Little Texts: Omission Of Subject, Finite, Complement

Halliday (1994: 394):

Little Texts: Verbals Without Deixis

Halliday (1994: 393-4):

'Can'

Halliday (1994: 281):

The Features Of Reported Propositions

Halliday (1994: 260-1):

Experiential Structure Of The Verbal Group

Halliday (1994: 196-7):

Modal Adjunct Of Polarity

 Halliday (1994: 90):

The Realisation Of Modulation

Halliday (1994: 89):

The Realisation Of Modalisation

Halliday (1994: 89):

Polarity

Halliday (1994: 88):

Be And Have

Halliday (1994: 79-80):

The Semantic Function Of The Mood Element

Halliday (1994: 77-8):

Finite Verbal Operators

Halliday (1994: 75-6):

Polarity

Halliday (1994: 75):

The Function Of The Finite Element

Halliday (1994: 75):

The Realisation Of Mood

Halliday (1994: 74):

Mood And Residue

Halliday (1994: 74):

Subject And Finite Examples

Halliday (1994: 72, 73):

The Finite Element

Halliday (1994: 72):

Temporal Complementarity Of Persistent Participants And Unfolding Processes: Deixis

Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 179, 180):

Both types of element begin with a location in the 'here & now': they construct a path from the spatio-temporal moment defined instantially by the interaction base — the 'here & now' of the act of speaking — to a primary category of ideational phenomena: see Figure 5-2.

For example:

In other words, both types of group include deixis. But the deixis is of two different kinds: nominal deixis (such as near/remote) and verbal deixis (such as past/present/future), structurally realised as Deictic and Finite respectively. What this suggests is that, since processes occur in time — their mode of existence is temporal — that is how they are tied to the speech situation; whereas participants exist in some kind of referential space, which may be grounded concretely in the speech interaction (this = 'near me'; that = 'away from me') but may also be a more abstract, discoursal space. The latter is the space where we 'record' discourse referents as we work our way through a text (this = 'about to be mentioned (by me)'; that = 'mentioned earlier').

From Conation To Readiness

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 573):

The other form that has turned into a finite element within the verbal group is the potential form can, in the sense of ‘have the ability to’; it is cognate with know, so ‘know how to’. This is now also a modal form, again of the modulation type — in this case not obligation but readiness (inclination/ability).