Misconstruing An Absence Of Label For An Absence Of Function

Fawcett (2010: 132, 132n):

From our present perspective, the first important difference about Figure 9 is the blank boxes in the THEME and MOOD lines of the representation. Most of the THEME line of analysis is a long blank box, covering several elements, in which the label "Rheme" would be written if this was an IFG analysis. And there is similar blank box in the MOOD line of Figure 9, where "Residue" would be written in an IFG analysis (between "Mood" and "Moodtag"). This is not the trivial difference that it might at first appear, because when the blank boxes are labelled this suggests that there are 'functions' in these lines of analysis that correspond to them — and it is this fact that in turn allows one to read into such diagrams the idea that they represent a 'structure'. In other words, I suggest that there is not in fact a single 'functional element' called a "Rheme" that corresponds to several other clause elements; that there is no 'functional element' of 'Residue' that similarly covers one or more elements; and, in cases where there is an INFORMATION line of analysis, that there is no 'functional element' of 'Given' that covers one or more elements.¹²

¹² As you may have noticed, the right hand box in the TRANSITIVITY line of analysis is also blank, but in this case an IFG-style analysis would not label it. This is because this element only has 'interpersonal' meaning. Since the tag isn't it is automatically derived from the main clause it has no 'experiential' meaning, so that there is nothing to say about it in terms of the TRANSITIVITY line of analysis. 

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Reminder:

[1] This is misleading, because the difference is indeed trivial. The difference here is between labelling a negative — Rheme or Residue — and not labelling it. 'Rheme' labels the portion of a clause as message that is not Theme: the point of departure of the message. 'Residue' labels the portion of a clause as exchange that is not Mood: the carrier of 'the burden of the clause as an interactive event' (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 150).  The unlabelled box after 'Theme' signifies 'not Theme', which is equivalent to 'Rheme'; the absence of a label after 'Mood' signifies 'not Mood', which is equivalent to 'Residue'.

[2] To be clear, a structure is the relation between elements, and the relations obtain if both elements are labelled or if one of them is iconically represented as a negative.

[3] To be clear, this is a non-sequitur. Here Fawcett has invalidly concluded that the absence of a label necessarily entails the absence of a function. Moreover, this conclusion leads to an absurdity, since, without at least the possibility of an element that is not Theme (Rheme), not Mood (Residue), not New (Given), there can be no contrasting element that is Theme, Mood, New, respectively.

[4] To be clear, the reason why a Moodtag 'has no experiential meaning' is because it is not a representation of experience.