(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) the structure and meaning of president nguyen minh triet’s speech addressed on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of thang long

ABSTRACT This study presents an attempt to apply systemic functional grammar to investigating a political speech addressed by President Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion of the 1000thann

ABSTRACT

This study presents an attempt to apply systemic functional grammar to investigating a political speech addressed by President Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion of the 1000thanniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi Based on a brief overview of systemic functional grammar introduced by Halliday, the study focuses on language functions (ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction, and textual metafunction) which are represented via transitivity pattern, mood pattern and theme - rheme pattern, and on cohesion (grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion) of the text The findings show that in terms of transitivity pattern, relational process is predominant, in terms of mood pattern, declarative mood is in the widest use and topical theme which forms unmarked one is the most striking feature in terms of theme pattern Moreover, grammatical cohesion represented by reference and conjunctive devices and lexical cohesion shown via repetition, synonyms, meronyms and hyponyms make the text more cohesive and coherent The analysis proves that systemic functional grammar is the smartest choice for those whose concern is for structure and meaning of a particular text

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………

ABSTRACT …… ………

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………

LIST OF MARKERS AND ABBREVIATIONS ……… ………

LIST OF TABLES ………

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……….………

1.1 Rationale of the Study ………

1.2 Aims of the Study ………

1.3 Scopes of the Study ………

1.4 Method of the Study … ………

1.5 Data Collection ………

1.6 Design of the Study … ………

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ………

2.1 Introduction ……… ………….……

2.2 The Linguistic System ………

2.3 Metafunctions ……… ………….……

2.3.1 Ideational Metafunction ………

2.3.2 Interpersonal Metafunction ………

2.3.3 Textual Metafunction …….………

2.4 Cohesion ………

2.4.1 Concept of Cohesion ……….………

2.4.2 Types of Cohesion ……… ……

2.4.2.1 Grammatical Cohesion …… ………

2.4.2.2 Lexical Cohesion ……… ……

2.5 Concluding Remarks ………

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III CHAPTER 3: THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF PRESIDENT

NGUYEN MINH TRIET’S SPEECH ON THE OCCASION OF 1000 TH

ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THANG LONG – HANOI

3.1 Introduction ………

3.2 The Context of the Chosen Text ………

3.3 Contextual Configuration of the Text ………

3.4 Clauses and Clause Complexes ………

3.5 The Analysis of the text in terms of Transitivity, Mood and Theme ………

3.5.1 The Transitivity Pattern ………

3.5.2 The Mood Pattern ………

3.5.3 The Theme – Rheme Pattern ………

3.6 The Cohesion of the Text ………

3.6.1 Grammatical Cohesion ………

3.6.2 Lexical Cohesion ………

3.7 Structure of the Text ………

IV CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION ………

4.1 Recapitulation ………

4.2 Implications for the Study ………

4.3 Suggestions for Further Study ………

REFERENCES ……… ………

APPENDIX I ………

APPENDIX II ………

APPENDIX III ………

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LIST OF MARKERS AND ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Types of Circumstances ………

Table 2: Clause and Clause Complexes ………

Table 3: Transitivity Pattern of the Text ………

Table 4: Mood Pattern of the Text ………

Table 5: Theme – Rheme Pattern of the Text ….………

Table 6: Grammatical Cohesive Devices of the Text …… ………

Table 7: Conjunctive Devices of the Text ………

Table 8: Lexical Devices Summary ………

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study

The more modern society is, the more complex language has become It has evolved to satisfy human needs, and the way it is organized is functional with respect to these needs An important move in linguistics in recent years has introduced a new model and method of description of language known as Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) in which everything can be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used Different from formal grammar which focuses on written language and deals with rules of correct usage rather than with meaning and context of the text, functional grammar centers on both written and spoken language and emphasize how linguistic structures express meaning and views language as a communicative resource, not as grammatical rules It is considered “an effective tool of analysis, which solves the issues left out by traditional grammar” as it helps understand human language more deeply

With its own benefits, SFG has been thoroughly investigated by many well-known linguists worldwide such as M.A.K Halliday (1994), G.Thompson (1996), C.M.I Mathiessen (1997), etc In Vietnam, though it has received considerable attention, there has not much research on

this except Cao Xuân Hạo with the work “Tiếng Việt – Sơ thảo ngữ pháp chức năng” (1991), and the work “Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của cú Tiếng Việt mô tả theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống” by Hoàng Văn Vân (2002) and some other researches on other aspects like “Thematic structure in Vietnamese” by Đỗ Tuấn Minh and “Bàn thêm về phạm trù thức trong Tiếng Anh

và tiếng Việt (theo quan điểm chức năng hệ thống)” by Trần Hữu Mạnh, etc The reason is that

SFG is still new in Vietnam Thus, an investigation into Vietnamese from systemic functional perspective seems a hard and time - taking work for not only linguists but researchers as well However, those studies have made great contributions to the development of functional grammar in Vietnam and inspired me to choose this grammar model as the theoretical framework for my MA thesis Furthermore, I myself find SFG really useful and interesting as

it provides us an analytic tool to examine the logico-semantic relations that structure a text thoroughly and comprehensively Moreover, I would like to try myself in a new but exciting linguistic field, analyzing a Vietnamese text – its structure and meaning from systemic functional perspective to see how the findings can help my understanding of Vietnamese For those reasons, I have decided to choose SFG as the field of my study and take “The meaning and structure of President Nguyen Minh Triet’s speech addressed on the occasion of the 1000thanniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi: A systemic functional analysis” as a text for my thesis, using Halliday’s functional grammar as a theoretical framework

1.2 Aims of the Study

Within the framework of a minor thesis, the study aims at:

 Examining some basic notions related to the meatafunctions of language: experiential, interpersonal and textual metafunction

 Analyzing the meaning and structure of President Nguyen Minh Triet’s speech addressed

on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi based

on the systemic functional framework

 Suggesting some pedagogical implications

1.3 Scope of the Study

As a minor thesis, not all aspects of functional grammar are explored but only some of them such as linguistic system, metafunctions and cohesion The focus of the study, however, does not lie in the theoretical findings but hopefully, on this fundamental theory, will enlighten the political text analysis

1.4 Methods of the Study

With a view to analyzing the meaning and structure of a Vietnamese text, descriptive and analytical methods are used The former is concerned with the description of the main areas of functional grammar and the latter deals with the analysis of the text for discussion

1.5 Data collection

The text is transcribed from the speech addressed by President Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long, Ha Noi on 10th October

2010

1.6 Design of the Study

This thesis is divided into four chapters as follows:

 Chapter one – Introduction – presents the rationale of the study, the aims of the study, scope of the study, methods of the study, data collection, and the research design

 Chapter two – Theoretical Background – supplies some fundamental and theoretical concepts for the study: linguistic system, metafunctions and cohesion analysis

 Chapter three – The Analysis of President Nguyen Minh Triet’s speech addressed on

the occasion of the 1000 th anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long - Hanoi –

focuses on its meaning and structure

 Chapter four – Conclusion – summarizes the results of the study and offers some suggestions for teaching and learning as well as for further studies

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS 2.1 Introduction

This chapter will re-examine some basic concepts that are considered to set the theoretical orientation for the study: the linguistic system, metafunctions and cohesion Examples are taken from grammar books by such famous linguists as Halliday (1985, 1994), Geoff Thomson (1996), Hoàng Văn Vân (2002, 2005 & 2006), and other researchers like Đỗ Tuấn Minh (2006), Thái Minh Đức (2004), etc

2.2 The linguistic system

Language is viewed as systems of meaning potential in human interaction that are realized by various structures formed in certain contexts which are studied under register In systemic grammar, register is conceptualized in terms of three parameters: field, tenor and mode

- Filed of discourse refers to what is happening, to the nature of the social action that is

taking place: what is it that the participants are engaged in, in which the language figures

as some essential components?

- Tenor of discourse refers to who is taking part, to the nature of the participants, their

statuses and roles: what kind of role relationships of one kind or another, both the types of speech role that they are taking on in the dialogue and the whole cluster of socially significant relationships in which they are involved?

- Mode of discourse refers to what part the language is playing, what it is that the

participants are expecting the language to do for them in that situation: the symbolic organization of the text, the status that it has, and its function in the context, including the channel (is it spoken or written or some combination of the two?) and also the rhetorical mode, what is being achieved by the text in terms of such categories as persuasive,

expository, didactic and the like

(Halliday in Halliday & Hassan, 1989:12)

These three variables are deemed to be the only aspects of the context of situation of a text that are linguistically relevant to accomplish a particular social goal It will be embedded in the text

by being realized in the semantic and grammatical structures of the text

2.3 Metafunctions

From the sociological point of view, Halliday (1970, 1985) developed a theory of the fundamental functions of language into three broad metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal and textual Each functional component corresponds to each parameter register as the working hypothesis: field - ideational; tenor - interpersonal; mode - textual

2.3.1 Ideational Metafunction

Language is used to organize, understand and express our perceptions of the world and our

consciousness It is the means of representing reality and known as the ideational function It

consists of experiential meanings and logical meanings (Halliday, 1994: 179) The experiential function is concerned with contents or ideas whereas the logical function is about the relationship between ideas

2.3.1.1 Process types

Experiential meanings are realized through the system of transitivity that, according to Halliday (1994), construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types Like English, Vietnamese transitivity systems are composed by six types: Material Process, Mental Process, Verbal Process, Behavioral Process, Relational Process, and Exitential Process (for more detailed discussion of the Process types in Vietnamese, see Hoàng Văn Vân (2002, 2005))

Material Process is the process of doing or happening There is an obligatory participant, the Actor, which is the doer of the action and an optional participant named Goal or Range

Sometimes a material clause in Vietnamese may optionally specify a Recipient (the one to whom something is given) or a Client (the one for whom something is done) In Vietnamese,

the Goal or occur in the final position of the clause, marked with a preposition “cho” They are represented via such kinds of Vietnamese verbs as “bay đi, hoàn thành, nấu, chơi, etc.”

Followings are some examples referring to Material process:

(1a)

(1b)

(1c)

Mental process is the process of cognition, perception, affection and desideration There are

always two participants in this process: the conscious one called the Senser and the

Phenomenon that enters into or impinges on the Senser’s consciousness Those verbs as

“thích, muốn, yêu, căm ghét, sợ hãi, etc.” help indicate this type of process Here is an

example:

(2)

Verbal Process is the process of saying, speaking or talking The participants taking part in

this process are often the Sayer (any conscious or unconscious participant responsible for the act of saying), the Receiver (the one to whom the saying is addressed), the Target (the one that the verbalization is directed to) and the Verbiage (the message itself) This process is often

represented by “hỏi, chúc mừng, nói, kể, tuyên án, kết tội, etc.” in Vietnamese For examples:

(3a)

Actor Aspectual marker Process: material Range

(3b)

Behavioral Process, which is on the borderline between mental and material process, is the

process of physiological and psychological behavior Traditionally, there is usually one

obligatory participant referred to as Behaver and in some Vietnamese cases, exists unnecessary participant known as the Phenomenon which is not a restatement of the process

Notably, there are some kinds of Vietnamese verbs making this type of process somehow

confusing with mental process For instance, “nhìn, nghe, tìm, mơ, sờ, ngửi, etc.” are often mentioned to represent behavioral process whereas “nhìn thấy, nghe thấy, tìm thấy, sờ thấy, ngửi thấy, etc.” belong to mental process Here are some illustrations:

(4a)

(4b)

Relational Process is the process of being, having and being at It comes under three subtypes:

intensive, circumstantial, and possessive Each of these carries one of the two modes:

attributive and identifying Verbs like “trở nên, phát triển, giữ, nhìn, trông, nom, cảm thấy, etc.” belong to attributive process and “làm, đóng vai, chiếm, kéo dài, gọi, đặt tên, giống, etc.”

represent identifying process

When a relational process is the attributive mode, there are two participants: the Carrier and the Attribute showing the quality or class the Carrier belongs to In Vietnamese, there is a case

in which the verb represents the process is implied so the adjectival phrase carries out the role

Behaver Process: behavioral Circumstance: Extent: Duration

of both process and attribute Two participants participate in the identifying mode are

Identified (the one is identified) and Identifier (the one enters into or impinges in the

identifying process) For instance:

(5a)

(5b)

(5c)

Existential Process is the process of existing They have only one participant, called the

Existent and one or two circumstantial elements This process is often shown by Vietnamese

verbs like “treo, ngồi, nổi lên, đặt, mọc, xuất hiện, xảy ra, đính, có, còn, etc.” For example:

(6)

2.3.1.2 Circumstances:

Besides the participants, circumstances may be freely accompanied by circumstantial elements typically realized by adverbial groups, prepositional phrases and nominal groups They essentially encode the background against which the process takes place According to Hoàng Văn Vân (2002: 340), there are 8 types of circumstances as follows:

Identified / Token Process: Relational Identifier /Value

Circumstance: place Process: Relational Existent

Order Type Subtypes Examples

comparison Thông qua đối thoại, thắm thiết, riêng, chung, giọng rất lạnh…

thân…

bằng nhau……

Table 1: Types of Circumstances

up between himself and the listeners - in particular, the communication role that he adopts of

informing, questioning, greeting, persuading, and the like (Halliday, 1994: 71)

Actor Process: material Circumstance: direction Circumstance: Accompaniment

Circumstance: cause: behalf Process: mental Phenomenon

Mood and Residue, two components of a clause, are often used to express the interpersonal

function The Mood shows what role the speaker selects in the speech situation and what role

he assigns to the addressee The Residue is “the remainder of the clause” (Halliday, 1994:

74) which consists of three functional elements: Predicator, Complement and Adjunct

Quite different from mood structure in English, Vietnamese mood structure, according to Thái

Minh Đức (2004: 441), “consists of two functional components: Negotiatory elements which have the function of carrying the argument forward and the Remainder, which can be left out when the argument is in progress.” Hoàng Văn Vân (2009) indicates that the Negotiatory

elements (equivalent to Mood in English) consist of the Predicator and the Negotiator

including polar interrogative particles (phải không, có phải…… không, sao / hay sao, chứ); elemental interrogative items (khi nào, tại sao, ai, ở đâu); imperative

particles (hãy, đi, nghe, nhé) and aspectual particles (đã, đang, rồi, chưa) The Remainder

consists of Subject, Complement, and Adjunct like Residue in English Here are some illustrations:

Có phải anh mua cái áo này ở siêu thị Big C không?

Negotiator Subject Predicator Complement Adjunct Negotiator

Negotiatory elements

‘relevance’ or the enabling function As a message structure, a clause consists of a Theme

accompanied by a Rheme The Theme is the element which serves as the point of departure

of the message, and the Rheme is the part from which the Theme is developed

The Theme may be realized by a nominal group, a prepositional phrase, an adverbial group or

even a clause in predicated theme It may be single or multiple, marked or unmarked A

theme is single when the thematic element is represented by just one constituent – a nominal group, an adverbial group, or a prepositional phrase On the contrary, it is multiple when it has

a further internal structure of its own

There exist three types of theme: topical theme, textual theme and interpersonal one Topical theme is the one that is conflated with an experiential element of the clause; it may be participant, circumstance or process Textual theme shows the meaning relevant to the

context, both the co-text and context of situation It can be (i) continuity adjuncts

(continuatives) like “ồ, vâng, được, dầu sao đi nữa, thế thì, thôi được, hừm, nào, này, thế, etc.”

(ii) structural adjuncts (Structurals) and (iii) conjunctive adjuncts (Conjunctives) such as

“sau đó, chẳng bao lâu, tương tự, vì vậy, trong hoàn cảnh đó, tuy vậy, thêm vào đó, tựu trung

lại, etc.” Interpersonal theme is expressed by such modal adjuncts as “có lẽ, dĩ nhiên, rõ

ràng, thường thường, đôi khi, theo ý kiến của tôi, thật tình mà nói, hãy, đừng, chớ, etc.”

An unmarked theme is one that is usual or typical and it often conflates with the Subject whereas a marked theme is one that is unusual It is often the subject in imperative clauses

and existential clause or “something other than subject” (Halliday, 1994: 44) like compliment, adjunct or even predicate in other types of clauses Followings are some examples to illustrate thematic structure in Vietnamese:

(9a) Mọi người đều cố gắng để công việc hoàn thành kịp thời

(9b)

(9c)

2.4 Cohesion

2.4.1 The Concept of Cohesion

Cohesion is viewed as a semantic concept referring to the relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that define it as a text It occurs where the interpretation of some element

in the discourse is dependent on that of another, the one presupposes the other

Actualization of cohesion depends on both selection of some option from systematic resources

(reference, ellipsis, substitution, and conjunction) and the presence of some other elements

(repetition, synonym, antonym, meronymy and collocation) which resolves the presupposition

that this sets up We relatively refer to two types of cohesion: grammatical and lexical which will be explained thoroughly in the following parts

2.4.2 Types of Cohesion

2.4.2.1 Grammatical Cohesion

In linguistics, grammar refers to the logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language Grammatical cohesion refers to the structural content of a text

2.4.2.1.1 Reference

According to Hoàng Văn Vân (2006: 66), reference expresses the relationship of identity which exists between units in discourse It can be divided into anaphoric, cataphoric, and

exophoric Anaphoric reference refers to any reference that “points backwards” to

Textual Theme Interpersonal Theme Topical Theme

previously mentioned information in the text Cataphoric reference refers to any reference that “points forward” to information that will be presented later in the text Exophoric

reference refers to any reference within the same nominal group or phrase which follows the

presupposed item For cohesion purposes, anaphoric reference is the most relevant as it

“provides a link with a preceding portion of the text” (Halliday and Hasan 1976: 51); hence

it is the most common usage For examples:

(10 a) Nó khóc suốt đêm Thằng bé nhà Lan đã ốm hai ngày nay rồi

(cataphoric reference)

(10 b) Nam là một sinh viên giỏi Cậu ấy luôn đứng nhất lớp trong các kì thi

(anaphoric reference)

Functionally speaking, there are three main types of cohesive references: personal,

demonstrative, and comparative Personal reference keeps track of function through the

speech situation using noun pronouns like “cô ấy, anh ta, chị ấy, bà ta, chúng tôi, etc.” and

possessive determiners like “của tôi, của chúng ta, của mình, etc.” Demonstrative reference

keeps track of information through location using proximity references like “đây, kia, này, khi

đó, etc.” Comparative reference keeps track of identity and similarity through indirect

references using adjectives like “giống, khác, hơn, bằng, etc” For instance:

(11 a) Nam đã lấy vợ Anh ấy có vẻ rất hạnh phúc

2.4.2.1.2 Substitution

According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), substitution is the relation between linguistic items,

such as words or phrases and in terms of linguistic level, it is a relation on the grammatical level, the level of grammar and vocabulary It consists of three subtypes:

lexico-nominal substitution, clausal substitution and verbal substitution However, in Vietnamese, the two formers seem more common

Nominal Substitution is the use of a substitute word to replace the Head of a corresponding

nominal group The noun functioning as the Head is always countable such as cái, con, đứa,

etc Here is an illustration:

(12) Có ba cậu bé đang bơi trên sông Cậu lớn nhất là con bác Ba

Verbal Substitution in English is ‘do’ This operates as Head of a verbal group, in the place

that is occupied by the lexical verb and its position is always final in the group However, this

is hardly seen in Vietnamese

Clausal Substitution is the one “in which what is presupposed is not an element within the

clause but an entire clause.” The linguistic items used as substitutes in Vietnamese are “như vậy, vậy, thế, etc.” For example:

(13) A: Cô ấy xinh đấy chứ!

B: Tôi không nghĩ thế

2.4.2.1.3 Ellipsis

Ellipsis is an omission of certain elements from a sentence or clause and can only be recovered by referring to an element in the preceding text Like substitution, ellipsis can be

studied in terms of nominal ellipsis, verbal ellipsis and clausal ellipsis

(Halliday & Hasan, 1976: 144)

Nominal Ellipsis occurs within nominal group It is the ellipsis of a Head with optional

modification (premodifier / postmodifier) For example:

(14) A: Ăn bánh nữa không?

B: Không Đây là cái (bánh) thứ ba rồi

Verbal Ellipsis appears within verbal group An elliptical group presupposes one or more words from a previous verbal group This hardly takes place in Vietnamese

Clausal Ellipsis takes clause as the point of departure It relates to the question and answer in

a dialogue There may exist Yes / No Ellipsis or Wh – Ellipsis For instance:

(15) A: Này, Nam bay vô Sài Gòn chiều nay rồi

B: Thật sao? Vậy mà nó chẳng nói cho tao biết (chiều nay nó bay) gì cả

2.4.2.1.4 Conjunctive Cohesion

Another type of cohesion is conjunction that “constitutes a cohesive bond between two clauses” (Halliday, 1994: 180) Cohesive conjunction is the logical-semantic organization of propositions within a discourse It allows the speaker/ writer to set up relationships between ideas It is viewed in different ways, however, in this thesis; I would like to put an emphasis on Halliday’s classification: Elaboration, Extension and Enhancement

In elaboration, “one clause elaborates on the meaning of another by further specifying or

describing it” (Halliday, 1994: 225) A clause can be elaborated by apposition (in which some

element is represented or restarted like “ví dụ, chẳng hạn như, nói cách khác….) or by

clarification (in which some element is summarized, reinstated, made more precise or clarified

for purposes of discourse, for example, “thật ra, tóm lại, tựu trung lại, ít nhất, etc.)

In Halliday’s view when “one clause extends the meaning of another by adding something new

to it”, it is called extension It is displayed by (i) addition which consists of positive (thêm vào

đó, và…), adversative (mặt khác, tuy nhiên, nhưng…) and (ii) variation that is made up by

replacive (thay vào đó, trái lại), subtractive (ngoài ra, ngoại trừ), and alternative (thay vào đó)

Halliday (1994) also states that in enhancement, one clause enhances the meaning of another

by “qualifying it in one of a number of possible ways” There are four elements that constitute

enhancement: (i) spatio-temporal (đằng sau, bất cứ nơi đâu, sau đó, tiếp theo, cuối cùng thì, ngay lập tức, lần tới,etc.); (ii) manner (vì thế, theo cách khác, tương tự, mặt khác, etc.); (iii)

causal-conditional (vì vậy, kết quả là, vì lí do đó, vì mục đích đó, trong trường hợp đó, etc);

and (iv) matter (đây, đó, theo mặt đó, nơi nào đó, etc.)

2.4.2.2 Lexical Cohesion

Halliday and Hasan (1976) view lexical cohesion as the “phoric” cohesion established through the structure of the lexis, or vocabulary, and hence (like substitution) at the lexicogrammatical level According to them, reiteration and collocation are two main types of lexical cohesion

2.4.2.2.1 Reiteration

Reiteration includes five subtypes: repetition, synonymy, antonymy, superordinate, meronymy and general word

2.4.2.2.1.1 Repetition

Repetition refers to the same lexical item with the same meaning occuring more than one in

the same discourse (Hoang Van Van, 2006: 81)

E.g: Hôm qua tôi đã gặp cậu bé Cậu bé xem chừng rất thích đi với anh

2.4.2.2.1.2 Synonymy

Synonymy refers to the relation between different words bearing the same meaning or nearly the same meaning for a particular person, object, process or quality

(Hoang Van Van, 2006: 81)

E.g: - Mời bác xơi cơm ạ!

- Ừ, cháu ăn đi

2.4.2.2.1.3 Antonymy

Antonymy describes opposite or contrastive meaning between two word items

(Hoang Van Van, 2006: 81)

E.g: Nam dạo này béo lên đấy, chẳng bù cho khi trước, nó gầy quá

2.4.2.2.1.4 Hyponym and co – hyponym

The main idea of hyponymy is “inclusion”; that is, a lower term (hyponym) is included in an

upper term (the superordinate) (Hoang Van Van, 2006: 82)

E.g: Trong số các loại hoa quả bán ở chợ, táo và cam là loại giá rẻ và an toàn nhất

In the example above, “táo, cam”’ are hyponyms of “hoa quả” and “táo” and “cam” are hyponyms

co-2.4.2.2.1.5 Superordinate and meronymy

Superordinate is known as co-occurence of the same or some higher level of generality Meronymy is where lexical items are in a “part-whole” relationship with each other Consequently, the relation between two parts is one of co-meronym

(Hoang Van Van, 2006: 83)

E.g: Cây cam này cành, lá tươi tốt, nhưng chẳng thấy quả đâu cả

In the example above, “cành, lá” are meronymy of “quả”, “quả” is superordinate of “cành, lá”; “cành” and “lá” are co-meronymys

2.4.2.2.1.6 General word

General word is known as a class of general nouns which have generalised reference within the major noun classes, such as “human nouns”: people, person, man, woman, boy; “object

nouns”: thing, object; “place nouns”: place (Hoang Van Van, 2006: 83)

E.g: Lan là một giáo viên nữ rất thành đạt trong hội đồng sư phạm nhà trường

In this example, “hội đồng sư phạm” is general word for human participant It includes “giáo viên nữ” anaphorically

2.4.2.2.2 Collocation

Collocation is obtained as cohesion that is achieved through the association of lexical items

that regularly co-occur in certain context (Halliday & Hasan, 1976: 319)

According to Hoàng Văn Vân (2006), collocation is made up of three types as follows:

 Resultative collocation refers to the relation of one item leading to the outcome of another

item: gió – thổi; đêm – tối; giết – chết…

 Modificational collocation refers to the relation holding between an item and one of its

inherent qualities: mưa – to; gió – lớn; chạy – nhanh…

 Contextual collocation does not represent a cause-effect relation but expectation can be made between the process and the participant The words concerned are merely nouns and

verbs: giáo viên – dạy / giải thích; học sinh – học tập / nghiên cứu ……

2.5 Concluding Remarks

In this chapter, some fundamental and theoretical concepts relevant to the purpose of the study have been discussed They are field, tenor and mode that make up linguistic system and also three functions of language that serve to express three largely independent sets of semantic choice: (i) the transitivity pattern shows representative meaning: what the clause is about, which is typically some process, with associated participants and circumstance; (ii) the mood pattern expresses interpersonal meaning: What the clause is doing as a verbal exchange between speaker / writer and audience/ reader; and (iii) the theme pattern represents the organization of the message: how the clause relates to the surrounding discourse, and to the context of situation in which it is being produced Moreover, cohesion concept and types are taken into consideration in the study so as to provide a brief framework of systemic functional grammar for analysis The following chapter focuses on the speech addressed by President Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long - Hanoi based on the systemic functional approached mentioned before hand

CHAPTER 3

THE MEANING AND STRUCTURE OF PRESIDENT NGUYEN MINH TRIET’S SPEECH ADDRESSED ON THE OCCASION

THANG LONG - HANOI

3.1 Introduction

Systemic functional grammar was originally developed by M.A.K Halliday in the 1960s and has now come to be recognized as a major force in linguistics It is functional grammar because the conceptual framework on which it is based is functional rather than formal as it approaches the language from a semantic point of view; more precisely, it examines the semantic functions of the language forms In order to analyze a text in terms of systemic functional grammar, it is necessary to view the term “text” from different perspectives

In the most general conception, a text can be “a written or spoken passage.”

(Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, 1990)

A text can be defined as “any written record of a communicative event The event itself involves oral language (for example, a sermon, a casual conversation, a shopping transaction)

or written language (for example, a poem, a newspaper advertisement, a wall poster, a shop list, a novel)”

(D Nunan, 1993: 7-8)

In terms of linguistics, the word text itself is used “to refer to any passage, spoken or written,

of whatever length, that does form a unified whole… It is a unit of language in use It is not a grammatical unit, like a clause or a sentence; and it is not defined by its size…… A text is best regarded as a semantic unit.”

(Halliday & Hasan, 1985)

Obviously, the more notions the term “text” carries, the harder it is to obtain With these difficulties, in this study, an effort is made to explore the structure and meaning of a political speech as a text The procedures and conventions used in the analysis are based on the

framework of Halliday’s (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar; Halliday and Hasan’s (1985) Language, Text and Context: Aspect of Language in Social-Semiotic Perspective; Halliday & Hasan (1976) Cohesion in English The analysis will be carried out

from the context of the text chosen, the context situation of the text in terms of the three contextual parameters: field, tenor, mode; clauses and clause complexes analysis; the transitivity pattern; the mood pattern; the theme - rheme pattern to the grammatical and lexical cohesion analyses

3.2 The Context of the Chosen Text

The text is the speech addressed by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet on the occasion

of the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long - Ha Noi on 10th October 2010 The speaker is President Nguyen Minh Triet, a famous politician, who became the sixth Vietnamese President and held this post from June 2006 to July 2011 His speech marked the turning point to Hanoi as it officially celebrated its 1000th anniversary The targeted hearers,

therefore, are firstly all the Vietnamese leaders “Thưa các đồng chí lãnh đạo Đảng, Nhà nước, Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam,” secondly the Vietnamese who made great contributions to Vietnam’s independence “Thưa các đồng chí lão thành cách mạng, các mẹ Việt Nam anh hùng”, thirdly Vietnamese people “Thưa toàn thể đồng bào, đồng chí và chiến sỹ cả nước,”

and lastly all the honored guests However, this speech is to publicize the whole world about the 1000th Thang Long anniversary so the targeted audience is extended to people all over the world who care about the history as well as the development of Vietnam in general and Hanoi

in particular

It is a Vietnamese text; however it carries its own features in meaning and structure

3.3 Contextual Configuration of the Text

It is undeniable that context is an integral part of language It does not reveal everything but it can help understand a great deal about the language used According to Halliday (1994),

context consists of three parameters: field, tenor, and mode These features of the text can be shown in the following summary:

3.3.1 Field

Field of discourse refers to what is happening, to the nature of the social action that is taking place (Hoang Van Van, 2006: 40) In terms of field, the text is a speech written to announce the Vietnamese in particular and people worldwide in general that Thang Long - Hanoi has experienced 1000 years’ development and today is its 1000th anniversary Throughout the text, many process types are effectively used, predominantly relational process that indicates the state of being of Thang Long – Hanoi and material process showing the Vietnamese contributions to Hanoi’s development Mental and verbal processes are employed to convey Vietnamese people’s emotion and gratitude to people throughout the world Existential and behavioral processes are rarely used to show the existence of Thang Long - Hanoi So many participants occur in the whole text, mainly identified (13/90); carrier (12/90); actor (10/90); sayer (6/90); senser (5/90); existent (5/90) and behaver (1/90)

3.3.2 Tenor

Tenor is defined by Eggins (1994: 63) as “the social role relationships played by interactants”

In the text above, there exists the relationship between the speaker and the audience The speaker, President Nguyen Minh Triet, plays the role as the announcer, using political and formal lexis whereas the audience, the whole Vietnamese and the whole world, act as the ones who receive President Nguyen Minh Triet’s message Indicative mood is favourable in the whole text, of which 87 clauses are in declarative mood, 2 clauses are in interrogative mood There are only two clauses using the aspectual particle “sẽ” showing prediction and Vietnamese determination to be friends with other nations all over the world

3.3.3 Mode

The Mode refers to textual meaning or thematic structure of the text In this text, it is a to-face communication, and the speaker uses his own language to summarize the developing process of Thang Long – Hanoi from its first foundation up to now and to announce the

face-1000th anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi to the public domestics and

overseas The channel in this text mostly belongs to the auditory one There is a high lexical density with a large number of content words and parataxis and low grammatical intricacy

3.4 Clause and Clause Complexes Analysis

The analysis of the text into clause and clause complexes and their logico-semantic relations can be presented as follows:

Table 2: Clause and Clause Complexes

I (1) Thưa các đồng chí lãnh đạo Đảng, Nhà nước, Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam,

II (2) Thưa các đồng chí lão thành cách mạng, các mẹ Việt Nam anh hùng, các vị khách quý, III (3) Thưa toàn thể đồng bào, đồng chí và chiến sỹ cả nước,

IV (4) Hôm nay, tại Thủ đô yêu dấu, chúng ta long trọng tổ chức Đại lễ kỷ niệm 1000 năm Thăng Long - Hà Nội

V (5) Thay mặt Đảng, Nhà nước, Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam, tôi thân ái gửi tới đồng bào, chiến sỹ Thủ đô và cả nước, kiều bào ta ở nước

ngoài lời chào mừng nồng nhiệt và lời chúc tốt đẹp nhất

VI (6) Tôi chân thành cảm ơn các vị khách quốc tế đã mang đến cho Đại lễ

những tình cảm ấm áp của bạn bè bốn phương

VII

(7) Sự hiện diện của quý vị làm cho Đại lễ kỷ niệm 1000 năm Thăng

Long càng thêm ý nghĩa

VIII

(8) Chúng tôi trân trọng tình hữu nghị quý báu của quý vị

(9) và nguyện cùng các dân tộc trên thế giới phấn đấu cho cuộc sống hòa bình của nhân loại, sự phồn vinh của mỗi dân tộc và hạnh phúc của

mỗi con người

IX (10) Thưa các vị khách quý, thưa toàn thể đồng bào, đồng chí!

X

(11) Cách đây tròn 1000 năm, vào mùa thu năm 1010, tiếp nối sự nghiệp dựng nước của các Vua Hùng, các bậc tiên liệt, (12) Đức Thái Tổ Lý Công Uẩn với tầm nhìn chiến lược, đã quyết định dời đô từ Hoa Lư về Thăng Long, (13) mở ra thời kỳ phát triển huy hoàng của kinh đô quốc gia Đại Việt (14) Từ mốc son lịch sử đó, đến thời đại Hồ Chí Minh quang vinh, trải

XI

qua 1000 năm với bao biến cố thăng trầm, (15) Thăng Long - Hà Nội vẫn tư thế vững vàng, khí phách hiên ngang, (16) xứng đáng là trái tim của cả nước

(17) để hôm nay cả dân tộc trùng phùng

XII (18) Vào giờ phút thiêng liêng này, toàn thể đồng bào ta từ mọi miền trong nước và ngoài nước, từ thành thị đến nông thôn, từ núi rừng

đến hải đảo, đang hướng về Thủ đô, Ngàn năm Văn hiến

XIII

(19) Trải qua bao thiên tai, binh lửa (20) nhưng đồng bào các dân tộc vẫn một lòng sắt son yêu nước, (21) ngày càng gắn bó mật thiết với nhau trong một tình yêu thương vững

bền và sâu sắc

XIV

(22) Chào mừng những thành tựu của Ngàn năm Thăng Long - Hà Nội,

(23) chúng ta trân trọng những đóng góp của cả nước với Thủ đô và những đóng góp của Thủ đô với cả nước

XV (24) (25) Đó là tinh thần "cả nước vì Thủ đô, Thủ đô vì cả nước",

thể hiện tình cảm sâu nặng và nghĩa vụ quang vinh của mỗi chúng ta

(31) và tỏa sáng trí tuệ Việt Nam, (32) tỏa sáng lương tri và phẩm giá con người

(39) song hào kiệt đời nào cũng có

XIX

(40) Văn hiến là nền tảng (41) hình thành tinh thần độc lập, tự chủ và chủ quyền bất khả xâm phạm

của Tổ quốc, (42) là khởi đầu cho mọi sức mạnh và sự thông minh, sáng tạo của dân tộc

XXII (46) (47) Đứng giữa Thủ đô huy hoàng trong ngày Đại lễ,

chúng ta thành kính bày tỏ lòng biết ơn vô hạn đối với Tổ tiên và các thế hệ tiền nhân đã có công khai sáng kinh thành Thăng Long

XXIII

(48) Chúng ta thành kính tưởng nhớ

(49) và biết ơn vô hạn Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh vĩ đại, các nhà yêu nước, cách mạng tiền bối, các anh hùng liệt sỹ, các thế hệ công nhân, nông

dân, trí thức, lực lượng vũ trang Hà Nội và cả nước, kiều bào ta ở nước ngoài đã có công xây dựng và bảo vệ Thủ đô

XXIV (50) Biết bao trí tuệ, mồ hôi, xương máu của ông cha ta đã đổ vào mỗi

thửa ruộng, mỗi con đê, mỗi đoạn đường, mỗi góc phố

(51) để Hà Nội có được như ngày nay

XXV (52) (53) Suốt mấy ngàn năm đất nước và Thủ đô ta, sáng chắn bão dông,

chiều ngăn nắng lửa hết đời này qua đời khác

XXVI (54) Suốt mấy ngàn năm, nhân dân ta có bao ngày được ngơi nghỉ?

XXVIII

(59) Việt Nam là một dân tộc anh hùng,

(60) Hà Nội là một Thủ đô anh hùng của Việt Nam, anh hùng trong chiến đấu và anh hùng trong lao động, anh hùng vì độc lập, tự do của Tổ

quốc, anh hùng để mưu cầu hạnh phúc cho nhân dân

XXIX

(61) Nhân dân Việt Nam yêu chuộng hòa bình, công lý, (62) trọng nhân nghĩa, thủy chung,

(63) nhưng không bao giờ khuất phục trước cường quyền, bạo lực

XXX (64) Chúng ta cảm ơn bạn bè quốc tế đã trao tặng Thủ đô Hà Nội danh

hiệu Thành phố vì hòa bình

XXXI (65) Suốt chiều dài lịch sử, Thăng Long- Hà Nội luôn tiêu biểu cho khát vọng hòa bình, chủ nghĩa nhân văn, tinh thần nhân đạo và hòa hiếu

của dân tộc Việt Nam

XXXII

(66) Hồ Hoàn Kiếm gắn với huyền thoại Đức Thái Tổ Lê Lợi trả lại gươm thần sau khi đại thắng quân xâm lược, (67) mãi mãi là hình tượng sống động về tinh thần yêu chuộng hòa bình của người Thăng Long- Hà Nội- Việt Nam XXXIII

(68) Chúng ta chân thành cám ơn sự thông cảm, ủng hộ và giúp đỡ to lớn của nhân dân tiến bộ toàn thế giới

XXXIV

(69) Việt Nam, Hà Nội đang và sẽ là bạn, (70) là đối tác tin cậy của các nước, các thủ đô, các thành phố, (71) góp sức xây dựng cộng đồng khu vực và quốc tế hòa bình, hữu nghị, hợp tác và phát triển XXXV

(72) Kỷ niệm Ngàn năm Thăng Long- Hà Nội là dịp để chúng ta tiếp tục khẳng định những phẩm chất cao quý và truyền thống tốt đẹp: Văn

hiến, anh hùng, hòa bình, hữu nghị của Thủ đô, của đất nước con Hồng, cháu Lạc

XXXVI (73) (74) Đó cũng chính là lẽ sống,

là đạo đức và phong cách ứng xử của con người Việt Nam

XXXVII (75) Đó là di sản vô giá của Tổ tiên cùng các thế hệ cha ông ta để lại

XXXVIII

(76) Chúng ta có trách nhiệm giữ gìn, (77) truyền lại cho muôn đời con cháu mai sau (78) và phát huy lên một tầm cao mới trong thời đại Hồ Chí Minh

XXXIX (79) Thưa đồng bào và chiến sỹ cả nước,

XL (80) Hà Nội hôm nay thật đẹp

(81) Đi giữa các phố phường của Thủ đô,

(82) mỗi chúng ta đều nhận thấy những thành tựu rất cụ thể của quá trình

XLI (83) càng thêm yêu

Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh kính yêu

XLVI (96) Tổ quốc Việt Nam quang vinh muôn năm,

XLVII (97) Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam quang vinh muôn năm,

XLVIII (98) Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh kính yêu sống mãi trong sự nghiệp của chúng

ta XLIX (99) Xin trân trọng cảm ơn!

The analysis above shows that the text consists of 99 clauses which make up 49 clause complexes Most of the clause complexes consist of two or three clauses like VIII, X, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XIX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXIX, XXXII, XXXIV, XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XLIV Notably, there are 6 clause complexes made up by 4 or 7 clause simplexes: XI, XVII, XVIII, XXVII, XLI, and XLV

Most of the clauses in the clause complexes are in paratactic relation showing their interdependence Their semantic relations are mainly of extention (VIII; XXI; XXIII; XXV; XXIX; XXXII; XXXIV; XXXVI; and XXXVIII) adding new information to the given one There is only one elaborating relation in XV to further specify Vietnam’s campaign “cả nước

vì thủ đô, thủ đô vì cả nước” Hypotactic relation is represented in 15 clauses such as X, XI,

XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XXII, XXIV, XXVII, XLI, XLIV and XLV to represent the dependent relationship among clauses in a clause complex The problem here is one clause complex not only contains one kind of relation but also two kinds or even more Let take clauses numbered XVIII and XLV as examples In those clause complexes, hypotactic and paratactic relations are combined to make the text cohesive and persuasive It

is unusual that in the text appears one full stop between “Hà Nội là một Thủ đô anh hùng của Việt Nam, anh hùng trong chiến đấu và anh hùng trong lao động” and “anh hùng vì độc lập,

tự do của Tổ quốc, anh hùng để mưu cầu hạnh phúc cho nhân dân” suggesting that there are

two clause simplexes in here However, they both represent one semantic structure in the speaker’s thinking so they make up one clause simplex in my analysis

3.5 The Analysis of the text in terms of Transitivity, Mood and Theme

3.5.1 Transitivity pattern

As can be seen from the tabe below, in terms of transitivity, of 99 clauses, there are 35 of

relational process which is represented via 27 verbs as follows (xứng đáng in 16, 90; thể hiện

in 25, 33; là in 24, 26, 42, 59, 60, 67, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74 &75; hình thành in 41; có in 51, 54 & 76; tỏa sáng in 31 & 32; tiêu biểu in 65; còn in 89) showing the state of being or possession

of Thang Long, Ha Noi Being quite different from English, this kind of process can be shown

through verbless clauses in Vietnamese such as 15, 17, 20, 37, 38, 80 & 86 Material process

is used in 31 clauses (tổ chức in 4, gửi in 5, trân trọng in 8 & 23, tiếp nối in 11, dời in 12, mở

ra in 13, trải qua in 14 & 19, hướng về in 18, gắn bó in 21, tôn vinh in 28, chia in 36, bày tỏ

in 47, đổ in 50, chắn in 52, ngăn in 53, tiếp nối in 55, chiến đấu in 56, hiến dâng in 57, bảo vệ

in 58, khuất phục in 63, góp sức in 71, truyền lại in 77, phát huy in 78, mừng in 87, đem in 92, phấn đấu in 93, sánh vai in 94, xây dựng in 95) They are all used to describe what the

Vietnamese have been doing particularly for Hanoi and generally for Vietnam The perception, affection and cognition of Vietnamese people about Hanoi are thoroughly shown

via 9 mental verbs like (yêu mến in 44, tự hào in 45 & 84, tưởng nhớ in 48, biết ơn in 49, yêu chuộng in 61, nhận thấy in 82, yêu in 83, nhận thức in 88) Moreover, such verbal verbs as

(cảm ơn in 6 & 64, cám ơn in 68, chào mừng in 22, xưng in 35, nguyện in 9 & 91) help

convey the Vietnamese gratitude to people worldwide who have supported Hanoi during its

integration and development There are five clauses showing its existence (lắng đọng in 29,

kết tinh in 30, có in 39, trường tồn in 43 and nổi bật lên in 27) It is normal that there are only

two clauses using behavioral verbs (khảng khái in 34 and đứng in 46)

The circumstantial components in the clauses of the text are of mainly of time (Hôm nay;

cách đây tròn 1000 năm, vào mùa thu năm 1010, hôm nay; vào giờ phút thiêng liêng này; trong ngày đại lễ; suốt mấy ngàn năm; suốt chiều dài lịch sử; hôm nay; sau hàng ngàn năm

lịch sử; trong thời khắc lịch sử này); place (tại thủ đô yêu dấu; giữa thủ đô huy hoàng; vào

mỗi thửa ruộng, mỗi con đê, mỗi đoạn đường, mỗi góc phố; giữa các phố phường của thủ

đô); frequency (có lúc; đời nào; muôn thuở; mãi mãi; không bao giờ); quality (long trọng; thân ái; chân thành; mật thiết; thành kính; kiên cường; hân hoan; tích cực); purpose (cho

cuộc sống hòa bình của nhân loại, sự phồn vinh của mỗi dân tộc và hạnh phúc của mỗi con

người; vì độc lập tự do của tổ quốc; để mưu cầu hạnh phúc cho nhân dân; ); behalf (thay mặt Đảng, Nhà nước, Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam), accompaniment (cùng các dân tộc; với tầm nhìn chiến lược; với nhau; với một tư thế mới, diện mạo mới, sức sống mới; cùng Thủ đô các nước trên thế giới) ; comparison (như nước Đại Việt ta; như ngày nay); condition (với bao biến cố thăng trầm); matter (về Thủ đô anh hùng; về Hà Nội); Angle (theo mong ước của Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh vĩ đại); product (ngày càng văn minh, hiện đại, giàu đẹp)

Table 3: Transitivity Pattern of the Text

quyết định dời

-ment

Location: place

Accompa-Manner: quality