Parting Company With a Dear One: A Systemic Functional Approach to a Tribute Delivered by Matilda Amissah-Arthur

Abstract

Tributes are paid to the dead to eulogise them and also to re-echo their sterling qualities when they were alive. Language is used tactfully to play this functional role. This study employs the transitivity model of the Systemic Functional Grammar by Halliday and Matthiessen to analyse the tribute by Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur to her late husband, the former Vice President of Ghana. The study, through both quantitative and qualitative means, aims at exploring the dominant process types and the participants used in the tribute to unravel their communicative functions. The results indicate that five of the process types which are material, verbal, relational, mental and behavioural are used in the tribute. Out of a total of 44 clauses identified in the text, the material process was the most used with a frequency of 18 representing 41% to underscore the actions carried out by the late Vice President when he was alive. This is given credence to by the preponderant use of the actor among the participants. The study concludes that the processes and the participants were employed to project their communicative effectiveness in presenting the message.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0251/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>