Friday 19 October 2018

Difficulties In Identifying Circumstantial Elements: Prepositional Phrases As Modal & Conjunctive Adjuncts [Diagnostic: Textual Potential]

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 331-2):
Modal and Conjunctive Adjuncts are outside the transitivity system, hence while typically thematic, they are not topical Theme and therefore cannot be given special thematic prominence; nor will they carry the only focus of information in the clause. … But many items can occur both as circumstance and in one of the other functions.