This glossary is intended to explain systemic terms and to relate systemic and non-systemic terms; it is an aid in metalinguistic translation, i.e. in translation between the systemic meta-language and other meta-languages. It is necessary to do this, but at the same time it is important to recognize that glossaries can be misleading and even intellectually harmful, since, as noted above, a theory cannot be reduced to a glossary of its technical terms. A glossary is based on items - the terms glossed - and this tends to foreground the items at the expense of the system or network of relations they are part of. A technical vocabulary is not a list of items; it is a network of relationships. So if we pick out one vocabulary item, say Goal (systemic), and gloss it as Patient (non-systemic), we have lost the fact that Goal is just one part of one theoretical model of transitivity and Patient is part of another model and they are not systemically equivalent although they may be applied analytically to the same constituents of a clause in a large number of examples.

Although there are significant points of contact between the systemic tradition and Indian and Chinese linguistics (e.g. in the theoretical foregrounding of prosodies and syllables), the 'translations' between the systemic tradition and other traditions in this glossary are concerned with Western traditions and more specifically traditional grammar and those originating in the US. (Thus, there are only a few items from the Prague School, while Glossematics, continental European structuralism, current French and Dutch functionalist approaches, the various German traditions, and so on are left out entirely.) Also, it should be noted that the main focus is on the level of lexicogrammar (= syntax + morphology + lexis) rather than phonology, semantics, and context, although some central terms in these areas are included.

Conventions

Systemic terms in bold italics, e.g. Actor.
Non-systemic terms in bold, e.g. Actor.
Theoretical systemic terms are marked "[theoretical]".
Descriptive systemic terms are marked "[descriiptive:", and their location in the interpretation of English lexicogrammar is given by reference to stratum, metafunction, axis, and rank, e.g. "[descriptive: lexicogrammar x textual x systemic x clause rank]".

Glossary of terms

Absolute. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x structural x clause rank] Interpersonal clause function neutralizing the distinction between Subject and Complement. It is assigned to nominal groups in certain minor clauses of the type 'alarm' (as in [Absolute:] Fire! ) and to nominal groups standing unattached in headlines, product names, business names, street names and other "little texts" (as in [Absolute:] A Multinational Era). => IFG p. 96 and p. 395.

Accompaniment. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Circumstantial role in transitivity structure: the extending type of circumstance. Accoompaniment is the circumstantial equivalent of the meanings 'and', 'or', and 'and not'. For example:

He invited Gorbachev to "work [Accompaniment: commitative:] with me to bring down the last barriers to a new world of freedom. (Time 94)

He is the boss, and [Accompaniment: commitative:] without him, the accord will not work.

[Accompaniment: additive:] Instead of tidings of joy, Hollywood offers the writhings of Job. (Time 94)

you end up regulating those people [Accompaniment: additive:] instead of the small percentage of people who commit most crimes (Time 93)

=> LexCart p. 343.

Actor. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Participant role in a material clause; the participant always inherent in the clause according to the transitive model of transitivity. The process it participates in may or may not extend to affect another participant, the Goal. For instance:

[Actor:] The Marchioness [Process:] broke [Role:] into two.

[Actor:] Ambulance crews, firefighters and police [Process:] helped to rescue [Goal:] passengers [Location:] from the water.

The systemic term Actor is to be distinguished from the systemic term => Agent. While the former is confined to material clauses in the transitive model, the latter is a generalized transitivity function - the 'causer' - in the ergative model of transitivity (see transitivity models). In non-systemic literature, the term Agent may correspond to either Actor or Agent. Bloomfield (1933) used the terms Actor-Action-Goal, but it has not been taken over in most non-systemic treatments of transitivity roles. => LexCart Section 4.7.

adjective. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction: general x systemic x word rank] Secondary word class within primary word class of nominals serving as Epithet within nominal groups. For example:

It might have been [adjective:] otherwise had President Bush not waited until after the election to announce that he was nearly doubling U.S. troop strength in the Persian Gulf. As it was, only a few sitting members of Congress were defeated, hardly [adjective:] enough to make more than a token difference in the composition of the Senate (where the Democrats picked up one seat) and the House (where they picked up eight). In fact, the most [adjective:] significant result involved a politician who wasn't even on the ballot. For if the election of 1990 changed nothing else, it undermined the perception that George Bush is all but [adjective:] immune to the [adjective:] normal vicissitudes of politics. Suddenly, and for the first time in his presidency, Bush seemed [adjective:] vulnerable.

The weakening process began when Bush abandoned his "no [adjective:] new taxes" pledge and deprived Republican right-wingers of their [adjective:] favorite issue. Then Congress rejected the deficit-reduction package negotiated by White House aides and [adjective:] congressional leaders. After that, the President went from [adjective:] bad to [adjective:] worse as he alternately attacked the Democrats, tried to explain his [adjective:] domestic policies and confronted growing doubts about the U.S. deployment in the [adjective:] Persian Gulf. By the time he finally signed a budget deal [adjective:] last week, his performance ratings in the polls had dropped 20 points. (Time)

Certain adjectives can also serve in hypotactic verbal group complexes; for example:

Old enemies from the Warsaw Pact are [adjective:] keen to join the Western alliance, but Moscow frowns on the idea. (Time 93)

For its part, Israel was [adjective:] eager to reduce its defense costs by selling overseas and to increase its influence over a country that supported Israel's Arab enemies. (Time 93)

Adjunct. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x interpersonal x structural x clause rank] Interpersonal clause function: constituent that is not an alternative Subject (in contrast to a Complement). Adjuncts are experiential (circumstances), textual (conjunctives), or interpersonal (modal adjuncts or comment adjuncts). For instance:

[Adjunct: textual] However [Adjunct: interpersonal] unfortunately we can't meet [Adjunct: experiential / Location:] at noon.

Non-systemic writers often use adverbial as roughly equivalent to Adjunct; Quirk et al. (1985) use adjunct roughly in the sense of experiential Adjunct (circumstance) together with subjunct, disjunct and conjunct. => LexCart Section 5.1.1.1.

adverb. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction: general x systemic x word rank] Primary class of word serving as Head or Modifier in adverbial group or as Submodifier in any kind of group (or as expansion of verb in a phrasal of consisting of verb + adverb). For example:

It might have been otherwise had President Bush [adverb:] not waited until after the election to announce that he was [adverb:] nearly doubling U.S. troop strength in the Persian Gulf. As it was, [adverb:] only a few sitting members of Congress were defeated, [adverb:] hardly enough to make [adverb:] more than a token difference in the composition of the Senate ([adverb:] where the Democrats picked [adverb:] up one seat) and the House ([adverb:] where they picked [adverb:] up eight). In fact, the [adverb:] most significant result involved a politician who wasn't [adverb:] even on the ballot. For if the election of 1990 changed nothing else, it undermined the perception that George Bush is [adverb:] all but immune to the normal vicissitudes of politics. Suddenly, and for the first time in his presidency, Bush seemed vulnerable.

The weakening process began when Bush abandoned his "no new taxes" pledge and deprived Republican right-wingers of their favorite issue. Then Congress rejected the deficit-reduction package negotiated by White House aides and congressional leaders. After that, the President went from bad to worse as he [adverb:] alternately attacked the Democrats, tried to explain his domestic policies and confronted growing doubts about the U.S. deployment in the Persian Gulf. By the time he [adverb:] finally signed a budget deal last week, his performance ratings in the polls had dropped 20 points. (Time)

=> IFGpp. 25, 214

adverbial. Often used as term for Adjuncts outside of systemic functional terms, as in "manner adverbial" or "sentence adverbial".

adverbial group. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x metafunction: general x systemic x group rank] Group of words of the primary class adverb. They serve to realize Adjuncts in the clause - interpersonal Adjuncts and certain experiential ones, in particular those of Manner: quality/ degree. => IFG ? 6.4.1; LexCart? 7.4.

AGENCY. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x systemic x clause rank] Transitivity system simultaneous with PROCESS TYPE: the choice between 'middle' (nucleuse of Process + Medium construed as not being caused by an Agent) and 'effective' (nucleus of Process + Medium construed as being caused by an Agent). For example:

middle:

[Medium:] The window [Process:] broke.

effective

[Agent:] The wind [Process:] broke [Medium:] the window.

middle:

[Medium:] Limestone [Process:] can form in many ways

effective:

[Medium:] Non-clastic rocks [Process:] are formed [Agent:] by chemical precipitation, by biological precipitation, and by accumulation of organic material.

=> LexCart Sections 4.3 and 4.6.

Agent. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Participant role in clause, according to the ergative transitivity model (see transitivity models): the participant causing the actualization of the combination of Process + Medium. In a material clause, it is the Actor; in a mental one, the Phenomenon; and in a relational one, the Attributor or the Token. For instance:

[Agent:] The wind [Process:] broke [Medium:] the window.

[Agent:] The mouse [Process:] scared [Senser:] the brave elephant.

[Agent:] They [Process:] elected [Medium:] her [Range:] president.

[Agent:] They [Process:] elected [Medium:] her [Range:] President.

=> IFG p. 147 ff. => LexCart Section 4.6.

In non-systemic literature, the term agent may correspond to the systemic Actor, to Agent or to both.

Angle. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Circumstantial role in the transitivity structure of the clause, of the projecting type. For example:

[Angle:] According to the well-respected 1990 Justice Department report National Incidence Studies on Missing, Abducted and Thrown-Away Children in America, far fewer--3,200 to 4,600 minors a year--are seized by strangers.

=> IFG p. 151, 158 => LexCart Section 4.11.2.1.

ascriptive. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x systemic x clause rank] Term in system RELATIONAL ABSTRACTION, contrasting with 'identifying'. A Carrier is construed as being ascribed or attributed to an Attribute: the relation can be interpreted as one of class-membership - the Carrier is construed as a member of the class described by the Attribute. For example:

[Carrier:] You [Process:] are not [Attribute:] a man; [Carrier:] you [Process:] are [Attribute:] a rhinoceros.

[Carrier:] Some granite [Process:] has [Attribute:] large crystals.

[Carrier:] The names of external structures [Process:] appear [Attribute:] in boxes.

=> LexCart p. 302.

Assigner. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Participant role in intensive identifying relational clauses: the participant that assigns a relation of identity between Token and Value. It serves as Agent in the ergative model of transitivity. For example:

[Assigner/ Agent:] This state [Process:] is dying to elect [Token/ Medium:] a woman [Value/ Range:] senator (Time)

[Assigner/ Agent:] Spencer had helped elect and re-elect Reagan as Governor. (Time)

Rostenkowski became the first example of [Token/ Medium:] what [Assigner/ Agent:] wags [Process:] were to christen [Value/ Range:] the "dead-cat syndrome" (Time)

=> IFG p. 171 => LexCart p. 314.

Attribuend. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Alternative systemic term for => Carrier, the participant role to which an Attribute is ascribed in an ascriptive relational clause.

Attribute. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Participant or participant-like role in an ascriptive relation to a participant serving as Medium, typically in an ascriptive relational clause (as in The moon is [Attribute:] a balloon, David tconsidered the moon [Attribute:] a balloon), but also, more restrictedly, in certain material clauses (as in They painted the collage [Attribute:] red; He fell [Attribute:] flat). => LexCart Section 4.10.1. on relational Attributes. The Attribute of a relational clause conflates with Range.

[Carrier/ Medium:] The Barracks [Process:] is [Location: time:] now [Attribute/ Range:] a museum of the history of Sydney and New South Wales. (Fodor's Sydney)

[Carrier/ Medium:] this city park [Process:] comes [Attribute/ Range:] alive [Location: time:] on Sundays. (Fodor's Sydney)

attributive. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x systemic x clause rank] Alternative term for => 'ascriptive'.

Attributor. [descriptive: lexicogrammar x experiential x structural x clause rank] Participant role in intensive ascriptive relational clauses: the participant that assigns a relation of ascription between Carrier and Attribute. It serves as Agent in the ergative model of transitivity. => IFG p. 171. => LexCart p. 314.

[Attributor/ Agent:] I [Process:] cannot wish [Carrier/ Medium:] Ned [Attribute/ Range:] dead, though. (Mary West)

[Attributor/ Agent:] He [Process:] considered [Carrier/ Medium:] himself [Attribute/ Range:] a master storyteller.