Grammatical Reactances Of Figures: Directionality Of Process

Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 134-5):

Many mental processes are typically bidirectional, appearing in two opposite configurations (I like it / it pleases me; cf. detest/revolt; fear/frighten; remember/remind, notice/strike). It is thus possible to construe conscious processing either as the Phenomenon impinging on the Senser’s consciousness (the music pleases him) or as the Senser’s consciousness having the Phenomenon as its domain (he likes the music). neither material nor relational* clauses display this dual directionality.

*Blogger Comment:

Identifying relational processes are bidirectional in their coding, decoding vs encoding, and these are proportional to the bidirectionality of mental processes, emanating vs impinging, respectively:

	Medium	Process	Range
emanating:	Senser	Process: mental	Phenomenon
decoding:	Identified	Process: identifying	Identifier

	Agent	Process	Medium
impinging:	Phenomenon	Process: mental	Senser
encoding:	Identifier	Process: identifying	Identified