2.11 Choice
Language is more than just a system of arbitrary signs. It is a semiotic system with three levels of realization — content (meaning), wording (lexicogrammar), and expression (speech or writing). Meaning is realized through lexicogrammar, which is in turn realized through speech or writing. Any change in lexicogrammar results in a change of meaning and expression. This is unlike the traffic light system, which consists of only two levels — meaning (stop, slow down, go) and expression (red, orange, green) — and where the order of expression has no effect on meaning (i.e., the three colors can be arranged in any order without affecting meaning).
Because of lexicogrammar, language offers us choices. We make lexical and grammatical choices depending on purpose, task, context, and rhetorical functions. These choices can be congruent or incongruent with our everyday experience. In congruent, or typical/normal, choices, action is realized in verb (e.g., operate, criticize), tense and modality in auxiliary verb (e.g., will, can), thing in noun (e.g., film, sign), logical relation in conjunction (e.g., because, if), and quality in adjective (e.g., atrocious, agile). In incongruent, or atypical/unusual, choices (also referred to as grammatical metaphor), action, tense, modality, logical relation, and quality are all realized in noun, called nominalization (e.g., operation, criticism; prospect, possibility; reason, condition; atrocity, agility). A more complete account of grammatical metaphor is presented in Table 2-5 (after Martin, 2010, pp. 416-417), which compares congruent and incongruent realizations of meaning. As the table illustrates, the shift from congruent to incongruent expressions involves more than just a change in word; it often requires a change in wording, that is, transformation of grammar.
Table 2-5 Congruent vs. Incongruent Expressions in English
As is clear from the above examples, choices can be at the level of word (lexis) or wording (grammar). At the lexical level, for example, instead of saying "John failed the test", we can say "John did not pass the test" or "John flunked the test". These choices convey nuances of meaning: "did not pass" sounds less negative and thus less direct than "failed"; "flunked" is an American slang that is used in a highly informal context.
At the grammatical level, we can choose from the various systems of grammar described earlier. Drawing on the Mood system, for example, we can choose among these options when trying to order a cup of coffee:
Asking a question (interrogative Mood): Could I have a cup of coffee?
Issuing a command (imperative Mood): Give me a cup of coffee, please!
Making a statement (declarative Mood): I would like a cup of coffee.
Drawing on the transitivity system, we can choose among the following options when trying to convey Gillian's indignation at Johnny in a more or less direct way:(https://www.daowen.com)
Relational process: Gillian was mad at Johnny.
Mental process: Gillian hated Johnny.
Material process: Gillian unloaded her animosity against Johnny.
Verbal process: Gillian yelled at Johnny.
Drawing on the Theme/Rheme system, we can choose to foreground or background certain elements in a sentence by choosing among the following options:
· In the eighth round, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman.
· Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round.
· George Foreman was knocked out by Muhammad Ali in the eighth round.
It is precisely because of the choices afforded by lexicogrammar (i.e., word and wording) that language becomes a powerful and creative resource for making meaning in ways that satisfy the purpose of language users and meet the needs of particular contexts of situation. We can do many different things efficiently and effectively with language: doing, thinking, saying, feeling, being; explaining, reporting, arguing, classifying, narrating; attending classes, shopping at the mall, going to the church, performing marriage, visiting the doctor, and making friends. For this reason, Halliday and Matthiessen (2014) viewed (lexico) grammar as "the powerhouse where meanings are created" (p. 22).