Wednesday 4 March 2020

Extending Hypotactic Verbal Group Complexes: Conation

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 572):
Here the basic notion is that of ‘have (possession) + do’; in other words, success. The semantic relation between the primary and the secondary verbal group is one of CONATION: trying, and succeeding. (The verb of the primary verbal group is usually one that can serve in a ‘behavioural’ clause.) … Examples:
||| Aware of his child’s ignorance of Indian life, the Indian parent tries to cram into the child’s little head all possible information during an ‘Excursion Fare’ trip to the mother country. |||
||| You try and do something responsible for your children || and you get forgotten. |||
||| I’m just going to try and attach my first semantics chapter for you || ’cause it’s not too big || and then you can start reading || when you have time. ||| 
||| If I tried to swan around, || I wouldn’t know how to behave. |||
||| I always tried to avoid tearing her web || and save her repair work, || but she was a quick and efficient spinner. |||
||| And, while our military strength remains unmatched, || state or non-state actors may attempt to circumvent our strengths || and exploit our weaknesses || using methods [[ that differ significantly from our own]] . |||
||| The wide range of potential contributions by the RC has proven to be a bright spot || as we strive to match available resources to a demanding mission load, || and demonstrates clearly the enduring value and relevance of the citizen-soldier. |||
||| We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. |||
||| He feels || that he rarely succeeded in reaching the fibre of the characters [[ that he desperately wanted to attain]]. |||
||| He learned to walk in a certain way |||