Please

From A Vast Cloud Of Gas And Dust

 For 'from'/'out of' as Manner: means, see Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 313).

Protection From Other People With Guns

The information analysis is based on the tonic falling on have and legally in the first clause, and on majority and protect in the clause complex.

Predicated Theme vs Postposed Subject

Note that both clauses have the same interpersonal structure, though the Subject is realised by a nominal group in the predicated Theme clause, but by an elaborating paratactic nominal group complex in the postposed Subject clause.

Note also that the predicated Theme clause is encoding (the Value is encoded by reference to the Token your good luck), whereas the postposed Subject clause is decoding (the Token is decoded by reference to the Value your good luck).

The Materiality Of Birth

Once upon a time, there was a girl and the girl had a shadow. The two were connected, tethered together. And the girl ate, her food was given to her warm and tasty. But when the shadow was hungry, he had to eat rabbit raw and bloody. On Christmas, the girl received wonderful toys; soft and cushy. But the shadow's toys were so sharp and cold they sliced through her fingers when she tried to play with them. The girl met a handsome prince and fell in love. But the shadow at that same time had Abraham, it didn't matter if she loved him or not. He was tethered to the girl's prince after all. Then the girl had her first child, a beautiful baby girl. But the shadow, she gave birth to a little monster. Umbrae was born laughing. The girl had a second child, a boy this time. They had to cut her open and take him from her belly. The shadow had to do it all herself. She named him Pluto, he was born to love fire. So you see, the shadow hated the girl so much for so long until one day the shadow realised she was being tested by God.

Reasoning:

1. In the first clause, the question is whether a beautiful baby girl is a depictive Attribute or a unit in a nominal group complex. Viewed 'from above', both interpretations construe an elaborating relation between her first child and a beautiful baby girl. However, viewed 'from below', a beautiful baby girl is realised by its own tone group, with the same tone choice as the preceding tone group (tone concord). This is a feature of paratactic elaboration (apposition), but not of depictive Attributes.

2. In the second clause, the question is how to analyse the shadow. In this instance, there is no possible tone concord with she, so the two do not form an elaborating paratactic nominal group complex, and so the shadow is a distinct clause element. The clue here is textual. Whatever its experiential function, the shadow is realised by its own tone group, making it the focus of New information, switching the focus of attention from the girl. Similarly, if the shadow is a distinct clause element, then it must function as marked Theme, since the Subject/Actor is she. The simplest explanation comes from taking the view 'from roundabout' and interpreting the shadow as agnate to such Matter circumstances as regarding the shadow, as for the shadow etc.

3. In the third clause, the question is whether open is the particle of a phrasal verb or a resultative Attribute. Viewed 'from above', both interpretations construe open as the result of cut, and viewed 'from roundabout', both interpretations have the same modal structure, since the particle of a phrasal verb and a resultative Attribute both serve as Adjunct. In this instance, the view 'from below', however, favours a resultative Attribute interpretation, since the particle of a phrasal verb is either a preposition or an adverb (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 413), whereas open is an adjective, which is a typical realisation of a resultative Attribute.

Theme Identification vs Theme Predication

See Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 94, 124, 198).

Thematic Equatives

 

See Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 93-6).

One reason why the nominalisation in a thematic equative always serves as the Value participant is that an identifying clause relates a lower level of abstraction, Token, to a higher higher level of abstraction, Value, and the meaning realised by a nominalisation is, ceteris paribus, of a relatively higher level of abstraction than the meaning realised by a non-nominalisation.

(The) Glaxo Exhibit: Theme, Transitivity & Mood

hypotactic extending verbal group complex of conation:

Here not is interpreted as a formal or written variant of the Finite negative element n't, rather than a distinct modal Adjunct, on the basis that the unmarked Mood tag would be should she? rather than shouldn't she?. See Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 175-6).

The lexical choice of see adds a 'mental' feature to the material Process.

The additional participant rôle of Behaver is explained by Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 576, 577):

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.

Discontinuous Nominal Group (Woman … With Stab Wounds)

The motivation for displacing the Qualifier in this news story headline is textual: to make it the unmarked focus of New information, so that the Phenomenon/Subject is assigned two peaks of textual prominence: Theme and New.

Note also that the clause has no Finite or Medium through whom the Process is actualised.

Non-Finite Clause: Theme, Transitivity And Mood

'Must' & 'Have To': Obligation & Probability

Both 'must' and 'have to' can realise high value obligation or probability, the latter form evolving from an earlier conative function; see Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 145, 572-3, 583).

 modulation: obligation (high value)

she	must	go
Theme	Rheme
Actor	Process: material
Subject	Finite	Predicator
Mood		Residue

she	has	to go
Theme	Rheme
Actor	Process: material
Subject	Finite	Predicator
Mood		Residue

modalisation: probability (high value)

she	must	have gone
Theme	Rheme
Actor	Process: material
Subject	Finite	Predicator
Mood		Residue

she	has	to have gone
Theme	Rheme
Actor	Process: material
Subject	Finite	Predicator
Mood		Residue

Un/Marked Themes In Positive And Negative Imperative Clauses

Positive Imperatives

unmarked Theme:

let's	go	home
Theme: unmarked	Rheme
Subject	Predicator	Adjunct

keep	quiet
Theme: unmarked	Rheme
Predicator	Complement

marked Theme:

you	keep	quiet
Theme: marked	Rheme
Subject	Predicator	Complement

do	keep	quiet
Theme: marked		Rheme
Finite	Predicator	Complement

Negative Imperatives

unmarked Theme:

don't	let's	quarrel	about it
Theme: unmarked		Rheme
Finite	Subject	Predicator	Adjunct

don't	argue	with me
Theme: unmarked		Rheme
Finite	Predicator	Adjunct

marked Theme:

don't	you	argue	with me
Theme: marked		Rheme
Finite	Subject	Predicator	Adjunct

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 103):

Theme in imperative clauses.
The basic message of an imperative clause is either ‘I want you to do something’ or ‘I want us (you and me) to do something’. The second type usually begins with let’s, as in let’s go home now; here let’s is clearly the unmarked choice of Theme. But with the first type, although the ‘you’ can be made explicit as a Theme (e.g. you keep quiet!, meaning ‘as for you, ... ’), this is clearly a marked choice; the more typical form is simply keep quiet, with the verb in thematic position. The function of the verb, in the mood structure (clause as exchange), is that of Predicator; here, therefore, it is the Predicator that is the unmarked Theme. 

In negative imperatives, such as don’t argue with me, don’t let’s quarrel about it, the principle is the same as with yes/no interrogatives: the unmarked Theme is don’t plus the following element, either Subject or Predicator. Again there is a marked form with you, e.g. don’t you argue with me, where the Theme is don’t you. There is also a marked contrastive form of the positive, such as do take care, where the Theme is do plus the Predicator take.

How Many Topical Themes Per Clause?

In 1925	Halliday	was	born
Theme: marked	Rheme
Location	Goal	Process: material
circumstantial Adjunct	Subject	Finite	Predicator

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 91, 105, 107):

As a general guide to start off with, we shall say that the Theme of a clause is [realised by] the first group or phrase that has some function in the experiential structure of the clause, i.e. that functions as a participant, a circumstance or the process. …

The guiding principle of thematic structure is this: the Theme contains one, and only one, of these experiential elements. This means that the Theme of a clause ends with the first constituent that is either participant, circumstance or process. We refer to this constituent, in its textual function, as the topical Theme. 

There may however be other elements in the clause preceding the topical Theme. These are elements that are either textual or interpersonal in function, playing no part in the experiential meaning of the clause.

Beware of those who do not understand the distinction between the highlighting of a functional element (Theme) and functional element that is highlighted (e.g. Subject, Senser, etc.).