Thursday 31 October 2019

Mental Projection


Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 515):
Talking is not the only way of using language; we also use language to think. Hence a process of thinking in a ‘mental’ clause also serves to project; the process is typically of the ‘like’ [emanating] type, but the ‘please’ [impinging] type is also possible:
(a) ‘like’ type
||| So you believe || that the short story is better at dealing with real-life, human emotions. |||
||| Mum, do you know || where the scissors are? |||
||| Naval authorities believe || the boat may have capsized || because it was carrying a heavy load of construction materials in choppy waters. |||
||| Therefore, I believe || that the protocol will do absolutely nothing [[ to protect the antarctic region]]. |||
 
(b) ‘please’ type
||| It strikes me || that Eve’s disloyalty and ingratitude must be contagious! |||
||| When I attended at Bombay’s C.J. Hall the Kal Ke Kalakar festival, || it struck me || that, although we did not have the resources, || this particular festival had the potential of an Avignam Nervi or Spoletto. |||
||| It did not occur to him || that I might want to stay on and watch the cricket. |||
||| Then it dawned on me || that I was talking to a cricketer [[ who had so recently been crucified at the altar of expediency ]]. |||