This document discusses interpersonal meanings in systemic functional linguistics. It explains that interpersonal meaning expresses a speaker's attitudes and judgments, and is realized through the analysis of mood and modality. Mood is analyzed using elements such as subject, finite, residue, and adjuncts. The mood types include declarative, interrogative, imperative and others. Interpersonal meaning provides insights into a speaker's perspective through examination of linguistic features like modality and mood.

1. INTERPERSONAL MEANINGS
SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL
LINGUSTICS (SFL)

2. INTERPERSONAL MEANINGS
 Gerot and Wignell (1994, p.13), "interpersonal meanings are
meanings which express a speaker's attitudes and judgment.
 Interpersonal meaning is realized through the analysis of Mood
and Modality of the clauses.

3. MOOD SYSTEM
Mood structure forms in some patterns of clause type. Below is
the illustration of typical mood structure by Eggins (199, p.153):
Speech Function Typical Mood in Clause
Statement Declarative MOOD
Question Interrogative MOOD
Command Imperative MOOD
Offer Modulated Interrogative MOOD
Answer Elliptical Declarative MOOD
Acknowledgment Elliptical Declarative MOOD
Accept Minor Clause
Compliance Minor Clause

4. MOOD ELEMENT
• Gerot and Wignell (1995, p. 25) state the mood element
consists of a two-part (1) subject is realized by a nominal
group, and (2) the finite element, which is a part of the verbal
group.
I didn’t
Who did
Michael did
Subject Finite
Mood

5. The remainder of each clause, if there is a remainder, is called the
Residue.
It was not Michael
That will never come off there
Subject
• Eggins and Slade (1997) state that the subject is the pivotal
participant in the clause, the person or thing that the
proposition is concerned with, and without whose presence
there could be no argument or negotiation.
Example:
Tina is beautiful (isn "t she?)
Subject Subject
Subject Finite
Residue
Mood

6. Finite
• Halliday in Eggins (1994) defines the finite in terms of its
function in the clause to make the proposition definite, to
anchor the proposition in a way that we can argue about it.
• The finite is always a verbal element. It always realized
through a verbal group. The verbal group in a clause is the
sequence of words that indicate the process, action, or state
that the subject is engaged in.
Example:
He took him to a policeman.
Finite

7. Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) in Eggins (2004), Finite Verbal
Operators identify into two kinds:
• Temporal Finite Verbal: these words anchor the preposition by
reference to time. They give tense to the Finite; either past (I
rode a bicycle), present (I ride a bicycle), or future (I will ride
the bicycle tomorrow).
• Finite Modal Operators: these words anchor the preposition
not by reference to time but by modality. It refers to the
speaker's judgment of the probabilities or the obligation
involved in what he is saying.

8. Finite verbal operators
Temporal:
Past Present Future
did, was does, is will, shall
had, used to Has would, should
Modal:
Low Median High
can may will, would must, ought to
could, might is to, was to need,
(dare) has to, had to

9. Residue Element
• All of the words in the clause are Residue, except Subject and
Finite (Thompson, 1996).
• Gerot and Wignell (1995), there are three elements in the
Residue, namely: Predicator, Complement, and Adjunct.
Henry Ford Built his first car in this
backyard.
Subject Finite
(past)
Predicator Complement Adjunct
Mood Residue

10. Predicator
• The Predicator is the verb part of the clause, the bit which tells
what's doing, happening, or being. There are also non-finite
(‘to’ + verb and verb + ‘ing’) clauses containing a predicator
but no Finite element, for example:
so as to give Henry more room
Predicator Complement Complement
Residue
giving Henry more room
Predicator Complement Complement
Residue

11. • Holiday (1994:79) claims that there are two verbs in English,
which in simple past and simple present tense appear as Finite
only, without being fused with a distinct element as Predicator.
These are ‘be’ and ‘have’.
The car had four bicycle wheels
Subject Finite Complement
Mood Residue
It was a slow process
Subject Finite Complement
Mood Residue

12. Complement
• The Complement answers the question is/had what, ‘to whom’,
‘did to what’.
In the clause: His first car Henry ford built in his backyard.
His first car is still Complement, despite the different word order
in the clause, because it answers the question: did to what?
His first car Henry
ford
built in his
backyard
Complement Subject Finite Predicator Adjunct
Mood
Residue

13. Adjunct
Eggins and Slade (1997) state adjuncts are as the label suggests,
element, which is additional, rather than essential, to the
preposition. Adjuncts are expressed by prepositional phrases,
adverb, and adverbial groups, or conjunction.
Circumstantial Adjunct
• Circumstantial Adjunct can be called as experiential Adjunct.
According to Gerot and Wignell (1994:34), "circumstantial
adjuncts answer the questions 'how', 'when', 'where', 'by
whom'"
• Eggins (1994: 165), “circumstantial meanings may refer to
time (probed with ―when), place (where), cause (why),
matter (about what), accompaniment (with whom), beneficiary
(to whom), agent (by whom).”

14. TIME: when
CAUSE: what for
They can’t do that these
days
Subject Finite Predicator Complement
Circ.
Adjunct
You read books for fun
Subject Finite Pred. Comp. Circ. Adjunct
Mood Residue

15. Conjunctive Adjuncts
• Conjuctive Adjuncts include items such as ‘for instance’,
‘anyway’, ‘moreover’, ‘meanwhile’, ‘therefore’,
‘nevertheless’.
• These Conjunctive Adjuncts have a textual function and so fall
outside of the analysis of MOOD. That's why 'as', 'so as,' and
'then' are left unanalyzed.

16. The Principal Items Functioning as Conjunction Adjuncts
(Halliday, 1994)
Type Meaning Example
Appositive i.e, e.g That is, in other words, for instance
Corrective Rather Or rather, at least, to be precise
Dismissive In any case Is any case, anyway, leaving that aside
Summative In short Briefly, to sum up, in conclusion
Verificative Actually Actually, in fact, as a matter of for it
Additive And Also, moreover, in addition, besides
Adversative But On the other hand, however, conversely
Variative Insisted Instead, alternatively
Temporal Then Meanwhile, before that, later on, next, soon, finally
Comparative Likewise Likewise, in the same way
Casual So Therefore, for this reason, as a result, with this in mind
Conditional (if...) then In that case, under the circumstance, yet otherwise
Concessive Yet Nevertheless, despite that
Respective As so that In this respect, as far as that's concerned.

17. Comment Adjunct
Comment adjuncts typically occur in clause-initial position, or
directly after the subject, and are realized by adverbs.
Comment adjunct function to express an assessment of the clause
as a whole.
• Admission: frankly
• Assertion: honestly, really
• How desirable: luckily, hopefully
• How constant: tentatively, provisionally
• How valid: broadly speaking, generally
• How sensible: understandably, wisely
• How expected: as expected, amazingly

18. Example
Frankly, I can’t stand Sigit Sulfiyanto
Comm. Adj. Subject Finite Predicator Complement
Mood Residue
Unfortunately However they were too late
Comment
Adjunct
Conjunctive
Adjunct
Subj. Fin. Comp.
Mood Residue

19. The Principal Items Functioning as Comment Adjunct
(Halliday, 1994)
Type Meaning Example
Opinion I think In my opinion, personality
Admission I admit Frankly, to be honest, to tell the truth
Persuasion I assure you Honestly, really, believe me, seriously, without a
doubt
Entreaty I request you Please, kindly
Presumption How
presumable?
Evidently, apparently, no doubt, presumably
Desirability How
desirable?
(un) fortunately, to my delight, distress, luckily,
regrettably, hopefully,

20. Mood Adjunct
• Mood Adjunct expresses interpersonal meanings relate mainly
to the meaning of the finite verbal operators, expressing
probability, usually, obligation, inclination, or time.
Adjuncts of polarity and modality:
(a) Polarity: Not, yes, no, so
(b) Probability: Probably, possibly, certainly, perhaps, maybe
(c) Usually: Usually, sometimes, always, never, ever, seldom, rarely
(d) Readiness: Willingly, readily, gladly, certainly, easily
(e) Obligations: Definitely, absolutely, possibly, at all cost, by all means
Adjuncts of temporality:
(f) Time: Yet, still, already, once, soon, just
(g) Typically: Occasionally, generally, regularity, mainly
Adjuncts of mood:
(h) Obviousness: Of course, surely, obviously, clearly
(i) Intensity: Just, simply, merely, only, even, actually, really
(j) Degree: Quite, almost, nearly, scarcely, hardly, absolutely, totally,
entirely, completely

21. Thus, in the following, ‘surely’, ‘of course’, and ‘already’ are
analyzed as Mood Adjuncts and are included in the Mood
element.
Surely he wasn’t Being serious
Mood Adjunct Subject Finite Predicator Complement
Mood Residue
Of course she had Already met him
Mood
Adjunct
Subject Finite Mood
Adjunct
Predicator Complement
Mood Residue
She had Already met him of course
Subject Fin. Mood
Adjunct
Pred. Complement Mood Adjunct
Residue
Mood

22. Be aware that the same word can function differently in the
different structural configuration:
Where 'clearly' is a Circumstantial Adjunct, telling 'how.‘
Here "clearly' is a Mood Adjunct, indicating the speaker certainly.
She can’t Hear Clearly on the phone
Subj. Finite Pred. Circ. Adjunct Circ. Adjunct
Mood Residue
Clearly the man was innocent
Mood Adjunct Subject Finite Complement
Mood Residue

23. MOOD TYPE
The mood has seven types: declarative, polar interrogative,
tagged declarative, WH-Interrogative, imperative, exclamatives
and elliptical clause (Eggins and Slade, 1997)
Declarative
• Declarative can be identified as clauses in which the subject's
structural element occurs before the finite element of the
clause.
Unmarked: Subject + Finite
The car had four bicycle wheels
Subject Finite Complement

24. Marked:  Finite + Subject
Tagged Declarative
• According to Eggins and Slade (1997:85) states, this clause
type falls midway between the declarative and polar
interrogative.
• Structurally, it has the sequence of a declarative, with the
subject occurring before the finite element. However, unlike
the simple declarative, the tagged declarative has called a
“Mood tag”.
• The following are all examples of tagged declarative: (Subject
underlined, Finite in italic, Mood tag in bold)
Then come the production line
Pred. Finite Subject
Res. Mood

25. Dave: You know… You know a lot of funny people, don't you,
Brad?
Fran: Like, they "re coming up the hill, are they?
Dave: You know, you can "t just do languages, can you?
Polar Interrogative
• Polar (Yes/No Questions):  Finite + Subject
Did Henry Ford Build his first car in the
backyard?
Finite Subject Predicator Complement Circ. Adjunct
Mood Residue
Should I be using Unleaded petrol in my car?
Finite Subject Predicator Complement Circ. Adjunct
Mood Residue

26. Wh-Questions Interrogative:
Querying Subject  Wh/Subject  finite
Who built a car in his backyard
Subject/Wh. Fin. Pred. Complement Circ. Adjunct
Mood Residue
What is that thing?
Subject/Wh. Fin. Complement
Mood Residue
What happened on morning in may 1896?
Subject/Wh. Finite Pred. Circ. Adjunct
Mood Residue

27. Querying Residue
Wh. + Fin + Subj. where C/Wh.
(Complement is queried or A/Wh. (Adjunct is queried)
What did Henry Ford build?
Complement/Wh. Finite Subject Predicator
Mood
Residue
What did Ford do in 1896?
Complement/Wh. Finite Subject Predicator Circ. Adjunct
Mood
Residue
Where did Ford build his first car?
Adjunct/Wh. Finite Subject Predicator Complement
Mood
Residue

28. Exclamatives:
• Exclamative structures used in interaction to express emotions
such as surprise, disgust, worry, etc., are a blend of
interrogative and declarative patterns.
• Like the WH- interrogatives, they require a WH-element,
conflated (mapped onto, fused) with either a compliment or an
adjunct (Eggins, 1994).
• From Eggin’s statement, there is a WH- element that conflates
with a compliment or an adjunct in the exclamative clauses.
WH- element conflated with Complement.
What big eyes you have’!
Complement/Wh. Subject Finite
Residue Mood

29. WH- element conflated with Adjunct
Imperatives
In imperatives, the Mood element may consist of Subject + Finite
Subject only, Finite only, or they may have no Mood element. There
will always be a Predicator.
• Don’t you put it there? (Subject + Finite)
• Let’s put it there. (Subject)
• Don’t put it there. (Finite)
• Put it there. (No Subject or Finite)
How banal these examples are’!
Complement/Wh. Subject Finite
Residue Mood
How you We grown’t
Adjunct/Wh. Subject Finite Predicator
Mood
Residue

30. Commands are variable in their realization:
• Turn it down (Imperative)
• Will you turn it down please (polar interrogative)
• You really ought to turn it down (Declarative)
• Why don’t you turn it down? (Wh-Interrogative)
Offers also don’t have a typical grammatical realization.
• Have a bar of chocolate (Imperative)
• Like a coffee? (Polar Interrogative)
• I’ll make some toast (Declarative)
• I’ll turn it up, shall 'l? (Declarative + tag)

31. Elliptical Clause
Eggins and Slade (1997:89), "full" clauses: clauses, where all the
elements of the structure have been realized. However, when
interactants react to prior initiations, they typically do so
elliptically, producing clauses that depend on their interpretation
of a related full initiating clause.
1. A: They are all freaks
B: Except you
2. A: He plays the double bass
B: Does he?
3. A: She is an amazing actress
B: What?

32. MODALITY
Here is a list of come modal auxiliaries, ranged in terms of the
degree of certainty they imply.
An exploration of how modal verbs, for example, 'must', ‘might’,
or 'could' indicates degrees of certainty, command, or obligation.
The other resources, however, which serve this function, Jenny
could have said: 'Perhaps it’s Jim’ and Laura could have
declared: ‘It’s definitely Jim'. Here the uncertainty and
assertiveness are being expressed by modal adjuncts rather than
the modal auxiliary.
High modality Medium modality Low Modality
Must
Ought to
Shall
Has to
Will
Should
Can
Need to
May
Might
Could
Would

33. Again, modal adjuncts can be seen as a continuum.
According to Droga and Humphrey (2003:59), "modality
expresses strong, medium, or weak positions and includes all of
the choices between a definite 'yes' and a definite 'no." Further,
they categorized modality into five categories.
High modality Mid modality Low Modality
Definitely
Absolutely
Certainly
Positively
Undoubtedly
Surely
Probably
Presumably
In all probability
Presumably
Apparently
Seemingly
Possibly
Perhaps
Maybe
Arguably
Allegedly

34. Examples of Modality by Droga and Humphrey
High Modality
Medium
Modality
Low Modality
Modal Verbs
must, ought to, need,
has to, had to
will, would,
should, is to, was
to, supposed to
can, may, could,
might
Modal
Adverbials
certainly, definitely,
always, never,
absolutely, surely, in
fact
probably, usually,
generally, likely
possibly, perhaps,
maybe, sometimes
Modal
Adjectivals
certain, definite,
absolute, necessary,
obligatory
probable, usual possible
Modal Nouns
certainty, necessity,
requirement, obligation
Probability Possibility
Modal Clauses
and Phrases
I believe (that)
It is obvious (that)
Everyone knows (that)
I think (that)
In my opinion,
It is likely (that)
If…., then…
I guess (that)

35. References and Recommended Readings
• Droga, L., & Humphrey, S. (2003). Grammar and meaning:
An introduction for primary teachers. New South Wales:
Target Texts.
• Eggins, S. (1994). An Introduction Systemic Functional
Linguistics. London: Pinter Publisher Ltd.
• Slade, D., & Eggins, S. (1997). Analysing casual
conversation. London: Cassell.
• Gerot, L., & Wignell, P. (1994). Making Sense of Functional
Grammar. Sydney: Gerd Stabler.
• Halliday, M. A., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An
Introduction to Functional Grammar Third Edition. London:
Edward Arnold.