Another Reference Chain Of Non-Participant And Participant

Martin (1992: 137-8):

Similarly, the nominal groups realising Circumstances of Extent, or filling Pre-Deictic, Pre-Numerative, Pre-Epithet or Pre-Classifier positions may be taken up as participants in a discourse, although the textual motivation for selecting a nominal group realisation may not have been to introduce a new participant in the first place.  This is illustrated with respect to Pre-Numeratives in [3:75].

[3:75] I got two jars of mulberry jam.
           — Let's see them / I hate it.

Blogger Comments:

Here again Martin violates his own model in its own terms by proposing a reference chain between a non-participant (pre-Numerative: two jars) and a participant (them).

To be clear, in SFL theory, the reference item them makes anaphoric personal co-reference to the referent two jars of mulberry jam (just as the reference item it makes anaphoric personal co-reference to the referent mulberry jam).

A Reference Chain Of Non-Participant And Participant

Martin (1992: 137):

Finally, it has to be noted … that the grammar may be actively involved in creating participants in discourse.  Once the decision for example has been made to realise a process as a Process + Range structure (e.g. have a bath), then the fact that the process has been nominalised potentialises it as a participant; and a text can pick it up and develop it along these lines:

[3.74] Where have you been?

           — Oh I had a bath;

           in fact it was quite a splendid one.

           There was plenty of hot water;

           so I just luxuriated in it for hours.

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, if the grammar isn't "actively involved in creating participants in discourse", then there are no "participants in discourse".

[2] To be clear, in SFL theory, a Range is a participant, whereas in Martin's discourse semantics, it is not, since he has defined participants in terms of nominal groups functioning as the Agent or Medium of a clause (p129).

[3] To be clear, in Martin's model, identification involves reference chains that link presuming and presumed participants (p140), the participant being the unit of identification (p325).  By proposing a  reference link between a non-participant and a participant, Martin violates his own model in its own terms.

[4] To be clear, this it is not a participant, but the Range of a minor Process of a prepositional  phrase realising a circumstance of Location.

As a consequence, the reference chain of "participants" in this example begins with a non-participant (in Martin's terms) and ends with a circumstance (in SFL terms).