Complementarity Between Lexis And Grammar In The System Of Person

Person as a linguistic concept identifies and differentiates speech roles in an utterance, namely the addresser, the addressee, and the party referred to that is neither the addresser nor the addressee. Along with number, gender, case, tense, aspect, etc., the notion of person is primarily perceived in linguistics as a grammatical category which is a semantic distinction reflected in a phono-morphological paradigm. From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the underlying principle for paradigmatic ordering of language is called a "system". It consists of a set of alternatives and its entry condition. In this sense, person is a fundamental system in language organization and represents an important aspect of the meaning potential of language. This is the basic stance this dissertation is built upon, hence the object of study "the system of person"According to SFL theory of stratification and realization, systemic features of person as semantic choices, like all other systemic terms, are realized by lexicogrammar, which in turn is realized by phonology (or graphology). It is acknowledged by some linguists that vocabulary and grammar are not different strata of language but they are the two poles of a single continuum; however, it is SFL's observation that lexis and grammar (properly combined as lexicogrammar) bear a relation of complementarity in the process of transforming human experience into meaning. The system of person is unexceptionally realized by either lexical or grammatical means; moreover, it can even be spotted in fuzzy areas along the lexis-grammar continuum. The present study is aimed at delving into the lexis-grammar complementarity manifest in the system of person via examination on the lexicalization and grammaticalization of meaning related to person.The dissertation comprises six chapters.The introductory chapter establishes the objectives of the study against the theoretical backgrounds of Systemic Functional Linguistics and outlines the organization of the dissertation.Chapter Two reviews the existing achievements of studies and researches pertaining to the topics under discussion, most notably on systemic theories and the concept of lexicogrammar as a single unified stratum of language.Chapter Three provides a detailed analysis of person within the systemic framework, using system network, a kind of graph notation designed by M. A. K. Halliday to represent systemic (paradigmatic) organization of semantic features. The system network for person is a part of the full system networks of the meaning potential of language. There have been simplistic network representations of the system of person in systemic studies in which person is incorporated as part of the Mood structure of a clause. However, the realization of the concept of person involves a complex series of choices represented by features such as discourse roles (the addresser, the addressee, and the third party; i.e. the first, second, third person), number, inclusiveness (such as whether the addressee and/or the third party is included or excluded by a first person plural form), animacy, gender, case, reflexivity, etc. And the system of person necessarily intersects with other systems as well.Given the vast and wide spectrum of resources for expressing distinctions in the assignment of person roles in language, therefore, the primary purpose of this chapter is to present person-related system networks covering a richer range of semantic features than the existing models. Meanwhile, this chapter studies the system of person in relation to other major semantic systems instead of regarding it as one isolated component of language parallel to gender, number, case, etc.Chapter Four discusses the lexicalization and grammaticalization of the system of person. The construal of the concept of person can rely either on the means of lexis or those of grammar. It is exemplified in two sections of this chapter how the system of person is realized through lexical and grammatical resources respectively. Lexical resources refer to the lexicon which mainly works for denoting substance (or entity in SFL terminology), action (process) and quality, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Lexical items are open-ended and not mutually defining, thus it is not expected that every lexical manifestation of person consists of a closed set of lexis including all the three speech roles (i.e. the first, second and third person). On the other hand, lexical items can be added or removed since their membership is in principle infinite and unfixed. This logically holds true for lexis related to the concept of person.Grammaticalization is the morphological realization of meaning by inflection and derivation, the sequential organization of elements, particles or other function words, etc. By grammatical resources concerning person it is meant that the concept of person can be construed grammatically e.g. by reduced and dependent forms, inflections, zero forms, etc. as well as independent forms viz. personal pronouns. In contrast to full independent content words, the grammatical realization of the system of person features (1) phonological reduction relative to the independent forms; (2) morphological dependence on other elements; (3) semantic generalization compared with lexical items.One section under this chapter is specially dedicated to observations on personal pronouns. Traditionally, pronouns are viewed as a morpho-syntactic, i.e. grammatical category as opposed to nouns. They are employed as substitution for nouns but differ from the latter in morphological and syntactic properties. They are not capable of identifying a referent by themselves as do both proper nouns and common nouns. They, by nature, form a closed and fixed set of expressions; they are mutually exclusive; and they are semantically generalized to a large domain of application. However, the distinction between pronouns and nouns is not so discrete as it seems to be. As Sugamoto (1989) has pointed out, some personal pronouns exhibit fewer pronominal and more nominal characteristics than others, and vice versa. Accordingly, studies of personal pronouns in terms of pronominality vs. nominality are conducted in this section in a bid to reveal the complex nature of this particular kind of person marker. More significantly, the pronominality-nominality scale stands as compelling evidence for the complementarity between lexis and grammar, which is a fundamental conception of language held by Systemic Functional linguistics.Chapter Five focuses on the relationship between lexis and grammar, which are seen as forming a unified stratum of lexicogrammar where meaning is transformed into wording. Both as resource for expressing meaning, lexis and grammar are complementary to each other in a sense that lexis is taken to be the most delicate grammar and grammar the most general lexis. The complementarity is most prominent in their performance of ideational function, i.e. human experience could be construed either lexically or grammatically, or at the same time both lexically and grammatically. Each makes its own contribution to the meaning of the whole. The phenomena at one end are better explained in terms of one conceptual framework, while those at the other end another.There are complex phenomena in the middle of the lexis-grammar continuum that are difficult to describe when vocabulary and syntax are envisaged as two distinct levels of meaning organization. Essentially these phenomena can be interpreted either way. And since lexis and grammar are the two ends of a continuum, without a clear boundary in the middle, the construal of meaning may be located at different points along this cline and may readily move from one place to another. The move is not one between ranks, but one of delicacy. This better explains the lexicalization and grammaticalization in both synchronic and diachronic senses.The system of person, representing one of the most important human perceptions of the world and of interpersonal relationships, relies heavily on the lexis-grammar complementarity in its manifestation and interpretation. As is discussed in the previous chapter, the realization of the concept of person can resort to either lexical or grammatical means, and the construal of a same person phenomenon can take place at different locations along the lexicogrammatical continuum in various languages. The fact that personal pronouns themselves display different degrees of pronominality also substantiates the unity and complementarity between lexis and grammar.Diachronically speaking, person forms are subject to change, too, although they are often regarded as one of the most stable parts of language. Many person forms are believed to originate from lexical items, the synchronic realizations being different degrees of grammaticalization. Still others are from grammatical sources. This indicates the migration of delicacy along the lexis-grammar continuum, which again verifies their complementarity from a developmental perspective.The final chapter brings the studies of this dissertation to a conclusion. The system of person is realized in language by means of lexicalization and grammaticalization, both of which are strategies evolved in language for the construal of meaning related to person. The complexity of the task of transforming human experiences into meaning by language demands the seemingly parallel but in reality complementary approaches. It is lexicogrammar as a unity that gives language the power of generating meaning and ensures its semogenic process.This study adopts a systemic typological approach, with a variety of languages observed and cited as examples to demonstrate and validate the viewpoints in this study. Different languages may display diverse formal features in person expressions, which complement one another and jointly function in the construal of meaning of person.