Luận văn a study on projection and its realization in president barack obama’s speech at a campaign event in las vegas

Positions of projecting clauses Verbs used in projecting clauses Quoting and paratactic reporting Paired verbs of the fike type and the please type Verbs serving in hypolactic projectio

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDLES

TRAN HONG VAN

A STUDY ON PROJECTION AND ITS REALIZATION IN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S SPEECH AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN LAS VEGAS

NGHIÊN CỨU VÈ PHỎNG CIIIẾU VÀ SỰ THỂ IHIỆN CỦA NÓ TRONG BÀI PHÁT BIỂU CUA TONG TIIONG BARACK

OBAMA TẠI CUỘC VẬN ĐỘNG TRANH CỬ Ớ LAS VEGAS

MLA Minor Programme ‘Thesis

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15

TRanoi — 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ILANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES:

TRAN HONG VAN

A STUDY ON PROJECTION AND ITS REALIZATION IN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S SPEECH AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN LAS VEGAS

NGHIEN CUL VE PHONG CHIEU VA SU THE HIEN CUA NO

‘TRONG BAI PHAT BLU CUA TONG THONG BARACK

OBAMA TAI CUỘC VAN DONG TRANII CU OLAS VEGAS

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Kicld: English Linguistics

Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoang Van Van

Hanoi - 2013

Rationale of the study

Aim oŸ the study

Wesearch quasHon

Scope of the study

Methods of the study

Design of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1

1.1 Introduction

1.2 An overview of systemic fumetional gramsmar

1.2.1, Review of related studies

1.2.2 ‘Three metafunctions of a language

1.2.2.1 Interpersonal melafunction

1.2.2.2 Textual metafunction

1.2.2.3 Ideational mmefafunefio

1.3 The notion of clause complex and projection in SFG

1.3.1 The notion of clause complex in SFG

1.3.1.1 Taxis

1.3.1.2 Logico-semuntic relation

1.3.2 The notion of projection in SG

1.3.2.1 Level of projection 1.3.2.2 Made of projection

1.3.2.3 Gpeech function Qƒ prQjecfioh cee 1.3.3 Paratactie projection

2.2, The chosen text

2.3 A register analysis of the text

1% a4 3"! - umber of clause complex in the text

(1), (2), (3), .: number of clause in the text

vi

Positions of projecting clauses

Verbs used in projecting clauses

Quoting and paratactic reporting

Paired verbs of the fike type and the please type

Verbs serving in hypolactic projection

Projection nouns and fact nouns The realization of projection in President Obama’s Speech Meaning of the reported siatemonts in Ihe projection ol idea Meaning of the reported statements in the projection of

lacution

vũ

Page

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Language is the central study of linguistics It is a system of communication that is made of speech or writing it emphasizes the “arrangement of sounds or written representation into larger units, e.g morphemes, words, sentences,

utterances” (Richards et al., 1992) This arrangement is known as grammar Crystal

(2004) emphasizes the importance of grammar in a language It 1s as important as

the skeleton, the heartbeat, the nervous system and the intelligence of a language,

because withoul gramunar, there can be no meaningful or effective communication

(Crystal, 2004) Grammar is the foundation for people to express themselves If people can understand the way grammar works, they are sure to be able to use a language effeclively Hence, grammar is nol only important for icachers or students, but it has a particular significance for anyone who wants to master a language

(Crystal, 2004) Knowing the importance of grammar, many scholars are engrossed

in sladying it The linguislies history has scen many trends of grammar with heir advantages and disadvantages such as traditional grammar, universal grammar and generative grammar by Noam Chomsky and his followers Ilowever, the most popular trend of grammar is functional grammar that 1s developed by Halliday and some other linguists such as Llassan, Morley, Bloor, etc While other trends of grammar foouses 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 Van (2005) wilh Ngữ pháp kinh nghiệm của củ tiếng Việt: Mô tâ theo quan diém

chức năng hệ thông

In Faculty of Postgraduale Stucies, studenis have a chance to take an

approach to functional grammar to discover new features of this innovative trond 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 specch by President

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 Livent 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

4 Scope of the study

Tn order to make the most convenience for the author, the study only focuses

on exploring one of the two subtypes of logico-semantic relations between clauses: projection The text chosen for analysis is President Obama’s speech at a Campaign

Event in Las Vegas on October 24", 2011

5 Methods of the study

This study uses two main methods: descriptive method and analytical method, The descriptive method is used to re-examine the basic notions of systemic functional grammar and, in particular, the notion of projection in the clause complex The analytical method, on the other hand, is employed to analyze

President Ohama’s specch to reveal the different logico-semantie meanings of the

text

6 Design of the study

The study is divided inte 3 parts

Part A — Introduction — presents the rationale, the aim, the research questions, the scope, the methods and the design of the study

Part B — Development — consists of 2 chapters Chapter 1 — Theorctival background presents the overview of systemic functional grammar and the notions

of clause complex and projection Chapter 2, the main chapter of the thesis, explores the realization of projections in President Barack Obama’s speech at a

Campaign Livent in Las Vegas

Part C — Conclusion — recapitulates the results of the study In this part the

author reviews such concepts as systemic functional grammar, metafunctions of language, clause complex and two logico-semantic relations in clause complex

More importantly, the analysis of Presider Obama's speech in terms of projection

is summarized in part C This last part also makes some implications for teaching

and learning English and some suggestions for further study.

PART B: DEVEL.OPMENT

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.4 Intreduction

In the first chapter of the study, the author attempts to present some concepts

of systerme functional grammar inchiding three melafunctions of a language and lo

review some related studics The main content of this chapter is the notion of clause

complex and projection In the clause complex, the logico-semantic relations

belween clauses are focused because one of the two logico-sernaric relations,

projection, is the main interest of the study

1.2 An overview of systemic functional grammar

Language is am important lool 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 & Llalliday

(1997), grammar is “the sysiem 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 Buropean languages such as Grocks, Romans or Latin Those 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, iL is important to define which parts of a sentence function as Subject, Predicate, Object or Adverbial ‘This

kind of grammar is often taught at school because iLis suitable for young sludents 10

study a language Despite its comprchensibility, it is isolated from its meaning Besides that, it does not convey the whole “grammatical system of language” but just “a fragment of grammar” On the olher hand, because il is originaled from Huropean languages, it focuses on describing these languages Henoe, it is difficult

to apply this grammar to non-Huropean languages such as Chinese, Japanese or Vietmamese (Matthiessen & Halliday, 1997) In that context, it is required that there

should be another kind of language that is more meaningful and can be applicable in

a wider range

Systemic functional grammar (SFG) has found the answer to this demand

‘This kind of grammar is an outstanding representative for the second perspective of gtammar and was originally developed by Halliday In this concept, it is necessary

to understand what it means by “systemic” and “functional” “Systemic theory gets

its name from the fact that the granunar of language is represented in the form of

system networks, not as an inventor of structures” (Ilalliday & Matthiessen, 2004

23) This means that systemic grammar does nol merely describe the structure of a

language, but it is also a set of choices to make meaning The term “functional” refers to Halliday’s view that language is as it is because of what it has evolved to

do Tn a fimetional grammar, “a language is inlerpreled as a systom of mearngs, accompanied by forms through which the meanings can be realized” (Halliday,

1994) Functional grammar is not the ultimate goal of grammarians like what is

expressed im traditional perspective, whereas, il is just a means to convey the

meaning of a language All in all, Halliday (1994) defines SFG as “a network of systems, or interrelated sets of options for making meaning” In his book, SFG is called “natural grammar im the sense that cycrything in it can be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used” (Ilalliday, 1994) l’unetional grammar can be considered one of the most successful trends of grammar as it is 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, bul [functional grammarians only cimsidor something

“appropriate” or “inappropriate” to achieve high effectiveness in language (Lggins,

1994: 22)

1.2.1, Review of related studies

The founder of SFG is MAK Halliday (1994) with a famous book 4n Tntroduction to Functional Grammar Tn this book, he explores the clause as

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 ta 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 Lggins (1994),

Rloors (1995), Thompson (1996), Marlin, Malhiessen and Painter (1997) also pay

much attention to SFG While Thompson (1996) focuses on analyzing cxamples to clarify some concepts of SFG, Martin, Mathiesen and Painter (1997) provides some exercises for students to work with funclicnal grammar In Eggim'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

Tn Vietnam, the Instory of research on Victnamese 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

scholars wha paid much attention to specific areas in Vietnamese language such as

Nguyen Tai Can (1975): Vietnamese noun and compound words, Nguyen Kim ‘han (1977): Vietnamese verbs and verb phrases, Diep Quang Ban (1984): Fiemamese

sentences and Tran Ngoc Them (1985): Cohesion in Vietnamese texts The first

Vicinamese linguist 10 study Vietnamese grammar im the light of SFG is Cao Kuan

TIao (1991) with hs book Tiếng Việt: Sơ thảo Ngữ: pháp Chức năng which was then

reprinled in 2007 Hix works gave an overview of SFG and analyzed Vietnamese

grammar basing on this theoretical framework Besides that, the PhD dissertations

by Hoang Van Van (1997) 42 Experiential Grammar of the Vietnamese Clause: A

Functional Description ad Thai Minh Due (1998) A Metafimetion Profile of

Vietnamese Clause Grammar analyzed in depth the Vietnamese grammar basing on

the theoretical framework of SIG (Nguyen Thi Minh ‘lam, 2012) More recently,

De Tuan Minh (2007) studied the thematic structure of English and Viemamese in

his PhD dissertation and Nguyen ‘thi Minh Tam (2012) investigated the logico-

semantic relationship in English and Vietnamese clause complexes However, there

are hardly any studies analyzing the projection, one of the two logico-semantic

relationships in a specific text

1.22 Three metafunctions of a language

In Halliday’s view on SFG, he mentions three melafunctions of a language,

namely ideational metaRmelion, interpersonal mctafunetion and textual metafunction It is obvious that language can make various meanings simullancously The meaning of a language is nol the sum of individual words but il depends on other factors such as the arrangement of words in a text Hence,

different wordings will make different meanings Three metafunctions express three

kinds of moaning which are the way people use language to make sense of their experience, act out their social relationship and organize their messages in a network where they are suitable to other messages around them [falliday calls these functions “metafunctions” because “function simply means purpose or way of using language and has no significance for the analysis of language itself” (Ilalliday &

Hasan, 1985; Martin, 1990 cited in Halliday & Matthiessen, 2001)

1.2.2.1 Interpersonal metafunction

Peaple use languages to establish and maintain the social relationship with

other people The metafimction of language that expresses the interaction between

speakers and addressees is called inlerpersoral metalimetion 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 Meod system The mood element consists of two parts: (1) the Subject, which is a nominal graup, and (2) the

Finite operator, which is part of a verbal group (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:

“4

111) The remainder of the clause is called Residue constituted by thrce elements: Predicator, Complement and Adjunct ‘the following example is analyzed on the basis of interpersonal metafumction:

1.3.2.2 Textual melafunetion

While interpersonal metafunction enacts the social world, textual

metafunction is connected to the presentation of ideational and interpersonal

metafunctions As Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 30) emphasizes in their book, it

“builds up sequences of discourse, organizes the discursive flow and creates

cohesion and continuity” Textual metafuinetion is nol extra-linguistic phenomena,

but it is intrinsic to language, which means that it is a phenomenon created by language itself When the text flows change, the message of the text may also vary Wher a clause is analyzed basing: on lexiual metalunction, il is necessary Lo [ocus

on Theme and Rheme “Ihe [heme is the element which serves as the point of departure of the message; it is that which locates and orients the clause within its

context, The remainder of the message, the part in which the Theme is developed, is

called the Rheme” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 64) It can be seen that a

message or a clause consists of a Theme accompanied by a Rheme; and in Inglish

the Theme is im ihe initial position The following example illustrates textual

metafunction basing on the analysis of ‘Thematic structure

‘the duke | has given my aunt that teapot

My aunt —_| has been given that teapot my the duke

‘That teapot | the duke has given to my aunt

1.2.2.3, Ideational metafunction

The most important metafunction of a language is to construe the natural

world and this metafunclion is called ideational metafunelion by Halliday &

Matthiessen (2004: 29) This metafunction is distinguished into two components:

experiential metafmetion and logical metafunction

Experiential metafunction is concerned with content or ideas In Halliday’s 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

(lalliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 170) In each process, he continues to analyze the

Participants and circumstances laking part 1n the process

Logical metafunction is the relationship betwcon the expressed ideas It is realized through the relationship of coordination (parataxis) or subordination (hypolaxis) belween the two elausal units The example below illustrates the experiential and logical metafunction of a clause:

Sayer Process: Verbal Carrier | Process: relational | Attribute

| Peter says |' that he was an engineer ||

In summary, three metafunotions 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) Tn order io see the

relationship betwoen three metafunctions, an cxample is analyzed in relation to

transitivity, mood and thematic structure In the following sections, the author will focus on the logical metalunction of clause complex which is the main milerest im

1.3 The notion of clause complex aud projection in SFG

1.3.1 The notion of clause complex in SFG

Functional grammarians pay much attention lo the notion “rank scale” related to “constituency

(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:5) There exists the rank scale in the grammar of

‘whereby larger units are made up out of smaller ones”

overy language Ta Rnglish, the rank scale can be ropresenied as blow

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 Lt 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

tradiional grammar However, senlenec is just “a constituent of writing”, bul a

clause complex is “a constituent of grammar” (Halliday, 1994; 216), Halliday’s

view obviously shows thal in melional grammar, il is necessary to focus on clause

or clause complex to sce the relations between these grammatical units rather than

mentioning the term “sentence”

As mentioned above, the relationship between clauses is the realization of

logical meaning of ideational metafunction According to Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 373), clauses are interrelated in terms of the degree of interdependency or

taxis and the logico-semantic relation

13.1.1 Yanis

Tt cannot be denied that all clauses are linked together by grammatical

telalions Some clauses are equal to each olber, bul some are of unequal stalus

When the two clauses are cqual, Halliday & Matthicssen (2004: 374) calls relation

“parataxis” in which one clause is initiating and the other continuing Contrary to

“paralaxis” ts “hypolaxis”, the relalion belween a dependent, clause and its dominant

clause

In parataxis, clauses are independent of one another According to Halliday

(1994:221), “the paratactic relation is logically symmetrical and transitive” The

example below shows the characteristics of paratactic relation:

| Kukul crouched law to the ground | and maved slowly ||]

(lalliday & Matthiessen, 2004:373)

Hypotaxis is the relation between two clauses where ane is considered the

main clause and one is the dependent clause or “qualification” in Halliday’s words The following example illustrates hypotactic relation:

| As he came to a thicket, || he heard the faint rustling of leaves ||

Interestingly, in clause complexes, parataxis or hypotaxis does not exist

separately but there is a mixture of paralaxis ancl hypotaxis This is called “clause

nexus” by Halliday (2004:375) The clauses making up clause nexus arc primary and secondary clauses The clauses making up clause nexus are primary and

secondary clauses The primary may be the initialing clause in a paratactic nexus or

the dominant clause in a hypotactic while the sccondary is the continuing clause in parataxis or the dependent clause in hypotaxis ‘I'he mixture of parataxis and hypotaxis in clause nexus can be illustrated in the following example:

| 4 would || iff could, || but J can’t ||

(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 m a clause nexus; however, il cart be summarized as two kinds

expansion and projection

Expansion is the relationship where the secondary clause expands the primary clause by claboraling if, extending il or cnbancing il Tn 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 bared with her voice ||]

On the other hand, extension is the relation when the secondary clause adds

new information to the primary clause

|4 am tired || and 1 don’t want to have breakfast ||

‘the third type of expansion is enhancement in which the qualifying clause enhances the main clause by adding some information relating to “time, place,

manner, cause or condition” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 410)

| Fcame | when he had left ||)

a xB

Different from expansion, in projection, “the secondary clause is projected

through the primary clause, which instates it as a locution or an idea” (Halliday &

Matthiessen, 2004: 377) While locution is connected with verbal process (what

people say), idea is related to mental process (what people think) The following clause complexes give an example of projection:

| John said: || “I'm running away.” ||

| John thought || he would run away |

(lalhday & Matthiessen, 2004: 380)

Both expansion and projection relalion are eilher paralaclic or hypotactic

The table below shows an cxample of relationship between clauses in clause

complexes including taxis and logico-semantic relation:

I John ran away,

12 and Fred stayed

@ John ran away, 1B whereas Fred stayed behind

@ John ran away,

Table 1: Relation between clauses in clause complexes

(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 380)

1.3.2, The notion of projection in SFG

As it was mentioned in the previous part, projection is one of the two logico- semantic relations between clause complexes which does not directly express non- linguistic experience but interpret linguistic representation instead (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 441) In projection, people tend to inchide the wording or

meaning of an original event rather than express their own experience Projection is

often applied to quote source in a report, to give attitude in a text, to make a

conversation or ask a question (IIalliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 442) Among six

processes in SFG, only two of them, mental process and verbal process are

capable of projecting other clauses Mental process interprets what people fecl, think, and see in their experiential world There are two participants in mental process, namely senser who can feel or perceive the world with consciousness, and phenomenon, something that is “felt, thought, wanted or perceived” (Halliday &

Matthiessen, 2004: 203) On the other hand verbal process allows people to quote

or report sources of information Tl is Ihe process of saying including the sayer, the receiver and the verbiage It can be considered the most popular process in

projection The examples of mental process and verbal process are shown below:

1 learned that lesson a long lime ago

Senser | Process: mental | Phenomenon (thing) | Circumstance

Halliday & Matihiassen, 2004 y

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”,

whereas if the projecting clause is a mental process, the projected clause is “idea

“Looution” and “idea” constitute two levels of projection Vor 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 Iwo 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 plause is dircelly quoted In contrast, hypolactic projechon is similar to reporting in which the projected clause is indirectly reported

||| The girl said: "| “T saw a young man in the house.” |||

||| The girl thought || that there was something wrong with her |\I

Mode of projection does not stop at paratactic and hypotactic projection but

expands to embedded projection In embedded projection, the projected clause is down-ranked to became the post-modifier for its preceding noun

||| Lagree with the idea [[that we will go for a pienic.]] ||

These modes of projection will be discussed thoroughly in the following

sechons

1.3.2.3 Speech function of projection

The projected clauses can fimelion slalements, questions, offers or

commands The two former ones form projected proposition while the latter are called projected proposal by Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 444) In paratactic

projection, the projected clause may be not only propositions and proposals but also

some minor speech functions such as grectings and oxclamations Some examples

of projection of propositions and proposals are shown in the following table

Major 1 “2 She said, “I a “B She said she

Locution ‘verbal | Major: proposal | He told her “Do” He told her to do

“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 clanse and projctod clause are of equal stalus TL incans that projected clause docs nol depend

on projecting clause in terms of mood, reference, register or dialect The

projected clause focuses on the warding of an original language event It possesses

all the (ealures of the clause as exchange such as the mood or the tone selcetion and

it can occur alone, without the appearance of the projecting clause In the clause

complex “He says that “T am an architect.””, the projecting clause “He says”

represents an ordinary phenomenon of experience, while the projected clause “that

“ am an architect” represents a second-order phenomenon It is so-called

“Snelapticnomenon” by Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 447)

||| He says | that “Iam an architect” |||

In paratactic projection, the projecting clause may vary in position, that is,

they can precede the projected one, stand in the middle or come after the projected one When projecting clause cames after the projected, there might be an inversion

of the reported verb and the Sayer, but it is largely restricted to some formal planned texts, usually published writing (Bloor, 1995:202) The table below shows

the various positions of projecting clause in paratactic projection:

Table 3: Positions of projecting clauses (Halliday & Matthiesson, 2004: 446)

In paratactic projection, the verb “say” is the general member of the group

Resides that, there aro many ofher verbs which add more connotation meaning to

themselves ‘the following table illustrates the verbs for paratactic projection of both propositions and proposals:

verbs (@) statomonis” tl, remark [(a)ollers sugges, offer:

function: ()) questions: ask, demand, |(b) commands cai, order,

inguire, query request, tell, propose, decide;

urge, plead, warn

@) verbs with

additional

circumstantial

reply, sxplaim, — prolesi,

continue, add, interrupl, warn,

insist, complain, ery, shout,

suggest, affer; threaten, vow,

promise, agree, call, order,

request, tell, propose, decide;

feature: boast, murmur, stammer urge, plead, warn, hlare,

thunder, moan, yell, fuss

Table 4: Verbs used in projecting clauses (Halliday & Matthicssen, 2004: 4481

The author has just mentioned the paratactic projection or quoting of

locutions (verbal process); however, (here still exists Ihe quoting of ideas (ental process) Although it is quite restricted, it will be insufficient not to mention it For

as think, wonder, reflect, surmise

Paratactic projection is not only realized through quoting but also through paratactic reporting, Paratactic reporting can be considered the blended type between quote and report because it appears as a part of a report but still retains

some interactive features of the original speech event If quoting is traditionally

called “direcl speech”, paratactic reporting is traditionally call “(roe indireet speech” Free indirect speech can be projected verbally and mentally and includes

both propositions and proposals

Proposition | “I can”, he said He could, he said

“Are you surc?” asked Fred | Was she sure, Fred asked

Proposal | “Wait here,” she told him _| Wait there, she told him

Proposition | ‘I can’, he thought He could, he thought

‘Am I dreaming?” wondered | Was she == dreaming, Jill

Proposal ‘Wait here,’ she willed him | Wait there, she willed him

Table 5: Quoting and paratactic reporting (Halliday & Maithiessen, 2004: 466)

In short, in paratactic projection, projected clause keeps the original wording,

of the speech event Projecting clause and projected clause are independent from each other Both verbal clause and mental clause are capable of paratactically

projecting other clauses When we mention paratactic projection, it is not only

quoting but also paratactic reporting which is called free indirect speech in

traditional grasmmar

1.3.4 Hypatactic projection

Contrary to paratactic projection, hypotactic projection is the projection in which the projected clause is dependont on the projecting onc Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 449) calls the projecting, clause phenomenon and the projected one metaphenomenon because the projected clause is a phenomenon of language While paratactic projection tends to represent the exact words, hypotactic projection tries to interpret the gist or the main idea of the original clause It means that the

projected clause in hypotactic projection is more focused on meaning than wording

1 is obvious thal we use language not only to talk but also to ilink, henee, hypotactic projection is the most typically applied to mental process with two sub- lypes: (1) cognition and (2) desideration

of clauses For example

(a) like type

|_T nofdoe | that Eve's disloyalty and ingratitude must be contagious! ||

(b) please type

|| lt-strikes me || that #ive’s disloyalty and ingratitude must be contagious! |||

same semantic meaning: however, it may be stated that mental processes can be

tealived in either of the two directions: the senser or the phenomenon car be the

subject but still keep the active voice The table below illustrates some paired vorbs

of the like type and the please type:

(Halliday & Matthiessen , 2004: 449)

It cannot be conchided that the Jike type and the please type has exactly the

I don’t understand it It puzzles me

Tenjoy it Thdelights me

Table 6; Paired verbs of the Jike type and the please type (Halliday, 1994: 117) 1admire it

Tmind it

I fear it It frightens me notice it It strikes me

I wonder at it It amazes me Ibelieve it It convinces me

It impresses me

TL upsets me

Besides mental process, hypotactic projection is employed in verbal process

Tn verbal process, ihe speaker does report the gist of whal was said, so the wording

may be quite different from the original (Halliday & Matthiosson, 2004: 454) As he

emphasizes, when the statements, questions, offers or commands are projected their

specch functions may be obscured and is therelore explicit in the reporting verbs

Henee, there is a difference between the set of quoting verbs and reporting verbs

In hypotactic projection, not only are general reporting verbs employed but also the verbs for claboraled speech functions are used These verbs are listed

below,

believe, guess, | wonder, doubt;

think, know, | consider; find imagine, doubt, | out, ascertain,

want, would like,

for, hope for

General

insinuate, imply, remind, | promise, _ threaten, hypothesize, deny, make out, claim, | undertake

Tnainlain

command, demand, Verbal Elaboratod

persuade, — forbid, speech

Table 7: Verbs serving in hypotactic projection

(Halliday & Matthiessen 2004: 150, 456)

In short, in hypotactie projection, the two clauses are of unequal status, The projected clause does not represent the wording but interprets the meaning instead This kind of projection can be applied for both mental and verbal process

1.3.5 Embedded projection

In addition to paratactic projection and hypotactic projection, locutions and

ideas can be down-ranked as a qualifier for a nominal group Thus, the projecting

element in this case is not a clause but functions as a nominal group ‘the noun is

the name of a locution or an idea and the projected clause serves to define it the

same way as a relalive clause Nouns of projecting elements belong to verbal

ptocess nouns and mental process nouns These nouns have a close relationship with the verbs used in projecting clause In some instances, these nouns are derived

from such verbs

When we talk about embedded projection, it is necessary to mention a kind

of projection that is not projected by a verbal or mental process or by a verbal or

imental process noun but it “comes as ii were ready packaged in projected form”

Halliday (2004) refers to it as a fact For example:

The fact [[that Caesar was dead]] was obvious to all

The fact nouns fall in four subtypes: (1) cases, (2) chances, (3) proofs and (4) needs, among which the first three go with embedded propositions whereas the last

goes with embedded proposals The below table illustrates some nouns used in

embedded projection,

Projection nouns Fact nouns

news, rumour, | case, point, rule, claim, assertion, | principle, accident,

propositions | stating Jocutions | argument, lesson, grounds

Proposition, chance, possibility,

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question, query, | (1) “cases” issue,

Jocutions | inquiry; argument, | problem,

order, command, | (4) "needs"

instruction, requirement, need,

Jocutions

demand, request, | rule, _ obligation, commanding,

- wish, desire, hope, | expectation, duty

ideas

fear

Table 8: Projection nouns and fact nouns (Ialliday & Matthiessen, 2004; 169)

As Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 472) emphasizes in their book, sometimes

there is no particrpant doing the projecting no Sayer or Senser a fact may be projected impersonally, either by (ii) a relational process or by (ii) an impersonal mental or (iii) verbal process Mor example:

(i) relational:

It came about [[that he was a robber ]]

Gi) mental: impersonal:

It was thought [[that he was a robber.]]

Git) verbal: Impersonal

It was said | [that he was a robber ||

In this case, the fact “that he was a robber” is an embedded clause

functioning as the realization of an clement in the relational process clause

All in all, embedded projection is the case when the projected clause is

employed to define a nominal graup The nominal groups consist of projection

nouns and fact nouns Ta projecting a facl, in some silualions, there is no parlicipant,

sơ a fact becomes an impersonal projection or is connected to a relational process

1.4, Summary

In the first chapter of this thesis, the authors have presented an overview of SI'G according to Lalliday’s view SEG is different from other trends of grammar in that it is more focused on meaning of a language rather than its form and strnoture

1t will be insufficient to talk about S¥G without mentioning three metafuntions: ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function These three

metafunctions are interrelated to one another and they are corresponding to clause

as represontalion, clause as oxchange and clause as message Tn addilion, clause plays the role as the biggest fimctional grammatical unit Clause complexes are

made up of a number of clauses The relalionship between these clauses is realized

through taxis (parataxis and hypotaxis) and logico-semantic relation (expansion and

projection).

The main contont of this chapter refors to the notion of projection in SFG When people want to express their saying or thinking of the experiential world, they can employ projection to interpret their meaning or wording Projection is studied in terms of level of projection, mode of projection and speech function of projection Level of projection is related to verbal process and mental process When the

projecting element is a verbal process, we call projected clause a locution while in

the other case, we call it an idea ‘fhe mode of projection includes paratactic projection where the projecting and projected clauses are equal (equivalent to direct

speech in traditional grammar), hypotaclic projection in which the two clauses are

of unequal status (similar to what is traditionally called indirect speech), and embedded projection where the projected clause is down-ranked as the qualifier for the nominal group Speech fimetion of projection studies the projection of propositions including statements and questions and the projection of proposals

consisting of offers and commands While direct and indirect speech in traditional

grannuar omphasize on structure and form of the cliuse, projection in functional

grammar is more focused on the meaning and the funetion of the clause.

understand some characterislics of the gee of the text and the ideas of the

President The speech of the President and the realization of projection in his speech are provided in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 of this thesis

2.2 The chosen text

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44" and the current President of the United

States of America He is the first African American President to hold the office He was born in 1961 in Hawaii During his schooling, he proved to excct in school and became the President of Harvard Law Review He started his political career in

1996 when he won a seat in Illinois State Senate In 2008, he won the general clection defeating the Republican Candidate John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009 Le was re-elected president in 2012, defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney He is the first Democrat since Franklin D Roosevelt to win two successive presidential elections with a majority of the popular vote

Although Obama began his presidency in the midst of the worst economic crisis that America has faced sinec the Great Depression, be has done many things

to put America forward Ile made several domestic policies during his first term in office including signing the economic stimulus legislation in response Lo the 2007—

2009 recession in the United States In forcign policy, Obama ended U.S military

invelvement in the Iraq War, was able to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden.

It is obvious that President Barack Obama is the proud president of the US

During his presidency, he has made many speeches and remarks whose messages are loved and highly appreciated by the US citizens The speech that he made in Las

Vegas on October 24", 2011 is a speech for his campaign event and it has

convinced many American people

2.3 A register analysis of the text

Language is not the entity that exists separately but it must be studied in its context In order to understand a text, it is necessary to know what the text is about,

who are the participants of the lext, the purpose of the IexL, elc ATI the listed things

can be call the register of a toxt Eegins (1994: 26) in her book defines register as

“the immediate situational context in which the text was produced” According to

Halhday & Hasan (1989), any regisler is realized through field, tenor and mode

which are related to experiential meanings, interpersonal meanings and textual

meanings Hence, in the following part, the author will try to analyze the text in

terns of field, tenor and mode

23.1 Field

According to Martin (1984) and Swales (1990) cited in Nunan (1993), field

means “difforent types of communicative events” which carry different characteristics It can be easily seen that the analyzed text in this study is a political speech thanks ta the use of lexis in the text To begin the speech, the President says

“Hello” to all his people in Las Vegas After the greeting to his citizens, he continues to express his great thanks to the people and his staff by saying “Thank

you” In his speech, he also uses the pronouns “I” to refer to himself, “you” for Las

Vegas people and “we” to refer to all the Americans His speech is Cull of words

and expressions to review what he and the US have done during the previous three

years and to ask for the supporl from the people Owing 1o these features, il can be

concluded that the text is a political speech,

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