes or no', i.e. maybe yes, maybe no, with different degrees of likelihood attached. The latter is equivalent to cboth yes and no', i.e. sometimes yes and sometimes no, with different degrees of oftenness attached (Halliday, I 994:89).Hence Halliday refers to these as "modalization".If the commodity being exchanged is goods & services, the modality relates to how confident the speaker can be in the eventual success of the exchange. In commands, this concerns the degree of obligation on the other person to carry out the command, the scale for the demanded goods and services includes: permissible/advisable/obligatory), while in offers it concerns the degree of willingness or inclination of the speaker to fulfill the offer, and the intermediate points represent degrees of inclination: willing. to/anxious to/determined to (Halliday, 1994:89). Halliday refers to these as "modulation".So we can see modality subsumes of devices that indicate speaker's attitudes to the propositions they utter, and to some degree to their addressees. These attitudes fall into the areas of validity, predictability, obligation, permission.. In English, probability and usuality can be expressed by three means: 1) Modal verbal operators in verbal group, e.g. he will come here this afternoon. 2) Modal adverbs express probability and usuality. 3) Combination of the foregoing two means. E.g. Obligation and willingness can be expressed by two means: modal verbal operators and extended parts of predicator (adjective words) (Hu Zhuanglin, 2005:146).3.3. Appraisal in English。