Systemic Functional Linguistics of Three Newspaper

7/24/2019 Systemic Functional Linguistics of Three Newspaper

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Systemic Functional Linguistics of Advertisements 1

Systemic Functional Linguistics of Three newspaper

Advertisements in Pakistan

Dilshad Fatima

Minjaj nternationl !niversity" Lahore


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A#stract

This is the study of three newspaper advertisements in Pakistan. This study focuses on

the discourse strategies of astrologic advertisements to persuade the readers in

Pakistani context. It analyses how the advertisers invoke superstitious eliefs of the

target audience y persuading them that they know the art of trouleshooting.

Advertisers! choice of words and the way they craft advertisements appeal to

particular audience and their elief system. "alliday#s Systemic Functional

Linguistics $SFL% is used as a method of analysis and all the three modes

$metafunctions% of meaning & textual' interpersonal and ideational or experiential( are

explored. The use of religious prayers and mediations acts make these advertisements

more effective and appealing for the readers.

Keywords: Astrological advertisement' )iscourse' Systemic Functional

Linguistics $SFL%


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ntroduction

Islam is the main religion of Pakistan and it is governed not only y the peoples of the

country ut also y the government as well. People have strong elief on their religion

and due to this characteristic many people are using them to elieve in superstitious

acts. *owadays a change has occurred in the teaching of Islam and people to get

involved in the superstitious acts to solve their prolems even y hook and crook and

they have superstition(sustained elief in the power of different charms and prayers.

In the Pakistani context' astrological advertisements are prevalent in the wide range of

pulished media. +any researches have een done on the advertisement strategies in

Pakistan y none of these has een conducted on astrological advertisement. So this

study focuses on the linguistic analysis of the astrological advertisements in order to

see the use of language of the advertisers to persuade their target audience.


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LT$%AT!%$ %$&$'

"alliday,s systemic functional grammar deals with how language organi-ed' works

and what social functions are represented. "alliday invented his grammar approach

not only to deal with descriing language ut also has function for other forms of

meaning. In order to understand the functions of the language' "alliday proposed

three metafunctions in his approach. There are

/. Ideational +etafunction

0. Interpersonal +etafunction

1. Textual +etafunction

deational metafunction

The ideational metafunction is expressing the way language involves in experience'

thought and feelings. This metafunction concerns with things' events or happenings

and also the circumstances which include to the element of happenings. Ideational

metafunction mostly influenced y Field of discourse. In order to represent things'

events and circumstance' people need these terms

/. The processes which is going on

0. The participant which involved

1. The attriutes of participant

2. The circumstances of events

The processes are divided into six types' there are

() Material Process

+aterial process has two process' process of doing and process of happening. The

first process is process of doing. In this process' a participant is called 3the actor4' and

when the actor does something is called 3material process4 and the o5ect which gets

the effect that could e something or someone is called 3goal4. For example

The Sierian "usky )og chased a rait


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The actor Material process *oal

+aterial process clauses can have a 3eneficiary4 esides actor and goal. For

example

Peter 6aelish gave Sansa Stark a ou7uet of rose

The actor Material process #eneficiary *oal

In the passive sentence' the actor can e expressed or not' depends on the context. The

prepositions 3y4 and 3with4 is indicates whether the actor is expressed or not. For

example

The 8olf was killed y a hunter last night

*oal Material process The actor +ircumstance of

The second process is process of happening. In this process' the goal usually cannot

e specified. This process shows something that happens. For example

"er moods often changes during her period

The actor Material process +ircumstance of

,) %elational Process

9elational processes are processes of eing something. This process links other o5ect

to another. A relational process with a clause may e used to say that something is an

attriute of something else $attriutive type% or to identify something with something

else $identifying type%.

The identifying type identifies something is exactly as same as another thing. For

example

:ow and sheep are Livestock

dentified %elational process dentifier


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Shaymin is a pokemon


)iana,s special pancake is made of flour' egg' honey'milk' rasperry

syrup and utter


The attriutive type tells some information aout something that eing explained is a

memer of class of things which have its own characteristic or set of characteristic.

For example

To keep your room is A good thing

+arrier %elational process Attri#ute

+illiana,s turns spooky in night

+arrier %elational process attri#ute +ircumstances of

-) Mental Process

+ental process is a process which deals with feeling' thinking and perceiving process.

Terms of 3senser4 and 3phenomenon4 is used in this process for the participants. The

3senser4 is the participant which do the feeling' thinking and perceiving while the

3phenomenon4 is an astract thing or material which is sensed' thought or perceived.

For example

She likes her new goal of life

Senser Mental process Phenomenon

)anielle thought Ann was the culprit

Senser Mental process Phenomenon


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nterpersonal Metafunction

3The interpersonal meaning expresses 5udgments' assessments' gives people'

the relationship etween texts and readers;viewers and the relationships within texts

3interpersonal it expresses the speaker,s

role in the speech situation' his interaction with others4 $"alliday' /?@@%.

Interpersonal deals with the way language express the writer,s or speaker,s reaction

towards others and writer,s or speaker,s attitude towards a su5ect. This metafunction

needs communication etween the speaker and the hearer also their responses to each

other. In communication with others' there are three different uses of language' the

first one is to exchange knowledge or information' the second one is to exchange

actions' services or goods' and the last one is to estalish and maintain relation. 8hen

analy-ing a text using interpersonal metafunction' these 7uestions might ecome a

help

/. "ow does the text make the readers evaluate action or events in the text

0. In what ways the readers can take role as the participants in the text

1. "ow does perspective contriute making a relationship etween theparticipants in the text and the readers

2. From what angle the participants viewed

B. "ow are the readers led to adopt a particular interpretative stance in the text

C. "ow is the attention of the reader;viewer captured For instance' are key(

words used

Te.tual Metafunction

3The textual meaning refers to the actual form of the text' the way it is organi-e>' it

deals with information management' resources and genres. Through the comination

of resources at different textual levels it allows ideas and attitudes aout thematics'

actions and events to e expressed 3textual it

expresses the structure of information and the relation of each part of the discourse to

the whole and to the setting4 $"alliday' /?@@%.


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In textual metafunction' how a text is organi-ed is expressed. Language is used to

organi-e experiential and interpersonal meanings into a linear and coherent whole.

This metafunction mostly influenced y the mode of discourse.

M$T/0D0L0*1

In this paper three astrological advertisements are analy-ed which are selected from

local Erdu newspapers. The researcher has translated all the advertisements into

nglish language to analyse the language with the help of Systemic Functional

Linguistics. All the three metafunction of meanings are explored in the terms of SFL.

The advertisements are categorised as

Text Title Apendix

/ Astrologic Shah +u7eem /0 Sayyad Sada "ussain Shah

6ukhari

0

1 Peer Sayyad +uhammad

"ussain

1

Data analysis

Te.tual Analysis

"alliday and +atthiessen $0GG2 C2% descrie that Theme is the element which serves

as the point of departure of the message> it is that which locates and orients the clause

within its context. The reminder of the message' the part in which the Theme is

developed' is called in the 9heme.

Theme(9heme structure provides the speaker;writer with strategies for guiding the

listener;reader in interpreting of the text in terms of how text is organi-ed' what is the

text,s method of development. Therefore analysing the thematic structure of a text

clause y clause provides an insight view into text organi-ation.

Te.tual Theme

The textual Theme is almost always the first part of the Theme' coming efore any

interpersonal Theme. It gives thematic prominence to textual elements with a linking

function. Theme resources include>

$i% :on5unction

$ii% 9elative pronoun


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$iii% :lause inder> this type of clauses not found in any of the selected

advertisement.

+onjunction

A con5unction is a word or group that either links or inds the clause to which it

connects message to the previous clause. :on5unctions thus indicate a con5unctive

relationship with previous discourse.

Text / :on5unction

H JK MNOJ JQR M UVKVWH XYZ[V \V V M\ V] H R

DDanything is worrying you then don!t wait for today rather ask us anything you

want to' right now.

Text1 :on5unction

V]^ MNOJ _ ]` HK b`R V `RWV K V^ j] MO

MK V] j JK MK VqMK j^ ^ K R M[ ^ M \R UVK

RR R`

The people who are worried due to offsprings and face ostacles in the marriages ofmales and females or don,t find a good marriage proposal for those +uhammad"ussain asour,s marriage charms that work miraculously is only availale center.

%elative pronouns

9elative pronouns link the clause in which they occur to another clause. They arethematic in nature' and therefore they tend to occur in the initial position. Textually'the relative elements serve as oth structural textual Theme and experiential Theme.

Te.t(

MN RVK HR MO ^ ^ HMNOJ H HK JQR V V]`M K JK ^NVK `R V]

^Z_V ^

If you are suffering from any king of worries or want of fulfill your desires which you

could not fulfill y trying your est.Te.t,

V]MO JK ` MO K

8e do as we say

Te.t-

^ [z UVK MOR ^ M { |]V } UVK MK

There is not such a prolem in the world which has no solution.


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MO WV K V^ j] `R ^ MNOJ _ ]` HK b`R V V]

M[^ ^ M \R UVK ^ K RMK V] j JK MK VqMK j^

RR R`

The people who are worried due to offsprings and face ostacles in the marriages of

males and females or don,t find a good marriage proposal for those +uhammad

"ussain asour,s marriage charms that work miraculously is only availale center.

nterpersonal Theme

An interpersonal Theme foregrounds the speaker,s 5udgment or comments. It might

include one or more of the following components ~ocative> 8h(element> and +odal

Ad5unct.

&ocative

A ~ocative is used to directly address the listener' particularly in a dialogic passage. It

can e expressed y personal names' kinship terms' occupational terms or pronouns.

Text/

^ ^ HMNOJ H HK Y JQR

If you are suffering from any kind of worries

Text 1

HMK H R OR MZY ^[^K RMZ \ _ M^[ ` MY MW

our one contact is enough to get rid of all the calamities and catastrophes

Modal Adjunct

A +odal Ad5unct represents the speaker,s ; writer,s 5udgment on' attitude toward' and

assessment of' the content of the message. +odal Ad5uncts are used widely in all the

selected advertisements. xamples are given elow.

Te.t (

`JQ M K V Z M HK M] MK

3The greatest master of the great lack magic powers4

H V R H HQ HK MR _ V[ R ^ ^ V[ H[_ ` MK

3~oodooisitic studies and lack magic are facts and so the life and death of a man $is

related to these knowledges.%4

Te.t ,

^ ZO [Z _ V ZY HR OVW V [\ J R R

See for yourself the charms $amulets% working against you

Te.t -

^R`JK } ^ ^ VK H HK K M^{} MK }M MW `MO{` HO


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et solved all the worldly and spiritual prolems from any place in the world

$.periential Theme

The topical $experiential% Theme includes elements serving a role in the transitivitystructure of the clause. It is the starting point from which experiences are unfolded

through time. It is the first element in the clause $i.e.' the first group or phrase relevant

to the experimental function%. These thematic elements include

$i% Participants $not found in the advertisements%

$ii% :ircumstances $not found in the advertisements%

$iii% Processes

ProcessesProcess Theme is restricted to imperative clauses. That is' the imperative is the only

type of clause in which the Process $the ver% is regularly found as Theme. The

process Theme is expressed y a veral group.

Te.t (

OJK `J R JK _ ^R{JY ^ K } H^O `R V VW

Then contact us' considering it last hope' for surety solution in no time.

Te.t ,

^ ZO [Z _ V ZY HR OVW V [\ J`R R

3See for yourself the charms $amulets% working against you4

Te.t -

J M ` K V _ M HK KV

:ontrol the heart and soul of your eloved through the power of guardian angels

^R`JK _ H MQ `R RR MK J

et done your work with guarantee and confidentiality

nterpersonal Analysis

The interpersonal metafunction is a resource for enacting social roles and

relationships etween speaker ; writer and listener ; reader $+atthiessen' /??B /@%.

+) is one of the main grammatical systems of exchange and negotiation.

Interpersonally' 3clause as exchange4 is the asic principle of the +) grammar

+) is the asic resource for exchanging meaning in oth dialogue and monologic

passages. It is the grammar of negotiation $+atthiessen' 0GG/ 1%.


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There are two fundamental semantic variales in an exchange & the orientation of the

exchange and the commodity eing exchanged. In turn' speech functional categories

are reali-ed y different +) sections or choices.

According to 6utt' et al $/??B/1% 3The interpersonal metafunction uses language to

encode interaction and to show how defensile or inding we find our proposition or

proposal.4

Structural Analysis

Te.t (

^ ^ HMNOJ H HK Y JQR

If ou are suffering from any worriesSu5ect Finite predicate Ad5unct

+ood residue

Te.t ,

^ ZO [Z _ V ZY HR OVW V [\ J`R R

See For yourself yourself the charms working against youFinite Ad5unct predicate complement+ood. Imperative residue

Te.t -

HMK H R OR MZY

our one contact is enoughSu5ect Finite;predicate complement+ood residue

$.periential Analysis

This section is concerned with the system of T9A*SITI~IT of the astrological

advertisement. +atthiessen $/??B /?2% characteri-es that the system of

T9A*SITI~IT is resources for construing $interpreting and representing% human

experience of change or on(going(on in the flow of events inside and around us. A

7uantum of change in the flow of events is construed as a configuration of a process'

participant involved' and attendant circumstances.

The transitivity system of language has een widely used nowadays to analy-e the

language of speakers and writers. It studies the structure of sentences' which is

represented y processes $reali-ed y types of vers%' the participants involved in

these processes $which are part of the nominal group%' and the circumstances in which


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they $participants and processes% are involved $reali-ed y the adverial and

propositional phrase%.

Transitivity is expressed y using> process' participants and circumstances.

Process

Process' as the process of 3meaning4' is characteri-ed y its potential for organi-ing

participants into an experiential configuration. The Process constituent' the central

ver of the clause' can also e roken down into three separate elements and

descried as +aterial' 9elational and Pro5ecting.

Tale/.G Process Types in the advertisements

So the analysis shows that material processes are use more fre7uently than any other

in all the advertisements. It means that the focus of the advertiser was on the

#happenings and changing of situations,. Advertisement / and 0 has more vers

related to mental process which indicate that they approach to the mental flexiility of

the audience. And they try to control over the mind of the people y using such

techni7ues which evoke their mental condition and emotions. They also make them to

think y the cognitive ailities. 9elational process indicates that advertisers have

aility to solve the prolems of the people and they descried certain facts as well.


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+onclusion

This paper analyses the language of three astrologic advertisements from the local

newspapers of Pakistan. The purpose of the advertisers is to solve the prolems of the

people y using certain charms related to Islamic religion or lack magic as well $see

appendix /%. There are certain things which are common in all the advertisements

like

/. xpert in the filed

0. Solution of the prolems related to love marriage' prolems related to

husand and wife' ostacles in marriage proposals and any other prolems

1. /GG uarantee to solve the prolem

2. :onfidentiality

B. 9emoving of any charms

So this type of things makes their advertisement affective for the audience and people

of get rid of their prolems go to them to get solve their troules even to the expert in

lack magic.

These advertisements are analy-ed y Systemic Functional Linguistics $SFL% and all

the three metafunctions are explored>

Textual analysis of the study shows that the advertisers used all the three themes of

the textual metafunction :on5unctions' relative pronoun' vocative and processes are

used to make their text attractive.

Interpersonal analysis of the advertisements indicates that advertisers use declarative

and imperative sentences as well ecause they are providing information to the

audience and their focus is on the audience that is the reason they interact to the

readers and address them.

xperiential analysis reveals that the amulet advertisement is construed y different

text types. The text involves its various participants in different participant roles

associated with different process types. The clear fre7uency of material processes

suggests that this amulet advertisement is largely concerned with actions and events.


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In terms of field contextual value' advertising text is conveyed to a mass audience

with an ultimate aim to promote and persuade customer to purchase goods(and(

services> in fact' the function of advertising is to present product features' product

functions' and evaluations of the products.

'0%2S +T$D

"alliday' +.A.. $/?@@% 3Text as semantic choice in social contexts.4 In T. A. van)i5k and onoss Petofi' eds.' rammars and )escriptions Studies in TextTheory and Text Analysis. 6erlin 8alter de rugter' /@C(00B.

. $0GG2% An Introduction to Functional rammar. London dward Arnold."alliday' +.A.. and 9u7uiya "asan $/?B% Language' :ontext' and TextAspects of Language in Social(semiotic Perspective. eelong' ~ictoria)eakin Eniversity Press.

Imperiani' .).A. 0G/2. SST+I: FE*:TI*AL LI*EISTI:S $"alliday,sFunctional rammar%


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Appendi. (

1ellow3 Processes

4lue5 Transitive6ntransitive ver#s

%ed5 Agent6Acted upon

/. The magnificent master of the greatest lack magic powers.

0. All the prolems are solved$material% through the charmsof "anuman' alkan

Shiv Shankar and many others )utas.

1. If youare suffering$mental% from any king of worries or want$mental% to fulfill

$material% your desireswhichyou could not fulfill $material%y trying your est.

2.A message of 5oy for the despaired$mental% and hopelesspeople

B.~oodooisitic studies and lack magic are$relational%factsand so the life and death

of a man is$relational% related to these knowledge.

C.The people who hasecome$material% despair and hopeless from false promises of

claimants.

@. If anythingis worrying $mental% you' then don!t wait$ehavioural% for today and

ask$material%us anything you want $mental% to' right now.


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. 8e give$ehavioural%/GG guarantee and confidentiality. nowledgeis

$relational% that which affects$material% across the seven rivers.

?. If youhave$relational%prolems regarding> marriage' love affairs' family disputes'

friendship' rivalry' effect of charms or any other thing'

/G. Then contact$material% us' considering $mental% it last hope' for surety solution in

no time.


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Appendi. ,

1ellow3 Processes



/. Prayeropens$material% the doors oflessings

0. Themaster ofremoving $material% and returning$material% oflack magic

1. et solved$material%your prolems at home in the name of Allah

*o claim' *o challenge' *o completion and reward

2. 8e do$material% as we say $veral%' your prolems regarding> love' marriage' to

repress husand or wife' marriage hurdles' usiness ostacles $is solved$material%%

B.very work $is$relational% done% with confidentiality.

C.See$mental%for yourself the charms working against you.


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Appendi. -

1ellow3 Processes



/. There is$existential%not such a prolem in the world whichhas $relational%nosolution.

0.:ontrol$mental%the heart and soul of your eloved through the power of guardianangels

1.etsolved$material%all the worldly and spiritual prolems from any place in theworld

2.)ispleased$people% will shake $material%hands.

B.Separatedwill meet $material%.

C. The marriage proposal will come $material%from your choice.

@.The one who amends$material%roken hearts.

6usiness troules' usiness ostacles and the flop of running usiness

.*o workis done $material% withoutpayment;donation.

?.The people who are worried $mental%due to offspringsandface $mental%ostacles

in the marriages of males and females or don,t find $mental%a good marriage proposal


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for those +uhammad "ussain asor,s marriage charms that work$material%

miraculously is $existential%only availale.

/G.Performative$material%act.

//. Proposal $will come$material%% from good possession.

/0.Istikhara $asking Allah to help one make a choice% which is ased $mental%onreality.

/1.To get $material% rid of all the calamities and catastrophes' your one contact is$relational% enough'

/2.et done $material%you work with guarantee and confidentiality.

Documents

Systemic Functional Linguistics of Three Newspaper