A SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR STUDY ON IDEATIONAL METAPHOR IN ENGLISH BUSINESS CONTRACTS
Main Article Content
Abstract
A business contract is a kind of legal discourse which is said to be highly technical, abstract, and impersonal. These features are majorly identified through specific grammatical resources. Within the framework of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), ideational metaphor which is specified with the metaphorical reconstrual of processes plays a crucial role in creating discoursal functions in English business contracts. This study aims to identify, categorize, and interpret ideational metaphor in English business contracts by analyzing how different process types contribute to the construction of contractual meaning and legal formality. The study investigates 20 authentic English business contracts collected from diverse categories, including transfer agreements, advertising services, business collaboration, purchase and sale of goods. The research employs a mixed-method approach by combining quantitative frequency analysis with qualitative functional interpretation. The results show that ideational metaphor, which reflects actions, duties, and states in contractual speech, is prevalent in material and relational processes whereas uncommon in mental, verbal, and existential processes. Notably, no occurrences of behavioral process are found in ideational metaphor. The study demonstrates that ideational metaphor is a central linguistic resource in English business contracts, contributing significantly to their abstract, impersonal, and technical nature.
Keywords
Systemic Functional Grammar, ideational metaphor, experiential meaning, nominalization, legal discourse
Article Details
References
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203871652-10/systemic-functional-linguistic-explorations-longitudinal-study-advanced-capacities-case-spanish-heritage-language-learners-mariana-achugar-cecilia-colombi
Alhusaiyan, E. (2025). A systematic review of current trends in artificial intelligence in foreign language learning. Saudi Journal of Language Studies, 5(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/SJLS-07-2024-0039
Banks, D. (2005). On the historical origins of nominalized process in scientific text. English for Specific Purposes, 24(3), 347-357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2004.08.002
Baratta, A. M. (2010). Nominalization development across an undergraduate academic degree program. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(4), 1017-1036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.08.007
Bhatia, V. K. (1983). Simplification v. easification: The case of legal texts. Applied Linguistics, 4(1),42-54. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249237755_Simplification_v_Easification-The_Case_of_Legal_Texts
Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analysing genre: Language use in professional settings. Routledge. https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781317896548_A24275662/preview-9781317896548_A24275662.pdf
Biber, D., Gray, B., & Poonpon, K. (2011). Should we use characteristics of conversation to measure grammatical complexity in L2 writing development? TESOL Quarterly, 45(1), 5-35. https://doi.org/10.5054/TQ.2011.244483
Candlin, C. N., Bhatia, V. K., & Jensen, C. H. (2002). Developing legal writing materials for English second language learners: Problems and perspectives. English for Specific Purposes, 21(4), 299-320. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(01)00029-1
Colombi, C. (2006). Grammatical metaphor: Academic language development in Latino students of Spanish. In H. Byrnes (Ed.), Advanced language learning: The contribution of Halliday and Vygotsky, (pp. 147-163). Continuum. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313039021_Grammatical_metaphor_Academic_language_development_in_Latino_students_of_Spanish
Devrim, D. Y. (2015). Grammatical metaphor: What do we mean? What exactly are we researching? Functional Linguistics, 2(1), Article 3. http://doi.org/10.1186/s40554-015-0016-7
Diep, Q. B. (2005). Vietnamese grammar. Education Publishing House. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL31677852M/Ng%E1%BB%AF_ph%C3%A1p_ti%E1%BA%BFng_Vi%E1%BB%87t
Gia, T. T. N., & Phan, V. H. (2022). Grammatical metaphor in poetry. Journal of Language and Culture Science, 6(2). https://vjol.info.vn/nnvh/issue/view/6737
Gotti, M. (2008). Investigating specialized discourse. Peter Lang. https://www.peterlang.com/document/1043668
Halliday, M. A. K. (1966). Grammar, society and the noun. University College London. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL20749481M/Grammar_society_and_the_noun
Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar (1st ed.). Edward Arnold. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-second-language-acquisition/article/abs/an-introduction-to-functional-grammar-michael-a-k-halliday-london-edward-arnold-1985-pp-384/0B10E76178E3B17CC5418DE0E8117C32
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar (2nd ed.). Edward Arnold. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1224020M/An_introduction_to_functional_grammarHalliday
Halliday, M. A. K. (2003). Written language, standard language, global language. World Englishes, 22(4), 405-418. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2003.00309.x
Halliday, M. A. K., & Martin, J. R. (2003). Writing science: Literacy and discursive power. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203209936
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. (1999). Construing experience through meaning: A language-based approach to cognition. Cassell. https://aclanthology.org/J01-1007.pdf
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. (2013). Halliday's introduction to functional grammar (4th ed.). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Hallidays-Introduction-to-Functional-Grammar/Halliday-Matthiessen/p/book/9781444146608
Hoang, V. V. (2012). An experiential grammar of the Vietnamese clause. Vietnam Education Publishing House. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Van-Van-Hoang/publication/334836556_An_Experiential_Grammar_of_the_Vietnamese_Clause/links/5ee9bf3a458515814a653841/An-Experiential-Grammar-of-the-Vietnamese-Clause.pdf
Kaczmarek, K. (2013). Precision and vagueness in the language of the law in Hungarian and Polish legal texts. Comparative Legilinguistics, 13, 61-79. https://doi.org/10.14746/cl.2013.13.04
Le, T. G. C. (2020). Semantic propositions of nominalisations as grammatical metaphor in English and Vietnamese media discourse. Journal of Science and Technology, The University of Danang, 18(6), 112-116. https://doi.org/10.31130/jst-ud2020-117E
Martin, J. R. (1992). English text: System and structure. John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/z.59
Nguyen, T. N. L. (2022). Grammatical metaphor in discourse analysis of economic contracts from the perspective of systemic functional grammar. Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Journal of Science: Social Sciences and Humanities, 19(7), 35-45. https://doi.org/10.54607/hcmue.js.19.7.3439(2022)
Nguyen, V. H. (2015). Systemic functional grammar and the evaluation of “non-standard” language among today's youth from the perspective of systemic functional grammar. Language and Life, 1, 17-25. https://nguvan.hnue.edu.vn/Nghi%C3%AAn-c%E1%BB%A9u/Ng%C3%B4n-ng%E1%BB%AF/p/ngu-phap-chuc-nang-he-thong-va-danh-gia-ngon-ngu-phi-chuan-cua-gioi-tre-hien-nay-theo-quan-diem-cua-ngu-phap-chuc-nang-he-thong-867
Phan, V. H., & Nguyen, V. V. (2015). Applying grammatical metaphor to academic writing. The University of Danang: Journal of Science and Technology, 12(97), 105-108. https://jst-ud.vn/jst-ud/article/view/3305
Yang, Y. (2008). Typological interpretation of differences between Chinese and English in grammatical metaphor. Language Sciences, 30(4), 450-478.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223027907_Typological_interpretation_of_differences_between_Chinese_and_English_in_grammatical_metaphor
Sirait, A., Gunawan, W., Lingga, T. R., Siswantara, Y., & Lisdawati, I. (2025). Exploring multimodal approaches in storytelling for literacy development: A systematic literature review. English Review: Journal of English Education, 13(2), 713-722. http://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v13i2.11845
Tampubolon, S., & Sidabutar, U. (2025). Grammatical metaphor on the students’ writing research paper: A perspective of systemic functional linguistics. Journal of English Language and Education, 10(1), 73-84. https://doi.org/10.31004/jele.v10i1.627
Tiersma, P. M. (1999). Legal language. University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo3627935.html
Wu, X., & Cai, X. (2016). A corpus-based comparative study of ideational grammatical metaphor in marine engineering and maritime legal regulation English. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 5(5), 76-84. http://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.5p.76