Linguistics Encyclopedia.pdf

(c) In a ‘WH-interrogative’ the order is:
(i) Subject before Finite if the WH-element is the Subject;
(ii) Finite before Subject otherwise…
(a) declarative
the duke has given that teapot away
Subject Finite
Mood Residue
(b) yes/no interrogative
has the duke given that teapot away
Finite Subject
Mood Residue
Examples of (c) would be:
(c.i)
who gave you that teapot
Subject Finite
Mood Residue
(c.ii)
why were you given that teapot
WH Finite Subject
Residue
Mood
The linguistics encyclopedia 194
In a third mood, the imperative, the subject is often missing, as in Go away! Halliday
chooses to treat this absence as a case of ellipsis of the subject, that is, the subject is
understood to be there, but is not explicitly mentioned; the hearer supplies it mentally.
Sinclair (1972, p. 71) recognizes a fourth mood choice, moodless, made in clauses which
have neither subject nor finite (which Sinclair treats as part of the predicator), as in the
case of announcements (Rotunda next stop) and responses (yes/no).
The clause residue consists of three kinds of functional element: one (and only one)
predicator, one or two complements and up to about seven adjuncts. The predicator is
what there is of the verbal group in addition to the finite—if there is one; some clauses,
known as non-finite clauses, have only a predicator ‘for example eating her curds and
whey (following Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet)’ (Halliday, 1985, p. 78). It has four
functions (ibid., p. 79):