Mistaking A Thematised Mood Adjunct Of Temporality For Internal Temporal Conjunction

Martin (1992: 224-5):

In addition the conjunction still is used to signal that non-contiguous information remains relevant (still resembles again in its ability to connect non-adjacent messages):

[4:151]  Don't you think that the transformation is really an inappropriate concept here.  I mean it implies directionality and change where in fact we're looking at texts generated once from a set of option [sic] in their context of culture. 

— Well, we don't mean to imply process or change.  It's just a way of showing the marked and unmarked forms of certain relations.  When we say the police killed the rioters is transformed into rioters shot, we're simply pointing out the ideological transformation that has taken place. 

— But still, you're implying that something has changed in the text.  In fact nothing has changed; though the text is agnate to others in the culture where the Agent is specified.  And surely no text is ideologically neutral.  All texts encode some ideology as you yourselves argue.  So is there really any need for a concept of markedness, however represented?

Blogger Comments:

[1] Trivially, still is an adverb, not a conjunction.

[2] Non-trivially, the adverb still is functioning here as a mood Adjunct of temporality (i.e. interpersonally), not as a conjunctive Adjunct (i.e. textually — Martin's logically), and so it does not mark a conjunctive relation of internal temporality.  It is the conjunction but that marks a conjunctive relation (adversative addition, not internal temporality).

The mood Adjunct functions textually in the clause as interpersonal Theme:

but	still	you	‘re	implying
conjunctive Adjunct	mood Adjunct: temporality	Subject	Finite	Predicator
textual	interpersonal	topical	Rheme
Theme

Cf  But you're still implying that something has changed in the text.

but	you	‘re	still	implying
conjunctive Adjunct	Subject	Finite	mood Adjunct: temporality	Predicator
textual	topical	Rheme
Theme

Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 127):

Mood Adjuncts of temporality relate to interpersonal (deictic) time… .  They relate either (i) to the time itself, which may be near or remote, past or future, relative to the speaker-now; or (ii) to an expectation, positive or negative, with regard to the time at issue.