Wednesday, 7 November 2012

Transitive Clause Vs Intransitive Clause With The Feature 'Cause' Added


(a) Sample transitive clause (effective):

the police
hit
the detainee
Actor
Process
Goal
Agent
Medium

the bomb
destroyed
the police station
Actor
Process
Goal
Agent
Medium


(b) Sample intransitive clause (middle):

the bomb
exploded
Actor
Process
Medium


… with the feature ‘cause’ added (effective):

the police
exploded
the bomb
Initiator
Process
Actor
Agent
Medium 

cf

the police
made
the bomb
explode
Initiator
Pro-
Actor
-cess
Agent
Medium


See Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 287, 299-300, 509-10).  Initiated material clauses are effective + intransitive (op cit: 302) — though analytic causatives can also be effective + transitive.

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