A Systemic Functional Analysis Of The English Nominal Group With The Non-finite Clause As The Qualifier

The basic internal structure of the English nominal group mainly consists of Premodifier, Head and Qualifier. Each element has different types which can be further analyzed. Compared with the other two elements, the Qualifier is more complex in that it can be a word, a group, a phrase, a clause, and even the combination of all these grammatical units. The term Modifier is named as the Premodifier in Systemic Functional Linguistics, and Qualifier refers to the Postmodifier. The clause mentioned here includes both finite clause and non-finite clause. In this research, we only choose the English nominal group with the non-finite clause as the Qualifier to conduct an analysis in Systemic Functional Linguistics approach.There are three types of non-finite clauses, which are ing-clause, ed-clause and to-clause. The non-finite clause is composed of the verbal group and the nominal group. Transitivity is realized by the Processes, so we can analyze Transitivity in the non-finite clause. On the rank scale, the units, phrase and group, are all at the same level, but the clause is higher than group. When the clause acts as the Qualifier in the nominal group, it is only part of the nominal group. Therefore, Halliday points out that nearly all the Qualifiers are rank-shifted.Traditional grammar mainly analyzes the structure of the nominal group, while Systemic Functional Linguistics, including the Sydney Grammar and the Cardiff Grammar, analyzes not only the structure of the nominal group, but also the function of every element of the nominal group. This research chooses to analyze the English nominal group with the non-finite clause as the Qualifier on the basis of the two models of Systemic Functional Linguistics, in order to bring a novel perspective in analyzing the nominal group of this type.The usage of the cline is to further explain the result of the analysis. This is followed by a conclusion that we can not make a definite concept on some elements based on the Sydney Grammar, but we get two kinds of findings via the Cardiff Grammar analyses. One is the conflation of the Main Verb (notional verb) and the Operator, and the other is the conflation of the Infinitive Element (I) and the Operator will/shall. In particular, the latter point is the novel idea found out in the present research.The data used in the present dissertation are all taken by observation from the literature of English grammar. This research mainly adopts qualitative, descriptive and explanatory approaches. We only analyze the structure and function of the nominal group of this type from Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective. Through the tree diagrams, the Cardiff Grammar offers clearer and more specific analyses than other models, and obtains different understandings of the structure of the nominal group. The nominal group of this type in different contexts can be further explored. Furthermore, if we investigate the English nominal group of other types within the framework of the Cardiff Grammar, we may have different findings.