The lexicogrammar of adjectives : a systemic functional approach to lexis

253 Pages·1998·12.593 MB·English

by  Gordon H Tucker

The Lexicogrammar of Adjectives
Functional Descriptions of Language Series
Series Editor. Robin Fawcett, University of Wales, College of Cardiff
There is a large and growing interest in functional descriptions of the languages
of the world. This series - conceived as a sister to the Open Linguistics Series -
provides a forum for descriptions of selected aspects of languages (and
occasionally for descriptive overviews of whole languages) that approach the
problem of explaining language from an explicitly functional perspective.
The series offers a natural home for the publications of those working in, or
in sympathy with, one or more of the following theoretical frameworks: systemic
functional linguistics, functional grammar, Firthian description (for example,
work in the tradition of Quirk, Leech and colleagues), functional sentence
perspective, role and reference grammar, cognitive grammar, tagmemics,
stratificational grammar, and the various 'West Coast functionalists' and others
with similar views.
The Lexicogrammar of Adjectives
A Systemic Functional Approach to Lexis
GORDON H. TUCKER

CASSELL
London and New York
Cassell
Wellington House, 125 Strand, London WC2R OBB
370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017 - 6550
First published 1998
© Gordon H. Tucker 1998
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-304-33903-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tucker, Gordon H. (Gordon Howard), 1945-
The lexicogrammar of adjectives: a systemic functional approach to
lexis/Gordon H. Tucker.
p. cm. - (Functional descriptions of language)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-304-33903-2 (hardcover)
1. Grammar, Comparative and general - Adjectives. 2. Lexicology.
3. Systemic grammar. I. Title. II. Series.
P273.T83 1998 97-52313
415—dc21 CIP
Typeset by York House Typographic Ltd, London
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bookcraft (Bath) Ltd.
Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Preface vii
1. Introduction 1
2. Approaches to lexis in systemic linguistics 9
3. The Cardiff Grammar 36
4. Adjectives in English 50
5. The syntax of adjectives: the quality group 61
6. System networks and lexically oriented meaning 92
7. The system network for Quality 114
8. Realization rules for the Quality network 167
9. Aspects of the lexicogrammar of Quality 178
10. The syntactic environment of the quality group: nominal group
modification 201
11. Conclusions 226
References 232
Name index 240
Subject index 242
Acknowledgements
The author and publisher are grateful to the authors and publishers of the
following publications who have given their kind permission for the use of
copyright material reproduced in this book:
Berry, M. (1997) Introduction to systemic linguistics, Vol. 2: Levels and links. London:
Batsford, on page 14.
Cross, M. (1993) Collocation in computer modelling of lexis as most delicate
grammar. In M. Ghadessy (ed.) Register Analysis: Theory and Practice. London:
Pinter Publishers, on page 23.
Fawcett, R.P. (1980) Cognitive Linguistics and Social Interaction: Towards an
Integrated Model of a Systemic Functional Grammar and the Other Components of an
Interacting Mind. Heidelberg: Julius Groos and Exeter University, on page 17.
Hasan, R. (1987) The grammarian's dream: lexis as most delicate grammar. In
Halliday, M.A.K., and Fawcett, R.P. (eds) (1987) New Developments in Systemic
Linguistics, Vol. 1: Theory and Description. London: Pinter, on page 17.
Martin, J.R. (1992) English Text: System and Structure. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins, on pages 28, 29, 30 and 31.
Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (1990) Lexico(grammatical) choice in text generation.
In C.L. Paris, W.R. Swartout and W.C. Mann (eds), Natural Language
Generation in Artificial Intelligence and Computational Linguistics. Dordrecht:
Kluwer Academic Publishers, on pages 25 and 30.

vi
Preface
There has been and will continue to be an abundance of books on both
grammar and lexis. The subject matter of this book, however, is, exclusively,
neither one nor the other. Its central concern is lexicogrammar, albeit the
lexicogrammar associated with a specific lexical category, the adjective. It was
Michael Halliday who, as far as I am aware, first introduced the term
'lexicogrammar' into the study of language, a term which is not to be
interpreted as a replacement for 'grammar', or as shorthand for the simple
banding together of grammatical and lexical forms in linguistic organization.
This is made clear in another idea of Halliday's, namely that lexis is 'most
delicate grammar'. Others - and especially John Sinclair - would argue the
converse, that grammar is 'most generalized lexis'. Yet I believe these two
positions to be complementary, differing only in the direction from which they
come at language. Both positions suggest an integrated approach, one in which
there is no rigid compartmentalization of grammar and lexis.
The theoretical framework in which one works - in this case of this book,
Systemic Functional Grammar - both determines and is determined by the kind
of questions that one asks and attempts to answer. If the scope of this book
could be reduced to a single question, it would be, 'What is involved
linguistically in the selection of one or other adjective as part of the overall
meaning potential of English?' And that is clearly not just a question of choice
between one lexical item and another. A speaker's knowledge of a language
involves knowing the contexts in which adjectives are possible and appropriate
expressions of meaning and the consequences, both structural and lexical, of
selecting one or anothe r adjective. Among the consequences of any such choice
is the potential for the elaboration and extension of meaning through
modification and complementation of the adjective itself. Furthermore, if one
is concerned with language as meaning potential - and this is a central concern
of systemic functional linguistics - the thorny problem of the semantic
organization of the lexical resource cannot be avoided. These are all issues
which are addressed in this book.
If it is no longer fashionable in linguistic theory to write large explicit
grammars of a particular language, there are still at least three valid reasons
for doing so. Firstly, there is the research activity of computational natural
language generation, with which this book is integrally associated, through
being a part of the computationally implemented Cardiff Grammar. If
computational grammars are to be of use, they must provide extensive coverage
of both structure and lexis. Secondly, if linguistics has a responsibility for the
vii
Preface
development of large descriptive grammars, then again, one cannot stop at
theoretical principles and limited exemplifications. Finally, it is partly through
the process of pushing ideas to the limit that we can assess their validity. It is now
almost forty years since Michael Halliday first wrote of the idea of treating lexis
as 'most delicate grammar'. If nothing else, this book is an extensive exploration
of this challenging notion.
There are numerous colleagues to whom I am indebted and who have,
directly or indirectly, influenced the ideas set out in this book. First and
foremost, Robin Fawcett gave me the unique opportunity of making a
contribution to the development of his model of systemic functional grammar,
particularly in respect of lexis, and to the computational implementation of
what has come to be known as the Cardiff Grammar. Robin's ideas and mine -
like structure and lexis - have become fully integrated in my own work. Yet
without his model, developed over three decades of earnest and dedicated
scholarship, there would have been little to build upon. Secondly, no systemic
functional linguist could fail to acknowledge the immense debt owed to Michael
Halliday. In many respects, all developments in systemic functional linguistics
are a response to one or other seminal idea of Michael's, and my own work is
no exception. Thirdly, there are those who have, like myself, taken up the
challenge of 'lexis as most delicate grammar', in particular Margaret Berry,
Marilyn Cross, Ruqaiya Hasan, Jim Martin and Christian Matthiessen. Their
respective contributions have proved invaluable in interpreting and developing
Michael Halliday's original concept. Fourthly, in their first existence as a
doctoral dissertation, the ideas presented here were scrutinized by Chris Butler
and Geoffrey Turner, and it was their critical comments and encouragement
that persuaded me to present them to a wider readership. Despite the
contribution of those mentioned above, I alone am responsible for any
inadequacies and shortcomings that the book may be considered to have.
Books also depend on the contribution and support of others, who,
refreshingly, are not involved personally in the subject matter. In this sense, I
would especially like to express my gratitude to Marion Blake of Cassell
Academic who looked after my manuscript and guided me patiently and
considerately through the processes of producing a book. I should add that I

was more apprehensive of Marion's reading of my manuscript that I was of most
others'. Finally, there are those who simply believe in you and give you the
important support that any such enterprise requires, regardless of the cost to
themselves. To Christine, for this, as always, thank you. This book is dedicated
to my dear mother and my dear late father.
Gordon Tucker
Cardiff
May 1998
viii
1 Introduction
The grammarian's dream is (and must be, such is the nature of grammar) of constant
territorial expansion. He would like to turn the whole of linguistic form into grammar,
hoping to show that lexis can be denned as 'most delicate grammar'. (Michael Halliday:
'Categories of the theory of grammar', 1961)
The lexicon - if I may go back to a definition I used many years ago - is simply the most
delicate grammar. In other words, there is only one network of lexicogrammatical
options. (Michael Halliday: Language as Social Semiotic, 1978)
1.1 STRUCTURE AND LEXIS
The study of linguistic form has by and large favoured a separation between syn-
tactic and lexical description. Indeed, this separation is prevalent in the popu-
lar conception of how a language works: there is 'grammar' and there is
'vocabulary', and one consults the reference grammar for an account of how
language is structured and the dictionary for information about words, their
meanings and usage. Any compartmentalization of language into levels or com-
ponents is, however, a convenience of linguists.
The only transparent 'components' of linguistic form are words. They are
certainly the only formal linguistic entities that we might expect people other
than linguists to readily recognize. The rest, as far as form is concerned, is
simply the way words are put together, interact and pattern. Syntax is an abstrac-
tion of the patterning of words. Like most 'scientific' investigators, linguists are
happy when they find regular patterns, since this allows them to generalize and
make claims about the underlying organization of language. The reasons for
investigating the formal properties of language differ, of course, between the-
oretical schools. For th e Chomskyan school the aim is to uncover the universal
linguistic properties, thereby throwing light on the language faculty in a psy-
chological (and neuro-biological) sense. For the Hallidayan school the aim is to
explore how language is organized to make social meanings, where the struc-
tural potential of a language is in a non-arbitrary relationship to its (social)
meaning potential.
These different perspectives on formal linguistic organization need not be
considered irretrievably incompatible and irreconcilable. Language is, after all,
both a psychological and a social phenomenon. It is unfortunate that intellec-
tual (and no doubt other forms of) politics has led to situations of proprietorial
imperialism and at times heavy-handed appropriation of the domain and goals
of linguistic theory. In the long run, it is the particular insights that theories
offer humanity that will ultimately decide their usefulness.
One consequence of the choice between the Chomskyan psychological
1