92 A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse
meaning. A pattern can be identifi ed if a combination of words occurs
relatively frequently, if it is dependent on a particular word choice, and if
there is a clear meaning associated with it. (Ibid. 37)They argue that a great deal of discourse ‘is dependent on lexical choices
and the patterning of specifi c lexical items’ (ibid. 206). Words with similar
senses tend to have similar patterns, so the patterning of lexical items
generates meaning. Pattern grammar is, they claim, compatible with either
a traditional constituent analysis or a linear analysis (ibid. 208). Thus, their
coding V... n may mean a verb followed by the whole of a noun group,
or a verb followed by anything up to and including a noun. To illustrate,
in (12) below, from a constituent standpoint the there V n^6 pattern of
the sentence there are whales swimming freely about encompasses the entire
sentence but from a linear perspective it only encompasses the elements
there are whales.
They state (ibid. 235) that a linear interpretation of a pattern grammar
has a number of advantages over a constituent analysis, notably: in dem-
onstrating how patterns fl ow in extended text; and in addressing two
grammatical ‘problems’. The fi rst they label ‘the problem of embedded
clauses’: the fact that units of one rank, such as clauses occur as components
of units at the same or lower rank. Their example illustrates:
(11) I regret that he should be so stubborn
N V N+ N V V' A EThe rank-shifted clause that he should be so stubborn operates as the object
of the verb regret. Hunston and Francis argue (ibid. 236) that embedded
or rank-shifted clauses are ‘an awkward anomaly’ in theories of grammar
such as Halliday (1994) which are predicated on a theory of rank. As
example (11) demonstrates, the paradox is avoided if Brazil’s linear
conventions are utilized. The second complication is ‘the problem of
“there” ’ (ibid. 237). Hunston and Francis identify a diffi culty in coding the
pattern of there functioning as a dummy subject. Two examples from their
corpus illustrate.
(12) There are whales swimming freely about
N V d° N V' A+ A
(13) There are great sources of pain in everyone.
N V d° e N P+ N P N