the presence of there, e.g. there are some references. In the sentence above, some references
is the existent Lock, 1996. In addition to the processes and the participants, the transitivity system
also covers the circumstances. Circumstances have variety of meanings Downing and Locke, 2006. In sentences, they may appear as adverbs or prepositional
phrase. The most frequent circumstances are place and times. Both of them can show location, source, path, direction, goal, extent, extent and goal, relative, and
distributive. The other circumstances are manner manner, means, comparison, instrument, instrument, contingency cause, purpose, reason, concession, behalf,
condition, accompaniment togetherness, additionality, modality possibility, probability, certainty, degree emphasize, attenuation, role capacity, matter and
evidence.
2.3 Mood and Modality System
While the transitivity system concerns with the ideational function of language, the mood and modality system is one of the components in
interpersonal function of language. It expresses the attitudes and judgments of the speakers Lock, 1996. The mood may show the attitude of one character toward
another Lock, 1996 while Simpson 1993 mentions that modality refers to the attitude of the narrator, their opinion about something and the truth expressed by
the proposition. Furthermore, Simpson 2004 adds that modality also enables the narrator to express their belief and obligation, and shows their degrees of
certainty. The mood structure has two main parts, subject and finite. According to
Halliday and Matthiessen 2004, subject is something where the proposition can
be affirmed or denied and where the validity of information can be relied. Based on the form, Lock 1996 claims that it is always in the form of noun group, and
in declarative clauses, it precedes the finite. Finite, as stated by Halliday and Matthiessen 2004, is something that limits the proposition and makes the
proposition arguable. It also bounds the proposition to context in particular speech event. It can be realized by tenses and modalities with modal verbs. The following
is the example of subject and finite.
I will
dance Interpersonal
Mood Residue
Subj. modal Finite
dance Predicator
In addition to the subject and the finite, the mood structure also can contain predicator, complement, and adjunct. They belong to residue. Halliday and
Matthiessen 2004 explain that predicator is realized by verbal group minus the temporal and modal operator. It has four functions which are to specify time
reference in secondary tense, various other aspects and phases such as in a mental process, the voice active or passive, and the processes. Like subject, complement
is also realized by noun group. It is an element that has the potential to be the subject of a sentence and that has the potential to have interpersonally elevated
status of modal responsibility or which is significant for the argument. In contrast, adjunct has no potential to be the subject of a sentence. Halliday and Matthiessen
2004, 123 say, “… it cannot be elevated to the interpersonal status of modal responsibility.” Below is the example of the mood structure in declarative clause.
He never
plays piano
with his friends. Interpersonal
Mood Residue
Subj. Mood
Adjct. present
Finite play
Predic. Complement
Adjunct
Adjunct that ha adjunct can be placed
the mood is called mo mood is called comm
chapter only elaborate Figure 2.3.1 Modal A
Adopted from: Hallid There are four
declarative mood, int The interrogative mo
type. Table 2 below is
modal adjunct
has interpersonal meaning is called modal ed in mood or served as comment. The one wh
mood adjunct, while the other one which is pla ment adjunct. Considering the discussion of th
ates the modality and the propositional commen Adjunct
liday and Matthiessen 2004, 126 and 128 ur forms of the mood system. Lock 1996
interrogative mood, imperative mood and exc mood itself can be realized through the wh-ty
is the summary of the mood system taken from
mood temporality
modality modalization
modulation intensity
comment propositional
speech- functional
al adjunct. Modal which is placed in
placed outside the this research, this
ent adjunct.
6 divides it into xclamative mood.
type and yes-no- rom Lock 1996.
tion probability
usuality
on obligation
inclination
Table 2.3.1 Types of the Mood System
Mood Examples
Declarative I took five courses last semester.
Interrogative Wh
-type How many courses did you take last
semester? Yes-no-
type Did you take five courses last semester? Imperative
Let’s take one more course. Exclamative
How complicated it is What a busy day
Based on the structure, those four moods are different in their structure. The declarative mood and the interrogative mood must have subject and finite in their
structure. However, the imperative mood is realized by predicator without explicit subject and finite. The exclamative mood, on the other hand, may have subject
and finite or may not have subject, finite and even predicator. As for the modality system, it can be realized through modal auxiliaries,
modal adjuncts, adjectives and verbs. In short, modality may demonstrate the likelihood, requirement, wish and ability. The examples of modal auxiliary are
will, would, must, should, shall, can and could while probably, certainly and
clearly are the examples of modal adjunct. Some verbs such as believe and wish,
and adjectives such as sure and obvious also represent modality. For deeper review of modality, according to Simpson 1993, English has four modal
systems, deontic modal system, boulomaic modal system, epistemic modal system and perception modal system which will be explained as the following.
The first modal system is the deontic modal system. It expresses the degrees of obligation, duty and commitment Simpson, 1993. The deontic modal system
can be realized by modal auxiliaries like may, should, and must.
6 You may start reading permission. 7 You should start reading advice.
8 You must start reading requirement obligation. In addition to the modal auxiliaries, verbs such as permit and oblige and
adjectives such as possible and necessary can also be used to identify deontic modal system Simpson, 1993.
The second modal system is the boulomaic modal system. It indicates the wishes and the desires of the speakers Simpson, 1993. The indicators of the
boulomaic modal system can be verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Verbs that are frequently used in boulomaic modal system are wish, hope and regret express
desire that something never happens. The adjective good as in it is good that she comes early
and stance adverb hopefully also indicates the desire of the speakers Simpson, 1993.
The third modal system is the epistemic modal system. The epistemic modal system deals with knowledge, belief and cognition of the speakers Simpson,
1993. He continues that this system “is concerned with the speakers’ confidence or lack of confidence in the truth of a proposition expressed” Simpson, 1993: 44.
The indicators of this system include modal auxiliaries such as may, might, can, could, should,
and must, verbs such as doubt, think, suppose, and believe, adjectives such as sure, certain, and doubtful and adverbs such as maybe, perhaps,
probably, certainly and supposedly Simpson, 1993.
The last modal system is the perception modal system. Simpson 1993 agrees with Perkins 1983 that the perception modal system is the subcategory of
epistemic modal system. It concerns with “the fact that the degree of commitment to the truth of a proposition is predicated on some reference to human perception,
normally visual perception” Simpson, 1993: 46. Some indicators in this modal system are the adjectives as clear, apparent, obvious and evident and the adverbs
formed from those adjectives Simpson, 1993. Another theory divides the modality system into modalization and
modulation. Modalization shows the validity degrees of the information while modulation relates with the speaker’s confidence in the success of exchange
Thompson, 2004. Below is the table for the types of the modality system and the values from low to high based on Thompson 2004 and Halliday and Matthiessen
2004. They can be in the form of mood adjuncts or modal verbs. Table 2.3.2 Types of Modality
Types of Modality
Scales Examples
Modalization Probability
Possible He might have returned the
books. Probable
Certain Usuality
Sometimes She always sits in the front row.
Often Usually Always
Modulation Obligation
Permissible Allowed
You should submit your paper tomorrow.
Advisable Supposed
Obligatory Required
Inclination willingness
Willing I’ll be here at 08:00 am.
Keen Determination
Figure 2.3.2 The Cate
Adopted from: Hallid Looking at the
objective and implicit the subjective and th
judgment. The former the evaluation objectiv
modality
ategorization of Modality
lliday and Matthiessen 2004, 150 the orientation, modality can be classified a
icit or explicit. According to Halliday and Mat the objective orientation deal with narrators
er shows the subjective evaluation, and the latt ctive. Look at the examples on median probabil
types modalization
modulation
orientations subjective
objective
implicit explicit
values high
median low
polarities positive
negative
as subjective or atthiessen 2004,
ors’ evaluation or latter tries to make
bility below.
probability usuality
obligation inclination
direct on proposition
transferred on modality
9 I think she cries. subjective – explicit 10 She will cry. subjective – implicit
11 She probably cries. subjective – implicit 12 It’s likely that she cries. objective – explicit
On the other hand, the implicit and explicit orientations deal with the source of
conviction. Thompson 2004 gives further explanation on the implicit and explicit orientations. A clause will have implicit orientation when the modality is
in the main proposition, and it will have explicit orientation when the modality is in the separate clause.
As for the polarity, a clause can be in the positive polarity, direct negative, or transferred negative. The forms of the negative affect the value of the modality.
13 I think she doesn’t cry. median, direct negative 14 I don’t think she cries. median, transferred negative
15 I know she doesn’t cry. high, direct negative 16 I don’t know she cries. low, transferred negative
17 I imagine she doesn’t cry. low, direct negative 18 I can’t imagine she cries. high, transferred negative
As seen in the examples above, the median value is not affected by the forms of
the negative. However, the if the negative is transferred, the value is shifted from low to high or from high to low as 15, 16, 17, and 18.
In terms of meaning, transferred negative weakens the projected proposition. Since SFG also deals with meaning such as pragmatic and semantic,
pragmatically, it can reduce the illocutionary force of a claim, the power of negation, and disagreement to respect the hearer’s face. Besides, transferred
negative shows less certainty and decreases the commitment of the speaker toward the proposition. It can also be used to show sympathy Tran and Luu, 2014. Thus,
the negative transferred is considered more polite than the direct one.
2.4 Comment Adjunct and Appraisal Analysis
