Halliday’s-Grammatical-Metaphor

1Halliday’sGrammaticalMetaphorAbstract:Hallidayisthefirstmanwhoproposesthename“grammaticalmetaphor”andgivesadetailedstudyofthetheoryofgrammaticalmetaphor.Underhisthreemetafunctionsoflanguage,heaffirmstheideationalmetaphorandinterpersonalfunction.ThispapergivesabriefintroductiontothetwometaphorsandprovidessomeremarksonHalliday’sgrammaticalmetaphor.Keywords:grammaticalmetaphor;ideationalmetaphor;interpersonalmetaphor1.IntroductionThetheoryofgrammaticalmetaphorwasproposedbyM.K.A.HallidayinhisAnIntroductiontoFunctionalGrammar.AccordingtoHuZhuanglin(1996),thegrammaticalmetaphorphenomenonhasalwaysbeeninexistence.Manyotherschoolsoflinguisticshavestudiedmetaphor.Forexample,Forexample,LakoffandJohnson(1980)hintattheexistenceofgrammaticalmetaphors,assomeoftheso-calledstructuralmetaphorscanalsobeinterpretedintheHallidayanmodel,whereasdiscussionsovertherelationshipbetweenmetaphorandiconicityinthe1994specialissueofJournalofPragmaticsseemtobedirectedatthegrammaticalmetaphorissuetoo(Yanshiqing,2000:44).Hallidaydefinedgrammaticalmetaphoras“variationessentiallyinthegrammaticalforms”(1994:342).Thistheoryisabreakthroughinthetraditionalstudyofmetaphorsinceitisanewformofmetaphor.Hallidayclassifiesgrammaticalmetaphorsintoideationalmetaphors(metaphorsoftransitivity)andinterpersonalmetaphors(metaphorsofmoodandmodality).Textualmetaphorsarenotincluded,sinceHallidayholdsthatthetextualisa“meta-functionalcomponentinlanguagetowhichthereisnocorrespondingfunctioninthesenseof‘use’--itisnotawayofusinglanguage,butratheraresourceforensuringthatwhatissaidisrelevantandrelatestoitscontext”(HallidayandHasan:45).2.IdeationalmetaphorAccordingtoHalliday,languagehasthreemetafunctions:theideationalfunction,theinterpersonalfunctionandthetextualfunction.Theideationalfunctionistoconveynewinformation,tocommunicateacontentthatisunknowntothehearer.Presentinalllanguageuses,theideationalfunctionisameaningpotential,becausewhateverspecificuseoneismakingoflanguagehehastorefertocategoriesofhisexperienceoftheworld.Theideationalfunctionmainlyconsistsof“transitivity”and“voice”.(HuZhuanglin,etal.2001:416)Hallidayclassifiesthetransitivitysystemintosixprocesseswhicharematerialprocess,mentalprocess,relationalprocess,behavioralprocess,verbalprocessandexistentialprocess.Accordingtothescaleofdelicacy,theprocessescanbefurtherdivided.FromHalliday’sview,ideationalmetaphormeansvariationtakingplaceintheprocessofchoicesinthetransitivitysystem,includingtheselectionofprocesstypes,theselectionoftransitivityfunctionsandtheselectionofsequenceofgroup/phraseclasses.AccordingtoHalliday,languageisasystem.Thesemanticsystemoflanguageis2includedinthesystem:Semantic(themeaning);Lexicogrammatical(thewording,i.e.syntax,morphologyandlexis);Phonology(thesound)(Halliday,1978:128).Therelationshipbetweenthelevelsisthatofrealization:thechoiceof“meaning”(thesemanticlevel)isrealizedasthechoiceofthe“form”(theLexicogrammaticallevel);thechoiceof“form”isrealizedas“substance”(thephonologicallevel).Halliday(1994:342)pointsoutsomethingissaidtobemetaphorical,itmustbemetaphoricalbyreferencetosomethingelse.“Thisisusuallypresentedasaone-wayrelationshipsuchthattosomemetaphoricalmeaningofawordtherecorrespondsanother,non-metaphoricalthatissaidtobe‘literal’.Here,however,wearelookingatmetaphornot“frombelow’,asvariationinthemeaningofagivenexpression,butrather“fromabove’,asvariationintheexpressionofagivenmeaning;theconceptof'literal'isthereforenotveryappropriate,andweshallrefertothelessmetaphoricalvariantas‘congruent’.Inotherwords,foranygivensemanticconfigurationtherewillbesomerealizationinthelexicogrammar—somewording—thatcanbeconsideredCONGRUENT;theremayalsobevariousothersthatareinsomerespect‘transferred’,orMETAPHORICAL.”(Halliday,1994:342)Hallidaydefines“congruence”inthepaper“Thingsandrelations:regrammaticizingexperienceastechnicalknowledge”(Halliday:1996):“Letmefirstreturntothecongruentpattern--notingthat‘congruent’meansthatpatternofrelationshipsbetweenthesemanticsandthegrammarinwhichthetwostratainitiallyco-evolved”.Theplainandmorelivingclausesarecongruentforms.Incongruentexpression,processmeaningsarerealizedasverbs,thingsasnouns,qualitiesasadjectives,logicalrelationsasconjunctions,andsoon.Thecongruentexpressionisstraightforwardcoded.Ametaphoricalrepresentationisnotcodedlikethis.AccordingtoHalliday(1985/1994),threestepsareinvolvedwhenanideationalmeaningisexpressed:(i)Selectionofprocesstype:material,mental,relational,withtheirvariousintermediateandsecondarytypes;realizedas(ii)Configurationoftransitivityfunctions:Actor,Goal,Senser,Manneretc.Representingtheprocess,itsparticipants,andanycircumstantialelements;realizedinturnas(iii)Sequenceofgroup/phraseclasses:verbalgroup,nominalgroup,adverbialgroup,prepositionalphrase,andtheirvarioussub-classes.Theoreticallyspeaking,everylevelcanappearideationalmetaphor.TransferencebetweenprocessesisverycommoninEnglish.Thereexiststhetransferencefrombehavioralprocesstomaterialprocess,frombehavioralprocesstoexistentialprocess,frommentalprocesstoexistentialprocessandsoon.Forinstance:(1)Hee