Abstract

One of the theories that seek to unravel how the human language functions is the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG). SFG achieves its uniqueness by seeking to develop a theory about language as a social process and an analytical methodology for detailed and systematic description of language patterns (Eggins, 2004). Given its suitability for the analysis of any text, SFG was used in this study for the analysis of the poem “My Lord, Tell Me Where to Keep Your Bribe”. Though SFG shows how three different strands of meanings (ideational, interpersonal and textual) are expressed in the structures of clauses, the focus of analysis was on the grammar of textual and interpersonal meanings, hence the thematic and Mood structure analyses of the poem. The thematisation patterns identified in the poem included the use of textual themes (for inter-clause cohesive purposes), interpersonal themes (for the assignment of Mood labels to clauses) and topical themes, which altogether enabled the poet bring into thematic prominence the major issues of worry to an average Nigerian who had always thought judges and the courts of law should be immune from corruption. The Mood structure analysis showed the poet’s conscious choices of the indicative Mood, with alternating options of interrogative and declarative clause types. Overall, the SFG-based analysis showed how the poet made conscious paradigmatic choices and arranged them into linear (syntagmatic) structures to make the different meanings conveyed in the poem.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.