IDEATIONAL MEANINGS
A. Definition
Ideational
meanings are meanings about how we represent our experience, we talking about
something or someone doing something. It explains about phenomena, about
things, about goings on (what the things are or do) and the circumstances
surrounding these happenings and doings. It is influenced by the field of
discourse.
B. Transitivity or The Ideational Meanings
Function
The pattern of
ideational meanings is realized by the transitivity system. Transitivity is a
grammatical system. It specifies the different types of process that are
recognized in the language, and the structures by which they are expressed. The
forming elements of transitivity system are the participant, process and
circumstances who is doing what, to whom, when, where, why and how. The
descriptions of each component are displayed as follows.
1. Participants
Participants are the people, ideas, or things that
participate in the processes. The participants are realized by the nominal
groups. The types of participants are:
-
Actor
(the technical term for the doer)
-
Goal
(the thing which is on the receiving end of the action)
-
Beneficiary
(participants which benefit from the process)
-
Range
(in material process, range is a continuation of the process itself)
-
Behaver
(conscious being of doing)
-
Range
(in behavioral process, range gives the additional information toward the
behavioral process that the behaver does)
-
Senser
(conscious being who feels, thinks, see, or perceives)
-
Phenomenon
(that which is sensed that can be thought, felt, seen or perceived by the
conscious senser)
-
Sayer
(it encodes the signal source)
-
Verbiage
(reflected in a noun expressing some kind of verbal behavior such as statement,
questions, joke, answer, story and etc.)
-
Target
(one acted upon verbally)
-
Token
(shows ‘what is being defined’, such as the sign, name, form, holder, and
occupant)
-
Carrier
(labeled in relational process in the type of attributive process which assigns
a quality)
-
Attribute
(attributive is assigned to a carrier)
-
Attributor
(can be stated as a causer in which it because carrier
to bring attributive process into being)
-
Existent
(participants of existential process, usually follows the sequence of ‘there
is’ or ‘there are’)
2. Process
Process is realized by the verbal group of the clause.
There are 7 process in ideational meanings including:
-
Material/Actor
Process
Material process is process of doing or about action.
The participants are an Actor (the Doer of the process), a Goal (the thing
affected), a Range (the thing unaffected by the process), and a Beneficiary
(participants which benefit from the process).
Example:
|
The Merapi |
erupted |
|
Actor |
Process: material |
|
Tom |
is reading |
a novel |
|
Actor |
Process: material |
Goal |
|
Her husband |
has never done |
anything |
for her |
|
Actor |
Process: material |
Range |
Beneficiary |
-
Mental
Process
Mental process is process of thinking, believing, sensing,
evaluating, seeing, hearing, wanting, hoping, liking and hating. The
participants are a senser (a human or at least conscious participant) and a
phenomenon (summing up what is thought, wanted, perceived, liked/disliked).
There are types of mental process, they are:
·
Cognition
(think, believe, know, doubt, remember, forget, reflect, recognize, etc.);
·
Affection
(like, hate, admire, miss, fear, dislike, etc.);
·
Perception
(see, hear, notice, feel, taste, smell, etc.);
·
Volition
(want, need, intend, desire, hope, wish, etc.).
Example:
|
I |
don’t
believe |
it |
|
Senser |
Process:
Mental |
Phenomenon |
|
Their
arguments |
convinced |
Tom |
|
Phenomenon |
Process:
Mental |
Senser |
|
He |
decided |
to
meet |
her |
In
Japan |
|
Senser |
Process: mental |
Process:
Material |
Goal |
Circ: Place |
|
Phenomenon |
||||
-
Verbal
Process
Verbal process is process of saying (asking,stating,
telling, informing, demanding, offering, commanding, suggesting, arguing) and
semiotic processes that are not necessarily verbal (showing, indicating). The
participants in verbal process are sayer (the participant responsible for the
verbal process), receiver (the one to whom the saying is directed), verbiage
(the content of what is said or name of the saying), and target (the entity
that is targeted by the process saying).
Example:
|
I |
asked |
him |
a lot of question |
|
Sayer |
Process: verbal |
Receiver |
Verbiage |
|
We |
can introduce |
Our own country |
to the world community |
|
Sayer |
Process: verbal |
Verbiage |
Receiver |
|
The teacher |
praised |
Dewi |
to all students |
|
Sayer |
Process: verbal |
Target |
Receiver |
|
The report |
slurred |
Both the teacher and pupils |
|
Sayer |
Process: verbal |
Target |
-
Behavioral
Process
Behavioral process
is process of physiological or psychological such as breathing, dreaming,
snoring, smiling, hiccupping, looking, watching, listening, etc. The behaver
and the range of the action are kinds of participants.
Example:
|
She |
heaved |
A
great sigh |
|
Behaver |
Process:
behavioral |
Range |
|
He |
snores |
loudly |
|
Behaver |
Process:
behavioral |
Range |
|
You |
Are
daydreaming! |
|
They |
Are
not listening |
|
Behaver |
Process: behavioral |
-
Existential
Process
Existential process is process of existing and
appearing. It’s representing experience by posting that ‘there was/is
something’, that ‘something exist or happens. Usually involves “there” and
typically employ the verb To be or
synonyms such as exist, arise, occur. The participant is referred to as the
Existent (a phenomenon of any kind).
Example:
|
Subject |
Process: Existential |
Existent |
|
There |
was |
a bear |
|
There |
has been |
waiting here |
|
There |
is |
only one apple left |
|
There |
came |
a huge explosion |
|
There |
remains |
A sudden knock |
|
Inside every university |
will be |
-
a
question of compensation -
an
electronic virtual library |
-
Relational
Process
Relational process is process of being and having. It
is expressing being and coming in two different modes: attribution (assigning a
quality to something) and identification (identifying something).
The participants are:
·
Carrier
and Attribute in attributive clauses
·
Token
(what is being defined) and Value (something which defines) in identifying
clauses.
|
Types |
Mode |
|
|
Attributive |
Identifying |
|
|
Intensive |
Mark is smart |
Mark
is the smartest student |
|
The
smartest student is Mark |
||
|
Circumstancial |
The fair is on Friday |
Tomorrow
is the 10th |
|
The
10th is tomorrow |
||
|
Possessive |
Peter has a piano |
The
red book is Ika’s |
|
Ika’s
is the red book |
||
Example:
|
Mark |
is |
smart |
|
Carrier |
Attributive:
Intensive |
Attribute |
|
Travis |
is |
the
smartest student |
|
Token |
Identifying:
intensive |
Value |
-
Meteorological
Process
It’s about weathering. Example:
·
It’s
hot
·
It’s
windy
·
Ir’s
cloudy
·
It’s
five o’clock
“it” has no representational
function, but does provide a Subject.
3. Circumstances
Circumstances are the conditions in which processes are
occurring. Circumstances also answer such as when, where, why, how, how many
and as what. Circumstances elements are represented prepositional phrases or
adverbial groups. The types of circumstances are:
-
Time
Circumstance (consists of time: ‘when’, and duration: ‘how often’ and ‘how
long’).
-
Place
Circumstance (tells where and how far)
-
Manner
Circumstance (cover means, quality, and comparison)
-
Cause
Circumstance (tells the cause ‘why’, the reason ‘what for’, and the behalf ‘who
for’)
-
Accompaniment
Circumstance (tells ‘with or without who or what’ and is probed by ‘with whom’)
-
Matter
Circumstance (reveals ‘what’ or ‘with reference to what an’ is probed by ‘what
about’)
-
Role
Circumstance (tells ‘what as’)
Example:
|
The
Merapi |
erupted |
in
Yogyakarta |
last
year |
|
Actor |
Process:
Material |
Circ:
Place |
Circ:
Time |
|
They |
like |
apples |
like
crazy |
for
their own health |
|
Senser |
Process:
Mental |
phenomenon |
Circ:
Manner |
Circ:
Cause |