Sunday 22 November 2015

Misconstruing Enhancement (And Complementarity) As Extension

Martin (1992: 362-3):
In [5:36] for example the actions of the yachts during the race are divided into three main strings: manœuvering, covering and leading.  Proto-typically, the manœuvering actions are extended by a Medium and enhanced by a Circumstance of direction, the covering actions are extended by an Agent and a Medium, and the leading actions are extended by a Medium and enhanced by a Circumstance of measure.  These configurations are outlined below.
manœuvering



p
Medium:Australians
Process:tacked
Circumstance:left
covering



mm
Agent:Australia II
Process:blocked
Medium:Americans
leading



kk
Medium:Australia II
Process:leading
Circumstance:by a couple of boat lengths


Blogger Comments:

[1] In SFL theory, the relation between Process and Medium is complementarity, not extension.  A Medium does not extend a Process because one cannot be construed without the other.  Every Process unfolds through a Medium.

[2] Because Agent is defined as the participant that is the external cause of a Process unfolding through a Medium, the expansion relation with the Nucleus is enhancement, not extension.

[3] In SFL theory, this is termed a circumstance of Extent: distance.