An Analysis of Transitivity Choices in Hashmi’s When the Moon Is Low

Abstract

The present study concerns on exploring how experiential meanings have been constructed through specific linguistic choices in Nadia Hashmi’s novel When the Moon Is Low. The main theoretical framework used for the clause analysis is transitivity model of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) through which the experiential meanings in the novel under study have been studied. The data comprises the novel, ‘When the Moon Is Low’ by Nadia Hashmi. Furthermore, the UAM corpus tool developed by O’Donnell (2009) has been used for the data analysis. The main focus of the research is to explore the transitivity patterns in the novel and explain the experiential meanings through transitivity analysis. Examining the language of a literary text can lead to a fuller understanding of the text and thus appreciation of the writer’s artistic achievement (Leech & Short, 2007). Accordingly, this study considers the relationship between linguistic structures and socially constructed meaning in a literary text. The results of the study reveal that there are total 77235 grammatical units. The results depict the highest frequency of participants is 23618 (30.57%). The processes are 21343 (27.63%), circumstances 13043 (16.88%) and configuration 19232 (24.89%). Among process types, material process has the highest frequency 11219 (63.58%). It shows that the author has portrayed the events of the novels by elaborating what is happening in the material world and what the characters are doing. By analysing When the Moon is Low through transitivity framework, process types in selected texts and their function has been found. Transitivity choices impart a significant role in the transmission of implicit meanings.