descriptions of Theme, Subject, and Actor, in which case are not belong to the same systemic cluster. Even if there is a Subject which can be categorized into the
three functions, the functional components which follow each Subject are never found to be the same. Theme, Subject, and Actor respectively form “part of a
different functional configuration” Halliday and Matthiessen 2004: 53-6 which constitute three separate lines of meaning of the clause:
1. The Theme, being “the concern of the message,” sets up orientation to a clause which indicates the meaning of a clause as message. This
corresponds to the organization of Textual function. 2. The Subject is an “element the speaker makes responsible for the
validity of what he is saying,” or of a propositionproposal. This proposition or proposal indicates the meaning of clause as exchange,
corresponding to the organization of Interpersonal function. 3. The Actor as “doer of the action” carries out a process represented
by the clause indicates the meaning of the clause as representation of process. This corresponds to the organization of Ideational function,
which covers the Experiential function and the Logical function, with the latter only appears in the organization of clause-complex.
The three functions, the interpersonal function, the ideational function, and the textual function, make up the essence of the description of metafunction.
3. Interpersonal Metafunction
Other than its famous function as means of communication, language also serves as means of interaction which refers to the establishment and
maintenance of social relations. Language expresses social roles from the simple communication roles such as roles of questioner or respondent, to the more
complex role regarding language users’ power such as when language represents attitudes, assessments, judgments, expectations, and demands of the speakers.
This active function of language, as Halliday 19792002 notes, is called the interpersonal metafunction. It is active as it is oriented towards the speaker and
hearer’s continuous intrusion throughout the speech event, enacting social relationships. The interpersonal metafunction’s reality construal is social reality
and its semantic system is parallel to the discourse structure of negotiation, that is which concerned with resources for exchanging information and goods and
services in dialog Martin, 2009. Interpersonal metafunction is represented by lexicogrammatical or
phonological motifs which are “strung unboundedly” throughout the clause Halliday, 19812002: 239, making a “unique rhetorical flavor” of a text
Halliday, 19812002: 239. For this reason, the interpersonal meaning generates prosodic structures which are less constituent-like, for example, compared to the
experiential metafunction. Halliday 19792002: 206 explains the prosodic structures of interpersonal meaning by comparing it to prosodies in phonology,
that is as “contrasting features having no place in the constituent structure but which are specified separately and then mapped on to the constituent structure as
a distinct step in the realizational process.” This nature of the structure is exemplified as in the following figure.
Figure 1: Prosodic Nature of the Interpersonal Structure Halliday, 19792002
As the figure represents, the prosody is not only about the phonological motifs of intonation contour, but also of the lexicogrammatical motifs as
exemplified by the system of person and modality above. The lexicogrammatical mode of realization of the interpersonal metafunction is captured in the
configurations of mood system encompassing the elements of Subject, Finite, Predicator, Complement, Adjunct, Polarity and Modality Halliday, 19812002;
Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004.
a. Speech Functions
In order for an exchange to be established, the participants or the speakers need to take turns at speaking. To do this, they assign themselves with
certain roles which affect the direction where the exchange is heading to. These speech roles, are by Halliday 1994 fundamentally classified into two: either the
speaker gives something to the listener giving or demands the listener to do something demanding. While doing this, the speakers should also recognize the
commodity they are exchanging, which are also classified into two fundamental categories: information and goods--services Halliday, 1994. Based on these
