BUILDING A WINI)OWS-BASED BII,INGUAL F\[JNCTIONAI, SEMANTIC PROCESSOR 
Jimath.'m J Webster 
Dcl)art,nent of Chinese, Translalion :rod Linguistics 
City Polytechnic of ! hmg Kong 
CTW EBSTE(alCPll KVX.CPIt K. I I K 
O. SUMMARY 
(/mh~r a ,vO'atey, ic grant .fi'om the (Sitv l'o!Vechnic (( 
Ilong Kong, woH¢ i,v proceedin,~ toward J#q/ementation 
c(" a ,s'qflware IooI, c:afled the \]'}mcliona/ £'ema/llic 
Procexxor, which ix de,<igned to ./aciiilale a/m!~:.~'is o/' 
Chine,re and 16~x, li,vl'l lexl,v aloJ~ the /i/te,v (?/' ,v,):xtemic 
t'>mclional ('O'C, tlIIIIOt'. 7he l')mcliona/ ,%man/it 
l'roces,~'or ,/br Chine,~'e and /','n~/Lv/~ te.vl.v has been 
d<'.ve/o/x;d in lhe 3/LS' IVindows enviro/'mten/. 
I. INTROI)I/CTION 
Three oricntalions have \[brined Ihc basis o1 Ihc design of 
tile Functior~al-Semalltic Proccssor: (i) the ti.)CtlS (51' 
analysis is on discourse; (it) the purlxlse is Io discover 
lhose elements lhal conhibllle to Ihc overall ltlC'llling 
conveyed by a Iexl; (iii) the approach is inodular, wilh 
each illOdllle corresponding to a slrtleltlral I'epl'CSell\[~lliOll 
\]71"O111 OllC of Several din~ensions of nleaning. 'In order to 
provide insighls into tile meaning and cfl'cclivcness of a 
text', stales Hall\[day (1985), 'a cliscourse granlmar needs 
1o be lil51ctionaI and semalHic in its orientation, with the 
granunalical categories explained sis the real\[sat\[on of 
semantic pattcrns'(xvii). St,'(; provides this Ihnclional- 
senlanlic orientation. 
2. SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAl, (;I/AMMAR (SF(;) 
llalliday's systemic-time\[tonal grammar (SFG) identifies 
the shllclnres ;.11 clatlse level and above thai conlribute Io 
the meaning o1' a text. An SFG analysis reveals 'how 
and wily' a lex\[ means what it does. The clause, as; 
coxIslilucnl (s\[thc lest, ix tile coral)los realisation (fl three 
functional-senlanlic con/portents: leMtlal, inlcq)crsoilal 
and ideational. I{ach colnponelll COlllIibHlcs ill ilS OWll 
way to lhe lbrln ef file clause. Corresponding to each 
COlllpol/enl are valiOtlS kinds of sllllChlrill rcprcsclll}lliol/. 
\[n English, lexhlal nleaning is represented by 
theme-theme ~.lll(.\] inlbrmalion slrtlctllles; inlerpcrsonal 
lllCalling by mood-residue or exchauge slruchlrc; and 
idealional or proposflional recants?, by Iransifivily 
strllelllre. While l lalliday idenlilies the clause as I\[IC 
most basic lexico-,prammalical 1Hlil, nevcrlhcless hc iily;t.} 
lecol,nises and includes in his grammar olhcr discomse 
Ill/its besides tile clause. I"or example, I I'alliday's notion 
of inlbrmalion ut/it in l:",nglish is similar to wh;ll '\['sao 
(I979) calls topic-chains in Chinese where a topic 
extends its scm:lnlic domain over several senie\]lcc£. 
3. TIlE FIJNCTIONAL SEMANTIC I'ROCESSOR 
The Funclional Senlantic Processor is a Iool to assist in 
rite analysis of lexis lbllowing M.A.K. 1 lalliday's (1985) 
approach outlined in his Introduction to f,Smctional 
(h'ammar lIFe) in terms of Ihelne-rhcme sir/let\[ire, 
inlb,mation, nlood-residue and transitivity. This 
llarlicular work of llalliday's dill'crs fiom his previous 
work in that the eml)hasis is on Ihe slrllchlral rather Ihan 
lhc syslemic petites ofa descriplion of l'SIglisll. 
'File I,'SP includes a separate n/odule lbr each kind of 
slmCltlral analysis. The modules are independen\[ of one 
anolhel-, each llas iIs own uniqlle lcrnlinology and 
organ\[sat\[on. Transilivfly slrtleltlre, tor example, 
inchldes elenlcnls not \[bund in inlbrnla/ion, 
mood-residue or lhenle-rhenlc SlrllCltlres. I!ach module 
assenlbies a parlial solulion to file larger queslion of 
wMI is tile nleaning which tile text as a whole 
COl/Veys. 
The approach ix smlihlr lo thai of the blackboard method 
of prohlenl solving. I)itl'crcnl knowledge sources 
parlicipalc in "assembling" a solulion. Edward 
l"cigenbaum (1988) calls it '"knowledge assenlbly" (vi). 
The I;:)tlr Idnds of SIlllellllal analysis Ihal Iogelher 
mouiprisc Ihe I;SI' ale each a knowledge source, a 
knowledge \[nodule. They are independent of one 
allolher, each has ils own unique terminology and 
ort,anisation. Whellover a clause is analysed, by 
whichm:er module, Ihal analysis is saved to tile blacl<- 
board. Each module nlUSt then ksok to tile blackboard, 
pulliny relevant intbrmation tionl tile bhlcM)oard Io 
assist in con/t)lcling ils own analysis. The blackboard 
also plays an aclivc role 15,,: alerting modules to any 
tlpdales lo its contents llIH(le \[)y other modules 
A1 i)resenl lhc l:,'ql ' does hvo lhings: (1) it assisls Ihe user 
ill doing tile analysis; (2) il lilcililates file subsequonl 
relriewll of hilbrnullion aboul the iexl by collecling all 
file chnise analyses into ;.1 I.Iobal dalabase. In its present 
fornl tile user nuisI slill do lhe analysis. The user, sol 
the nlachine, identifies meaningflll clause clements, and 
tillers Ihelii hi/he ;ippropriale (Isis licld. The COl/lptller 
records lhe user's hllcrprehllitsn hi tel'IllS Of {I Ihncliolial- 
senlanlic analysis. The FSP has up until now been only 
~1 1(5(1\[ ~ ~i plOCeSSOl. Ill.)\[ {I p~llSCr. AS discussed belm~ 
(Seclion 5), :1 parser is being added I0 lhe l"Sl' I0 
701 
perform lower-level synlaclic analysis. The outpul fronl 
the parser will pennil certain fields lo be pre-set, 
lmplementalion of a bilingual version of the FSP will 
assist in the advancemenl of research into lhe similarilies 
and differences belwecn Chinese and English texl 
structures. While ttalliday lnai/llains thai file Ihree 
COlllponelllS of meaning -- ideational, interpersonal and 
textual --- are universal to all lang/lages, tile slruclures 
corresponding 1o these COlllpol/ellls are, nevertheless, 
language specific. Thus this bilingual implementation of 
tile FSP includes structures and fields relewmt to 
Chinese and English. Certainly there is some overlap. 
Transilivity analysis, Ibr example, facililales comparison 
on a generally shared level of meaning. But there is also 
a great deal of difference bchveen Chinese and English, 
parlicularly noliceable with respect Io exchange or 
Mood-residue slruchu'e. McDonald (1992), in his oulline 
of a FG for Chinese, does not recognise a separate 
Mood-P, esiduc slmclure for Chinese. 
The FunclionaI-Selnantic Processor (FSP) has been 
developed ill .lhe MS Windows 3.11 environnlcnl. 
Chinese is handled ill tile, Windows environment using 
PC Express TwinBridge v.3.2. The FSP includes three 
linked components: (i) MS Word lor Windows v.6.0 
(WinWord) as texl-edilor; (it) the Analysl's lnlerlhcE 
(AI); and (iii) a database facility. From WinWord, the 
analyst can vicw the lexl, and select clauses for analysis. 
The AI, a Visual Basic application, is linked by means 
ofOl,E automalion wilh WinWord. Working within the 
All thc analysl can view, edit, and save IhE contents of 
l\]elds on lbrms lot each of tile different kinds of 
slructural analysis. Using VB's database capability, 
enlriEs are saved to a database. The database entries 
may be relrieved liom within the AI, or separately using 
MS Access. MS Access nlay also be used to generalc 
reporls including, lot Example, consistelll IXlllErns of 
usage occurring ill lhe dala. 
4. TIlE ANALYST'S INTI0;RFACE 
Tile user opens a document in WinWord, highlights the 
clause to be analysed, presses a button in tile toolbar 
labelled IFSP\]. The lexl highlighled in WmWord now 
appears in the \[Clausel lexlbox in the Analyst's lnterl-ilce 
(AI). The document name and tile bookmark for tile 
selected |exl appear ill tile status line at tile boltom of the 
AI window (Fig. I). Front lhe lnenu, Ihe user chooses 
which analysis Io perlorm on tile selEcIEd clause. Once 
chosen, WinWord is lninmlizEd to an icon and the \[FSP\] 
bullOll is dEaclivated. Ill lhis case, lhc user chooses to 
do transitivity analysis on tile selecled chluse. 
Transilivily analysis is concerned wilh the scmanlic 
configuration of process, parlicipanl, and cit'ClHl/SlallCe, 
i.e. the clatlse as a means ofrcprescnling the processes of 
doing, lhinking, being, speaking, etc. 
The clause lo be analysed appears ill the \[Clause\] 
textbox. \[t has been selected from the Help file for MS 
Windows Write (Chinese and English versions). 
The &;wl that appears as a header or footer in your 
document does not appear in your documom 
In this sentence, Ihe process of tile main clause is, in 
English appear, ill Chinese ~,~ t~. It is a material 
process, and tile participanl functioning ill tile role of 
actor is 7he text that appears' as a header or./boler in 
your docmnent, or, in ChinesE, :~,~, ~9~i'@ ~ ' J-~ ~,NN-V~N~:~9~. 
Weenter this 
informalion into the Iorm identified by the tab al lhe 
bollom labelled Transitivity-\[ I I (l:ig. 2). Using a n\]OUSE 
tile user highlights tile process, drags tile selected texl ~ 
~l~ to tile \[Processl tcxlbox alld drops it in. Likewise lot 
tile parlicipant ;~f,~. ~\]~J~.~'~ \[\]3 ~' \[.~ ,~,~J~_~~ 
~ t~J 3~ \['\]~ ~ ~'~, one drags the selected text fi'om 
Ihe \[Clausc\] lexlbox to Ihe \[Participant\[ lislbox Once il 
is dropped inlo the listbox, a dialog box pops up to elicil 
from tile ttser which role lhal parlicipanl is pe,forming 
in tile clatlse (Fig. 3). 
This participant, which is also tile subject is a clause 
consisting of procEsS, parlicipanl and circumstance: 
lltFour document 
circumstance 
prOCESS 
as header or fimter 
particip:ml 
the t{:vt 
participant 
It may be argued thai this clause-as-subjEct, translaled in 
English as "/he text that a/)Deal:~' a.v a \]leadeY or fi)oter ill 
VOHt" dOC?ltlllgfll iS what Halliday idenlifies as a circum- 
slantial idenlil}/mg clause in which the process (nOtE thai 
ill Chinese it is nol tile same predicale as occurs in lhe 
n/aill clause) CllCOdCS a circlllnsti,lllcc o1" lllalllier - \]low 
tile text appears ill lhc document - as a rclationshi I) 
bclwcen the two participants (1985: 120). 
The user must open a second transitivily lotto, 
Transitivity - \[2\], to analyse tile clause-as-subject (Fig, 
4). ThEre are now two transilivity forms open as 
indicated by the two tabs, but only one aclive, The tab ol 
Ihe aclive folm is yellow in colour, To switch between 
fOrlllS, tile user simply needs 1o click on lhc tab lot Ihal 
Ibrm. 
REturnin,P to Ihe main clausE, the circumstance of where 
the text appeariny as header or lboler does not aF, pear is 
7()2 
l~'i~u re 1 
l,'i~l, r/~ 2 
70,~ 
lri~ure 3 
Figure 
704 
in your doc'u,ne,'~t, :~,~, 1~9 3~, '~¢ qq. Nolice Ihat as i,, 
Ihe English sentence, this prepositional phrase occurs 
twice, bu| Ihal 1he first occurrence in lhe Chinese 
scnlcnce at the beginning of Ihe sentence belongs to the 
cIallse-as-stlbjccl, llOt Ihc ll/ain clatlse. 
A circulllSlallCe, OllCC highlighlcd in IClauscl, is dragged 
and dropped into the \[Circumstancesl listbox. A dialog 
box appears asking the user Io idenlil~¢ Ihe lype of 
circumslancc, whether len/poral, spalial, etc. Thc 
circumslance and its type lhen appear in the 
\[Circumslancesl list box. 
Once an analysis is complclcd, it is saved 1o the database 
along with the name ot the document in which lhc 
clause appears, the bookmark idcnlity of the clause, and 
lhc type and lmmber of analysis, e.g. Transilivily - 111. 
13ookmarks, a feature of WinWord lot lagging pieces of 
lcxl, aft aulOlllalically assigned 1o the highlighted text 
when the user presses the I YSl'l button in the loolbar. If 
I highlight a previously analysed clause in a WinWotd 
¢locumelll, al|d aclivale Ihc \[:SP, fill analyses related Io 
lhat clause will be relricvcd and displayed in lhc \]:SP. I 
nmy then switch bclwccn the allalyscs by clicking with 
lhc mouse on Ihc tabs. 
As illuslralcd above, transitivity analysis is concerned 
wilh lhe scmanlic conliguralion of process, imrlici- 
panl(s), and circtlnlstancc(s). Olhcr considerations, s/ich 
as whelher a pftriicipfml is Ihc gmmmalical subject or 
object, whether or not a parlicipanl ix menlioned, or 
where the elemenls appear in lhc clause, arc dealt with 
by othe, slructures. 
5. AGENDA FOIl FUR'I'tlER DEVEI,OPMENT 
Beyond improving the dcsign and implcmclltation of a 
bilingual FSP \[br English and Chinese. wc look \[brward 
Io extending research in this area by aulomating the 
analytical process lbr exlracling inlbrmalion from lhc 
lexl being analysed. St:G's wcakncss ix mosl apparcnl 
when it comes Io perlorming lower level synlaclic 
analysis. /I is hcre lhal we rely on Kil Chunyu(1993)'s 
LFG parser 1o provkle mpul for subscquenl SClnanlic 
inlerprelation. The Kil Parser, originally developed in 
PDC Prolog for the DOS clwiFoIIIllClI\[, is being re- 
developed as a Windows application using, I.PA 
WinProlog. 
Kifs unificalional aclive charl parser (UniPurc('harl) is 
based on ~1 Chillesc l,cxical-l:unclional Grammar (C- 
I.FG) conslrucled by Kil. The FSP will display lhc parse 
O\['a Sell|ence on fill '\[Lslructtlrc' 1i211111 ill Ihe AI. As with 
olhcr structures, e.g. Iransilivily slructure, Ihc user may 
edil lhe parse result on Ihc form prior Io saving il Io Ihc 
dalabase. 
Attenlion must be given 1o the inlcraclion, via the 
dalabase, between Ihe various iiiodlllcs Ihat iI/akc lip the 
FSP, each rcprescnling a lype of strucltlral reprcsenla- 
tion, a dimension of meaning. 
I do noi anlicipale fidly automatic functional-semantic 
analysis oflcxls. Even wilh Ihc addilion era parser, and 
a syslcm lot facilitaling tnodule interaction, lhe FSP will 
conlil|tlc Io require htltl|all participalion in the analytical 
process. 
6. APPI.I(2ATIONS 
The I:SP is being used lo study the transilivily, theme- 
theme, alld illlbrll/alion slf|lClllrcs of Windows on-line 
l lclp documenlalion. The shldy is looking at bolh 
Chinese and English vcrsions of on-line llclp. The 
database of clause-level analyses facililatcs the search for 
consistent patterns of tlsagc. 
Greater aulomation of the lhnclional semantic analytical 
process raises signilicanl implicalions for conlrastive 
studies ltlOSl imlnediately, and ultimately, machine 
lranslation. Providing greater insighl into lhe slruclurcs 
and Iheir elements in English and Chinese \[hal realist 
meaning can only serve It) adwmcc the prospects lbr 
an improved st:tic of the art ill l/laCllille Iranslalioil. 
7. RI,;IqglII,'NCI,;S 
l I\] \[:cigcnbaum, 1'i. (1988). l"orward to P,. Engchnore & 
T. Morgan (Eds), l~lackboard S~, New York: 
Addison-Wesley. l~p.v-viii. 
\[2\] Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). Introduction Io Functional 
Gr~ljp0m(, I,ondon: Edward Arnold. 
131 Kit, C.Y. (1993). A Chinese l&'xical Func!iona\[ 
Gramma!~ !brScn!cnccParsiJ!g. MPhil Disscrlalion, 
Cily Polylcchnic of l long Kong. 
\[4\[ McDonald, 1",. (1992). Oulline ol" a Iqmclional 
Grammar of Chinese Ibr Teaching Purposes. I,~ 
Ssicnccs, 14, 4. pp.435-448. 
\[5\] Tsao, F. F. (1979). A Functional Sludy of Topic ill 
_ChiL/esc;. rl'he Firs! S!ep q~)wfllds Discourse Analysis. 
PhD/)isscrtalion, (htivcrsity of Soulhern Calilbrnia. 
705 
