Exercise: Tactical grammar construction for
generation
Construct a systemic-functional grammar that can generate (at
least) the following sentences:
1.
John saw Mary.
2.
Did John see Mary?
3.
Mary was seen by John.
4.
The woman saw John.
5.
The ball is green.
6.
The woman saw the green ball.
7.
The woman saw the ball that was green.
Think of the semantics involved in each case, too.
Steps to a solution (1):
constructing the network
1. Consider the linguistic functions of each
clause
2. Consider the linguistic functions of each
of the constituents of each clause
3. Consider which constituent-functions
reoccur in different clauses
4. Consider in which orders and in which
combinations the constituent-functions
occur
Clause functions
Statement
Yes-no-question
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
John saw Mary.
Did John see Mary?
Mary was seen by John.
The woman saw John.
The ball is green.
The woman saw the green ball.
The woman saw the ball that
was green.
A first ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
statement
Yes-no-question
Constituent functions
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
1.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
[John] saw [Mary].
[Mary] was seen [by [John]].
[The woman] saw [John].
[The ball] is [green].
[The woman] saw [the green ball].
[The woman] saw [the ball that was
green].
Constituent functions
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
1.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
[John] saw [Mary].
[Mary] was seen [by [John]].
[The woman] saw [John].
[The ball] is [green].
[The woman] saw [the green ball].
[The woman] saw [the ball that
was green].
Constituent functions
[John] saw [Mary].
[The woman] saw [John].
[The woman] saw [the green ball].
[The woman] saw [the ball that was green].
Constituent functions
[John] saw [Mary].
[The woman] saw [John].
[The woman] saw [the green ball].
[The woman] saw [the ball that was green].
The one who senses
something
Senser
The entity of
phenomenon sensed
Phenomenon
Constituent functions
Process
Senser
[John]
[The woman]
saw
Phenomenon
[John]
[Mary]
[the green ball]
[the ball that was green]
Constituent functions
Process
Senser
+Senser
+Process
+Phenomenon
Phenomenon
Senser^Process
Process^Phenomenon
Constituent functions
Process
Senser
[John]
[The woman]
saw
Phenomenon
[John]
[Mary]
[the green ball]
[the ball that was green]
Constituent functions
Process
! saw
Phenomenon
Senser
[John]
[The woman]
NP / nominal groups
[John]
[Mary]
[the green ball]
[the ball that was green]
NP / nominal groups
A first ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
statement
+Senser
+Process
+Phenomenon
Yes-no-question
Constituent functions
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
1.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
[John] saw [Mary].
[Mary] was seen [by [John]].
[The woman] saw [John].
[The ball] is [green].
[The woman] saw [the green ball].
[The woman] saw [the ball that was
green].
Constituent functions
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
Statement
1.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
[John] saw [Mary].
[Mary] was seen [by [John]].
[The woman] saw [John].
[The ball] is [green].
[The woman] saw [the green ball].
[The woman] saw [the ball that was
green].
Constituent functions
5. [The ball] is [green].
?
Process
is
?
Constituent functions
5. [The ball] is [green].
?
The thing that carries
some property
Carrier
Process
is
?
The property that is
attributed
Attribute
Constituent functions
Process ! is
Attribute
Carrier
[green]
[The ball]
NP / nominal groups
Adjectival phrase / Adjective
A first ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
statement
+Senser
+Process
+Phenomenon
Yes-no-question
A second ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
attributing
statement
+Carrier
+Process
+Attribute
sensing
+Senser
+Process
+Phenomenon
Yes-no-question
A second ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
attributing
statement
+Carrier
+Attribute
+Process
sensing
+Senser
+Phenomenon
Yes-no-question
Constituent functions
3. [Mary] was seen [by [John]].
Constituent functions
3. [Mary] was seen [by [John]].
?
Process
was seen
The entity of
phenomenon sensed
Phenomenon
?
The one who senses
something
Senser
Grammatical proportionalities
John saw the ball : The ball was seen by John
::
The woman saw the boy : The boy was seen by the woman
::
John saw Mary : Mary was seen by John
::
[active clause] : [passive clause]
Grammatical proportionalities
John saw the ball : The ball was seen by John
::
The woman saw the boy : The boy was seen by the woman
::
John saw Mary : Mary was seen by John
::
[active clause] : [passive clause]
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
Phenomenon / Subject
Process :: passiveform
A third ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
attributing
+Carrier
+Attribute
statement
+Process
sensing
+Senser
+Phenomenon
Yes-no-question
A third ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
attributing
+Carrier
+Attribute
statement
+Process
sensing
+Senser
+Phenomenon
Yes-no-question
active
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
passive
Phenomenon / Subject
Process :: passiveform
A third ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
attributing
+Carrier
+Attribute
statement
Subject/Carrier
+Process
Subject^Process
sensing
+Senser
+Phenomenon
Yes-no-question
active
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
passive
Phenomenon / Subject
Process :: passiveform
Clause functions
Yes-no-question
2. Did John see Mary?
Clause functions
Yes-no-question
2. Did John see Mary?
Finite Subject
Senser Process Phenomenon
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
Finite^Subject
A third ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
attributing
+Carrier
+Attribute
statement
Subject/Carrier
+Process
Subject^Process
sensing
+Senser
+Phenomenon
+Subject
Yes-no-question
active
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
passive
Phenomenon / Subject
Process :: passiveform
A third ‘decision point’ or
grammatical system
attributing
+Carrier
+Attribute
statement
Subject/Carrier
+Process
Subject^Finite
sensing
+Senser
+Phenomenon
+Subject
Yes-no-question
Finite^Subject
active
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
passive
Phenomenon / Subject
Process :: passiveform
One “micro-grammar” for the
exercise clauses: version 1
attributing
+Carrier
Subject/Carrier
+Attribute
statement
Subject^Finite
Finite/Process
active
sensing
+Senser
+Phenomenon
+Subject
+Process
+Finite
Yes-no-question
Finite^Subject
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
passive
Phenomenon / Subject
Process :: passiveform
One “micro-grammar” for the
exercise clauses: version 2
attributing
+Carrier
Subject/Carrier
+Attribute
active
sensing
+Subject
+Process
+Finite
+Senser
+Phenomenon
statement
Subject^Finite
Finite/Process
Yes-no-question
Finite^Subject
Senser / Subject
Process :: activeform
passive
Phenomenon / Subject
Process :: passiveform
NP or nominal group functions
[John]
[Mary]
[The woman]
[the ball]
[the green ball]
[the ball that was green]
?