THE VERB GROUP IN THE UNIVERSE OF MEANING CONSTRUCTION: A PRAGMATIC AND SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article embarks on a twofold descriptive and analytic scrutiny of the verb group in the process of meaning construction. It sets the start from the intelligibility sine qua non condition required in every communication instance and the dominant part played by the verb group along the meaning encoding and conveyance line. First, it sheds light on the close relationship between the meaning conveyed by the lexical part of the verb and the ensuing action or perlocutionary act intended by the speaker as investigated by Austin and Searle from a pragmatic lens within the framework of the speech act theory in the one hand and explored the meaning encoding power of the verb group with regard to discourse construction through the experiential and interpersonal metafunctions as investigated by MAK Halliday and his followers in Systemic Functional Linguistics in the other. Secondly, this research work carried out a critical scrutiny whereby it admitted the unquestionable core role of the verb group as exemplified in the aforementioned scholars’ seminal works, while pinpointing the verb group’s dependence on other parts of speech as well as on some extralinguistic context aspects in view of a sharper framing of the scope of discourse.