Locative Expressions In English Existential Clauses:a Systemic Functional Analysis

This thesis explores, based on previous pertinent studies, the status and functions of Circumstances in there-existential clauses from the perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG for short). Different from the previous studies, this thesis takes a new approach to English existential clauses (EEC for short), i.e. to regard the Circumstances, together with the Qualifiers within the nominal group as a device of locating and identifying the Existent in EEC, and thus can be defined as the locative expressions (LE for short). Hence, LE can be realized by adjectives, adverbial groups and prepositional phrases.EEC is one of the basic constructions that are typically used to represent the experience of existing. All kinds of phenomenon in human experience can be construed as a thing such as person, object, abstraction or any action, so it is possible to transfer these phenomena into existent and metaphorically construe other kinds of experiences into the existential process. Thus, the congruent form or the unmarked use of the existential process should realize the experience of being and existing and the existent should be a specific entity or human (touchable, conceivable) while the metaphorical form or marked use of EEC enable people to construe not only any kind of phenomenon as a’thing’: person, object, institution, abstraction; but also any action or event", which makes a rich resource for the representation of the experiential world and the world of human mind, and redeploys the original categories in the congruent mode to the incongruent mode. In this sense, this study investigates LE from the perspective of ideational metaphor, which demonstrates the capability of representing the different processes in one single configuration, and differentiates the congruent form of EEC from its metaphorical use based on the tension between the semantic meaning and the lexico-grammar. Moreover, this thesis selects examples which manifest the metaphorical construal "from mental to existential", "from verbal to existential" and "from material to existential" with an aim to reveal the truth that all kinds of experience can be flexibly construed by EEC and puts forward a discussion on the lexico-grammatical realization of the congruent and incongruent use of EEC, in which the functions and nature of LE in EEC can be analyzed and checked.From the perspective of ideational metafunction, LE functions both as an important lexicogrammatical resource for the semantic construal of Circumstance of space or time in EEC and the locator and identifier to the Existent. Accordingly, this thesis aims at proposing an explanation to the experiential metafunction of LE as the Circumstances and the modifiers of the Existent in EEC.From a lexico-grammatical perspective, LE is an important lexico-grammatical resource in the linguistic representation of both Circumstances and attributes of the Existent. Therefore, the present study argues that the Circumstance and modifiers of the Existent can be presented in the stratificational realization of LE. At the phrase stratum, LE functions as modifiers to the nominal group and adjuncts to the verbal group. At the clause stratum, LE functions as a marked theme while it functions to foreground the Circumstance, as well as background and locate the Existent, which can emerge either as the first element of EEC or in front of Existent to fulfill the textual function of enhanced theme.The exploration of LE helps reveal the nature of EEC, which illuminates the spatiotemporal principle in linguistic systems. The most important thing is that it demonstrates the indispensability of LE in the transference of meaning representation. The present study indicates that the LE is on one hand associated with existential processes and thus functions as a constituent of Complement (i.e. Existent); on the other hand, it is also an obligatory Adjunct and is thus an obligatory element modifying the Existent. LE can not only be effectively employed to construe experience and then realize its ideational metafunction, but also functions as an minor participant to further constrain the enhanced Theme in the EEC. Additionally, the thesis proposes a tentative new typology of the EEC based on the findings in present study, which makes a complement to the transitivity system of the ideational function of EEC and provide a new perspective to the research of the nature of EEC.