Misconstruing Enhancing Circumstances As Elaborating Ranges

Martin (1992: 313):

Having taken this step, a number of related grammatical structures present themselves for treatment along similar lines.  At clause rank, there is a class of locative phrases which can be interpreted as subclassifying the Process whose ritual destination they provide.  These are associated with verbs of motion (especially go and come); their destination is realised through an unmodified nominal head (e.g. come to tea).  A number of these "locative Ranges" are listed below:

go/come = to/from work/school/class/uni/theatre/daycare;
                  to/from training/practice/football/hockey;
                  to/from dinner/tea/lunch/breakfast/supper;
                  to/from bed

Blogger Comments:

[1] In SFL theory, these 'locative phrases' are circumstances of Location: spatial: motion: towards/away from.  See Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 265-6).

[2] These 'locative phrases' cannot be interpreted as 'subclassifying the Process' because, for example, 'to tea' is not a type of 'come'.  Instead, they construe the spatial location: motion of the unfolding of the process.  Accordingly, the expansion relation is enhancement, not elaboration — and it obtains between the circumstance and the Nucleus.

[3] These are circumstances of Location, not "locative Ranges".  The distinction is exemplified below:

Ben	crossed	the mire
Medium	Process	Range

Ben	fell	into the mire
Medium	Process	Location