Linguistics Encyclopedia.pdf

It was an Easter egg that Tomas gave to Sophie.
The most usual themes in English are those realized by the grammatical subject of the
clause, and these are are called unmarked themes; when the theme is something other
than the subject, it is called marked theme (examples (4) and (5)).
In its interpersonal function, as an interactive event, an exchange between speakers,
the clause in English is organized in terms of mood. Mood is the relationship between the
grammatical subject of the clause and the finite element of the verbal group, with the
remainder of the clause called the residue. So any indicative clause—a clause which has
a subject and a finite element will have a mood structure. Subject and finite together
make up the proposition of the clause, the part that can be affirmed, denied, questioned,
and negotiated by speakers in other ways (wished about, hoped for, demanded, etc.). The
grammatical subject of a declarative clause is recognizable as that element which is
picked up in the pronoun of a tag (1985, p. 73):
So in order to locate the Subject, add a tag (if one is not already present)
and see which element is taken up. For example, that teapot was given to
your aunt: here the tag would be wasn’t it?—we cannot add wasn’t she?.
On the other hand with that teapot your aunt got from the duke the tag
would be didn’t she?; we cannot say didn’t he? or wasn’t it?
It is that by reference to which the proposition is affirmed, denied, etc. The finite element
further enhances the proposition as something to negotiate by (1) giving it a primary
tense (past, present, future) and (2) a modality, an indication of the speaker’s attitude in
terms of certainty and obligation to what s/he is saying. Halliday represents the finite
verbal operators as in Table 1(1985, p. 75).
Temporal operators
Table 1
Past Present Future
did, was, does, is, will, shall,
had, used to has would, should
Modal operators
A-Z 193
Low Median High
can, may will, must, ought to,
could, might would, should, is to, was to need, has to, had to
There are two moods within the indicative, realized through the ordering of subject and
finite (1985, p. 74):
(a) The order Subject before Finite realizes ‘declarative’;
(b) The order Finite before Subject realized ‘yes/no interrogative’;