Behavioural Processes

 Halliday (1994: 139):

Distinctions Among Subtypes Of Sensing: (6) Construal As Behaviour

Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 141-2, 142n):

Sensing is not construed in the grammar as activity. But, as already noted above, certain types of conscious process may be construed not only as sensing but also alternatively as a kind of doing — as behaviour (as if active sensing). For instance:

Stanley (urgently): Look —

McCann: Don't touch me.

Stanley: Look. Listen a minute.

Anna: Listen. What silence. Is it always as silent?

Deeley: It's quite silent here, yes. Normally. You can hear the sea sometimes if you listen very carefully.

Here look, touch, listen are verbs in behavioural clauses rather than mental ones; they are construed as activities controlled by an active Behaver. The difference is suggested quite clearly in the last example — You can hear the sea sometimes if you listen very carefully. 

All the modes of perception may be construed either as behaviour or as sensing. One significant grammatical difference is that present behaviour would normally be reported as present-in-present (the present progressive) — What are you doing? I'm watching the last whales of August. — but present sensing would not — I (can) see the whales in the distance.⁴ 

Another one is that only sensing can involve a Phenomenon of the metaphenomenal kind. As long as the 'phenomenon' is of the same order of existence as ordinary things, there is no problem with either process type; we can both see and watch macro-phenomena: I saw/watched the last whales leave the bay. But while we can say I saw that he had already eaten we cannot say I watched that he had already eaten, which includes a metaphenomenon. This is the borderline between the mental and material domains of experience. 

There are some behavioural processes that are agnate to cognitive ones (pondering, puzzling, meditating) but none that are agnate to desiderative or emotive ones. (Behavioural processes of giggling, laughing, crying, smiling and the like are outward manifestations of emotions; but they are not active variants of inert emotive processing such as rejoicing, grieving, and fearing.)

⁴ Notice also the difference with respect to ability: there is little to choose between I can see birds in the sky and I see birds in the sky, but I can be watching birds in the sky and I am watching birds in the sky are quite distinct — in fact the former would most probably be interpreted as usuality I sometimes watch ...'.

Blogger Comments:

Clearly, the clause Don't touch me is material, not behavioural. The participant me is neither the Range (Behaviour) nor Medium (Behaver) of a behavioural Process, but the Medium (Goal) of a material Process.

Behavioural Conatives

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 578):

The hypotactic verbal group complexes we have looked at so far are, in principle, confined to features of the Process itself – features of phase, conation and modulation. But we have noted that conative hypotactic verbal group complexes with verbs of behaviour in the primary verbal group tend to add the role of Behaver to the experiential interpretation of the Subject, as is brought out by the contrast in voice.

Conative Adjunct

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 576-7):

The extending complex is a two-part process, in which the Subject fills a dual participant role: Behaver (in the conative component) plus Actor, or some other role, in the happening itself. For the same reason, Adjuncts in the clause may relate semantically to the conative component like hard, quickly in she tried hard to write well, she quickly learnt to tell them apart.

The Filipino tried hard to put in a storming finish, but his attacks were nearly all neatly countered by the clever champion.

There is no need in the analysis to tie these structurally to the primary verbal group; but it is useful to specify their function, by labelling them as ‘conative Adjunct’.

Behavioural Processes: Agency & Range

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 301):

Behavioural processes are almost always middle; the most typical pattern is a clause consisting of Behaver and process only, like Don’t breathe!, No one’s listening, He’s always grumbling. A common variant of these is that where the behaviour is dressed up as if it was a participant, like she sang a song, he gave a great yawn; this structure is typical in the everyday spoken language. The participant is analogous to the Scope of a ‘material’ clause (both being manifestations of the general function of Range); we shall call it Behaviour.

Behavioural Processes: “Senser Doing”

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 301):

The participant who is ‘behaving’, labelled Behaver, is typically a conscious being, like the Senser; the Process is grammatically more like one of ‘doing’.

‘Extending’ Verbal Group Complexes: Conation & Voice

Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 506-7):

Here the relation of active to passive is different, because the conative verb although not constituting a separate happening, does in fact represent a behavioural process, and it retains its behavioural sense when the clause is passive. …

The extending complex is a two-part process, in which the Subject fills a dual participant rôle: Behaver (in the conative component) plus Actor, or some other rôle, in the happening itself.

For the same reason, Adjuncts in the clause may relate semantically to the conative component like hard, quickly in she tried hard to write well, she quickly learnt to tell them apart …

There is no need in the analysis to tie these structurally to the primary verbal group; but it is useful to specify their function, by labelling them as ‘conative Adjunct’.