FUNCTIONAL SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS OF NOMINALLY FUNCTIONING ELEMENTS OF CLAUSE STRUCTURE IN THE BOOK THE TWITS BY ROALD DAHL

Abstract

This study aims to identify the types of nominal elements that appear in the book and determine which element type is most dominant. Moreover, this study also discusses the context of situation in the book The Twits and reveals its relation to the dominant use of a particular functional element. The data was collected using the close reading and note-taking techniques. This study applies G David Morley’s theory of nominally functioning elements and context of situation in both his books, Syntax in Functional Grammar (2000) and Explorations in Functional Syntax (2004). The findings for the functional elements show a total of 1275 data points of nominal elements. Among these, the nominal subject appears as the most dominant type of nominal element with a total of 931 data, followed by the direct object with 247 data, the oblique object with 48 data, the direct non-identifying complement with 29 data, and the direct identifying complement with 20 data. For the context of situation, the field reveals that the book is a character-oriented narrative text that mainly discusses the daily life and traits of the two main characters, delivered in written language with an informal and friendly tone between the narrator and the audience. The result highlights the dominance of the nominative subject, emphasizing its crucial role in constructing clauses and sentences and its use in a narrative text.