CLAUSE AS EXCHANGE
4.3 Other elements of Mood structure
4.3.2 Interpersonal Adjuncts
4.3.2.1 Mood Adjuncts
These are so-called because they are closely associated with the meanings construed by the mood system: modality and temporality, and also intensity. This means that their neutral position in the clause is next to the Finite verbal operator, either just before it or just after it. But there are two other possible locations: before the Subject (i.e. in thematic position
— those of temporality and modality have a strong tendency to function as Theme; cf.
Chapter 3, Section 3.4, p. 79) and at the end of the clause as Afterthought. This gives the following paradigm:
(a) but usually they don’t open before ten (thematic) (b) but they usually don’t open before ten (neutral) (c) but they don’t usually open before ten (neutral) (d) but they don’t open before ten usually (afterthought)
The difference between (b) and (c) is also in fact systematic, as becomes clear with some of these Adjuncts when the polarity is negative: contrast they always don’t open‘they never open’ with they don’t always open‘they open (only) sometimes’. Where this happens the meaning of options (a) and (d) corresponds to that of (b), not (c): for example,possibly he couldn’t decide corresponds to he possibly couldn’t decide, not to he couldn’t possibly decide.
Technically, in (c) the mood Adjunct is actually functioning in the Residue. But where the polarity is positive, and even (with some categories) where it is negative, the difference between (b) and (c) is effectively neutralized; cf. the example with usuallyabove (and on modality in Section 4.5, p. 143).
mood
comment
temporality modality intensity
propositional
speech-functional + modal Adjunct
The Adjuncts of modality will be discussed in a separate section (Section 4.5 below).
Adjuncts of temporality relate to interpersonal (deictic) time, as introduced in Section 4.2.2, p. 115. They relate either (i) to the time itself, which may be near or remote, past or future, relative to the speaker-now; or (ii) to an expectation, positive or negative, with regard to the time at issue. (The latter may also relate to selections in secondary tense; see Chapter 6, Section 6.3, p. 335.) For example:
I suspect that they stillthink that this is a very different way of learning, and not the way that they would prefer to do things. (UTS/Macquarie Corpus)
They’ve been typed up and they were the responses to the various things which you had alreadyraised in relation to the questions that we were asking in that short survey, so I thought you’d probablywant to keep a record of that; and alreadywhen I look back over this, I was absolutely astounded. (UTS/Macquarie Corpus)
Oh, I can’t do it yet. (UTS/Macquarie Corpus) And we stilldon’t know. (UTS/Macquarie Corpus)
Adjuncts of modality and temporality containing the feature ‘negative’ have the special property that, when they occur in thematic position, the order of Subject and Finite is typically reversed, for example:
Never before havefans been promised such a feast of speed with reigning World Champion Ove Fundin sparking the flame that could set the meeting alight. (LOB_A)
This is a relic of an older pattern whereby the Finite operator always followed immediately after the first element in the mood structure. It is not very widespread in current usage, being restricted largely to certain styles of narrative, and to public speaking.
Adjuncts of intensity fall into two classes, of which again one relates to expectation. (i) Those of degree may be total, high degree or low degree; the total display the same shift in value where the clause carries negative polarity (contrast I entirely disagree,I don’t entirely agree). These Adjuncts (especially the ‘total’ ones) are typically associated with interpersonally loaded Processes or Attributes; the same adverbs also function regularly as Sub-modifiers within a nominal group (see Chapter 6, Section 6.2.5, p. 329). (ii) Those of counterexpectancy are either ‘limiting’ or ‘exceeding’ what is to be expected: the meaning is either ‘nothing else than, went no further than’ or ‘including also, went as far as’. Adjuncts of intensity occur medially or finally in the clause, but seldom initially — they cannot be thematic (hence there is no occasion for those containing the feature ‘negative’ to cause inversion of Subject and Finite). Examples:
This time, however, it almostcame unstuck, or rather stuck in the mud. (LOB_A)
‘These two men almostended up in the West Auckland Cemetery — in more senses than one,’ said Mr. H.
Hewitt, prosecuting. (LOB_A)
Have they actuallycalculated all the consequences of what they are doing with their tanks and planes in Berlin? (LOB_B)
It suggested, in fact, that Miss Kind is a very much better harpsichordist than this recital as a whole revealed.
(LOB_C)
O t h e r e l e m e n t s o f M o o d s t r u c t u r e
A more detailed network for the mood Adjuncts is given in Figure 4-12. Examples of adverbs serving as mood Adjuncts are given in Table 4(7), Table 4(8) and Table 4(9).
major
+ mood Adjunct
– mood Adjunct
temporality
modality
intensity
relative to now
relative to expectation
modalization
modulation
degree
counter- expectancy
remote near future non-future since by positive negative probability usuality inclination obligation total high low exceeding limiting Fig. 4-12 System of mood Adjuncts
Table 4(7)Adverbs serving as mood Adjuncts of temporality
remote near
future eventually soon
non-future (past/present) once just
since by
positive still already
negative no longer not yet
Table 4(8)Adverbs serving as mood Adjuncts of modality
median outer: high outer: low
probability probably certainly, definitely; no way (no how) possibly, perhaps, maybe; hardly
usuality usually always; never sometimes, occasionally; seldom, rarely