The Expansion Phenomenon in Clause Complexes within

Systemic Functional Framework

Madalina CERBAN
University of Craiova
Abstract
When we analyse a clause complex we refer to the ideational metafunction of language
and to the ways in which a clause can combine with further clauses in order to form a clause
complex. Clauses within complexes are interrelated grammatically in two systems, taxis and
logico-semantic. Logico-semantic system of a language is represented by two types of
relationships: projection which includes direct and indirect speech and thought and expansion
which includes the meanings realized by conjunctions. In this paper we are concerned only with
the expansion phenomenon. We structured the paper into two distinctive parts. In the first part we
make a short presentation of the taxis and logico-semantic systems, the ways they combine within
clause complexes. The second part analyses the three major types of expansion: elaboration,
extension and enhancement that can be finite (paratactic and hypotactic) or non-finite.
Elaboration represents the adding of a non-essential new element to the message, but which gives
more information. Elaboration can be paratactic and hypotactic. The paratactic type emphasizes,
exemplifies or further specifies the initial clause. The hypotactic elaboration is realized by nonrestrictive relative clause, providing some kind of description or comment. The extension has two
basic meanings: addition and variation. This type of expansion is mainly paratactic. The
enhancement refers to the circumstances within the clause. Enhancing relations are more
frequently found in combination with hypotaxis, but we will also analyse the paratactic links,
paying attention to the conjunctions that may signal different semantic relationships.
Key words: clause complex, expansion, paratactic, hypotactic

I. Introduction
When we analyse a clause complex we refer to the ideational metafunction of
language and to the ways in which a clause can combine with further clauses in order to
form a clause complex. According to systemic functional linguistics, clauses within
complexes are interrelated grammatically in two systems, taxis and logico-semantic.
Taxis is concerned with the interdependency relations between grammatical units forming
a complex or between groups forming a group complex or between clauses forming a
clause complex. Logico-semantic system is represented by two types of relationships:
expansion which includes the meanings realized by conjunctions and projection which
includes direct and indirect speech and thought. As a result, basic options of clause
complexes are very complex and they can be graphically represented as follows (Martin,
Matthiessen, Painter, 1997: 171)

parataxis
TAXIS
hypotaxis
Clause
complex

LOGICO
SEMANTIC
TYPE

projection

John said that

he was tired

John said
I am tired

expansion

Because she
studied hard, she
passed the exam

She studied hard, so

she passed the exam

II. Types of Expansion

In this paper we are concerned only with the expansion phenomenon. Expansion
acts at the horizontal development of the text, namely the secondary clause expands the
primary clause. Halliday and Matthiessen (2004: 377) identify three types of
constructions carrying out this phenomenon of expansion: (i) elaboration, (ii) extending
and (iii) enhancing.
(i). Elaboration: the secondary clause adds some information to the first clause or
to a part of this clause. Elaborating does not add new information to the first clause; it
only adds details, clarifications, opinions or examples to it. The hypotactic and the
paratactic distinction is maintained.
(i.a) Paratactic elaboration is generally regarded as apposition to the first clause.
e.g.
I have no complaints whatsoever; everything is very well-organized.
If you study hard you can be sure of your success you will be happy.
In systemic functional linguistics paratactic elaboration has been divided into
three subtypes, the first two corresponding to apposition: exposition (in other words),
exemplification (for example) and clarification (to be precise). [] the secondary
clause restates the thesis of the primary clause in different words, to present it from
another point of view, or perhaps just to reinforce the message (Halliday and
Matthiessen 2004, 397).
e.g.
I really enjoyed my holiday; everything went fine.
Exposition
You are too tired for this trip; you cant walk so much.
Exemplification
I wasnt surprised; it was what I expected.
Clarification
In spoken discourse paratactic elaboration can be confused with clause complexes
in cases where there is no explicit conjunctive signal of the relationship the two clauses
are juxtaposed. The difference can be made with the help of intonation: if both clauses
have the same intonation pattern, the speaker intends the clauses to be in a relationship of
paratactic elaboration.

(i.b) Hypotactic elaboration is represented by the cases in which dependent

clauses are expressed by non-defining relative clauses that provide some kind of
elaborating description or comment:
e.g.
They are now visiting the Natural History Museum, which he loves.
The accident left him with two broken teeth, which was a shame.
In speech the dominant and the dependent clauses are linked by a tone concord,
while in writing they are separated by a comma or a dash. In some cases the dependent
clause can elaborate only one element of the dominant clause, in which case it often
occurs next to the participant, interrupting or included in the dominant clause:
e.g.
His boss, who has an obsession for clothes, spends money like water.
The function of non-defining clauses is to provide additional information about
the antecedent, to comment further. Such a clause is grammatically dependent on the
dominant clause, but it is not an integral part of it. Nevertheless, non-defining clauses are
analysed not as paractatic, but hypotactic constructions. Although they are not rankshifted
clauses, they are only dependent ones.
Within systemic functional grammar the main difference between defining and
non-defining clauses is that non-defining clauses may have its antecedent not only a
nominal group and its Head as entire clause or clause complex, meaning that nondefining clauses sometimes express a comment on a whole proposition or set of
propositions.
e.g.
He decided to give up school, which was not easy for him.
The manager told me he would propose a new marketing strategy, to which I
agreed.
In Romanian sentences like the second one are ambiguous; this is the reason why
the antecedent is repeated:
e.g.
Directorul mi-a spus c va propune o nou strategie de marketing, strategie cu
care am fost de accord.
In the first example the antecedent of which is the whole clause, while in the
second one the antecedent of the relative pronoun is the clause he would propose a new
strategy. (Bloor and Bloor, 2004: 185)
Thompson (2004) states that also non-finite clauses can serve as hypotactic
elaboration:
e.g.
I sometimes waste time watching too much TV.
In this example the elaborating clause indicates how he was wasting time. In most
cases non-finite elaborating clauses do not have a conjunctive element that can signal this
type of relationship, making its identification difficult. There are cases in which the
second clause can be interpreted as elaborating, enhancing or simply extending:
e.g.
I was afraid of their decision, not knowing what will happen.

The second clause, not knowing what will happen, could be elaborating specifying the manner in which the speaker is afraid, enhancing saying why he was
afraid, extending adding more information besides the fact of being afraid.
(ii) Extension
The basic meanings of extending relation are those of addition, variation or
alternation. Parataxis and hypotaxis extension are more closely related than in the case of
elaboration. We can operate with a single system of categories for both kinds of taxis
although there are some gaps in the paradigm (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004: 405).
e.g.
He tried his best and he did it.
addition
He didnt offer any help, but just watching her crying.
variation
Go to the park or stay home.
alternation
The addition is widely represented in Romanian. According to Gramatica
academiei limbii romne, the addition can be positive, negative or adversative, being
constructed with the conjunctions: i, nici, dar.
e.g.
A nvat i a ctigat competiia.
Nu a ajutat-o, dar n schimb a jignit-o.
Joac sau stai pe margine.
(ii.a) Paratactic extension
Paractactic extension covers most of what we call in traditional grammar coordination. Thompson (2004: 206) considers that in at least one aspect, the but relation
can be included in and relation; while the or relation has two aspects: replacive and
alternative.
e.g.
I went to work and I started the project.
And is very widely used, and sometimes it can be replaced by and
also/similarly. Normally, also/similarly is associated with but. When it is used, but
states that both clauses are true, but they can be contrasted in the same way:
e.g.
The local football team won the game, but the handball team won the
championship.
This structure can be paraphrased with the help of the correlative pattern not
onlybut also.
e.g.
Not only the local football team won the game, but also the handball team won
the championship.
As mentioned before, the or relations are of two types: replacive and alternative.
The first example is replacive, the second is alternative.
e.g.
He kept bothering me, or rather his mother did.
You should give up drinking beer, or you can give up drinking alcohol all
together.

Apart from these two types we can identify within systemic functional framework
one further type without conjunctive mark: when the extending clause is positive, being
in opposition with the first clause that is negative.
e.g.
It is not his lack of intelligence that annoys me, it is his rudeness.
(ii.b) Hypotactic extension
Hypotactic extension is much less frequent than paratactic extension. Typically,
hypotactic extension is realized by the following linkers: while, whereas, instead of,
except for, apart from, as well as. While and whereas combine addition with contrast:
e.g.
Whereas some people try to do their job, others try to skip work.
English is considered to be quite easy, while German is more difficult to learn.
The alternative type of extension can be signaled by a particular kind of if clause
with a negative (which can be paraphrased by eitheror)
e.g.
If they havent decided yet, we will leave.
Instead of, except for, apart from, as well as the latter four introduce non-finite
dependent clauses. They can be analysed as extending especially if they can be
paraphrased by a finite clause with and:
e.g.
His words were not taken into account, apart from hurting his wife.
(iii) Enhancement
The meanings included as enhancement are those of time, place, manner, cause
and condition, which can also be expressed as circumstances within the clause. Paratactic
enhancement is less frequent than the hypotactic one, which is represented by what we
call in traditional grammar adverbial clauses.
(iii.a) Paratactic enhancement
The most frequent subtypes of paratactic enhancement are those of time and
cause. The circumstantial feature that characterizes this type of enhancement is expressed
by: the conjunctions: (1) so, then for, but, yet, still, (2) the conjunction groups containing
and: and then, and thus, and so, and so, and yet and (3) the conjunction and together with
a conjunction: at that time, soon afterwards, till then, in that case, in that way (Halliday
and Matthiessen. 2004: 413).
e.g.
I decided to go to university, and then I went abroad to work.
Time
The entire team was against their coach, so they gave up playing. Cause
Certain conjunctive adjuncts such as however or therefore can be used in order to
signal a paratactic enhancement rather than to show a relation between two clauses.
e.g.
The indications were correct, however they could have been more clearly
illustrated.
(iii.b) Hypotactic enhancement
These clauses are traditionally called adverbial clauses. They generally have the
function of Adjuncts and they specify aspects of dominant clause such as time, place,
cause, etc. Enhancing clauses can be finite or non-finite:

(1) Finite. They are introduced by subordinating conjunctions. They can express
time, place, manner, condition, concessive.
e.g.
Whenever he wants something, we must be very careful.
Time
They like traveling, wherever they may go.
Place
Follow the instructions as in the list below.
Manner
The problem wont vanish because we do not want to talk about it. Cause
Even though I was upset, I understood his reasons.
Concession
If you really go, then Ill come with you.
Conditional
Systemic functional grammar distinguishes between abstract place and abstract
place shading into matter.
e.g.
The professor bored his audience, where his research performances were not
appreciated.
As far as he can, he will try to support their children.
(2) Non-finite. They are introduced by a preposition such as on, with, by that
function as conjunctives or by a set of subordinate conjunctions, which are the ones that
appear in finite clauses, with the same meaning. Non-finite hypotactic enhancement can
express time, cause, concession, condition, etc.
e.g.
While going to work, he fell and broke his leg.
Although being tired, they went to the party.
In Romanian the non-finite forms preceded by conjunctions are dispreferred, the
finite clauses being more widely used. They can also express time, cause, concession,
condition and so on.
e.g.
(?) Alergnd, czu i i rupse piciorul.
n timp ce alerga czu i i rupse piciorul.
(?)Dei (fiind) obosit se duse la petrecere.
Dei obosit se duse la petrecere.
Some non-finite clauses are fairly clearly enhancing, especially when the
relationship can be paraphrased as after and/or because:
e.g.
They were close friends, having a lot of things in common.
An interesting aspect of non-finite hypotactic enhancement is the fact that the
meaning of a non-finite clause introduced by a preposition may vary according to the
sense of the finite clause:
e.g.
Without being there, they didnt know what to do.
Because they werent there, they didnt know what to do.
Cause
Without being there, they still knew what to do.
Even if they werent there, they still knew what to do.
Condition
3. Conclusions
The first problem that can appear when analyzing logico-semantic relations is to
decide whether the clauses are ranking clauses or downranked clauses within groups. The
second problem is to distinguish between parataxis and hypotaxis. In this case we can
apply some criteria: (i) a ranking clause is hypotactic if it is introduced by a conjunction

that remains in its clause irrespective of its movement within the complex. The most
common example is represented by relative clauses which may be embedded within a
nominal group (e.g. the man [ who was driving a new car] is my colleague) or may be in
a hypotactic relation with another clause (e.g. I saw Mike, who was driving a new car);
(ii) a non-finite clause is hypotactic: e.g. She entered the room, crying; (iii) a ranking
clause is hypotactic if it is reported speech or thought: e.g. She said (that) she would
finish her work soon and Her boss believed (that) she would finish her work soon.
4. References
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Hallidayan Approach. 2nd edition. London: Arnold.
Eggins, Susanne. 1996. An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. London:
Pinter.
Halliday, M.A.K. and Matthiessen, Christian. 2004. Introduction to Functional
Linguistics. London: Arnold.
Hoey, Michael. 1993. On the surface of discourse. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Jordan, M. P. 1980. Pragmatic, stylistic and grammatical limitations on
choice: a study of cause-effect signalling in English. In A.
Sanchez-Macarro & R. Carter (Eds.), Linguistic Choice across
Genres: Variation in Spoken and Written English Amsterdam &
Philadelphia: John Benjamins: 6586.
Martin, J.R. 1992. English Text: System and Structure, Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Martin, J.R., Matthiessen, Christian., Painter, Claire. 1997. Working with Functional
Grammar, London: Arnold.
Thompson, Geoff. 2004. Introducing Functional Grammar. 2nd edition. London: Arnold.
*** Dicionarul explicativ al limbii romne, ediia a II-a. 2009. Bucureti: Editura
Univers Enciclopedic
*** Gramatica academic a limbii romne. 2005. Bucureti: Editura Academiei