Material Processes

[Fame]

Does anyone have any idea about material processes?

If yes, can the following be material processes:

1. The society was commissioned by a group of youngsters.
2. The floor area needs to be increased.

[Anglika]

I have only met the term in technological or scientific writing.

[jirikoo]

Does anyone have any idea about material processes?

If yes, can the following be material processes:

1. The society was commissioned by a group of youngsters.
2. The floor area needs to be increased.

Did you mean a material processing? Operations that transform materials from a raw-materials into chiseled products?

[Fame]

Did you mean a material processing? Operations that transform materials from a raw-materials into chiseled products?

No. I mean material processes meaning words in action for example:

painting

riding

[jirikoo]

No. I mean material processes meaning words in action for example:

painting

riding

Sorry, its beyond my capacity. Can you provide me a reference on the internet or another source?
I tried to google but to no avail.

[Soup]

Sorry, its beyond my capacity. Can you provide me a reference on the internet or another source?
I tried to google but to no avail.

The following explanation is from ... SFG Page ....

Material process


The participants are:

• Actor -- the one performing the action
• Goal -- that which is affected by the action
• Scope -- that which remains unaffected by the action
• Attribute -- a quality ascribed or attributed to an entity
• Client -- for whom/which the action occurs
• Recipient -- the receiver of goods or services

A material process is a process of doing or happening, and the Actor is the key participant. You can probe a material process with "what did the Actor do?" or "what happened?"

Alvin played ping pong yesterday Pt:
Actor Pr:
Material Pt:
Scope Circ:
Time

Alvin swallowed the ping pong ball by mistake Pt:
Actor Pr:
Material Pt:
Goal Circ:
Manner

The doctor gave Alvin some laxative Pt:
Actor Pr:
Material Pt:
Recipient Pt:
Goal

He also made Alvin a tablet Pt:
Actor Pr:
Material Pt:
Client Pt:
Goal

and painted it green Pr:
Material Pt:
Goal Pt:
Attribute


Because the material process involves dynamic verbs, the progressive is permitted -- "Alvin was playing ping pong yesterday". This is a useful test to tell apart a material process from another that is inherently stative.

Please note that Goal is that which is affected by something being done to it (that is, it either changes its position or its status). If it remains unaffected (or unimpacted), it is not Goal, but Scope.




Another useful point to note is that whereas Recipient takes the preposition "to", Client takes "for". Compare:

• The doctor gave some laxative to Alvin. (Recipient)

• He also made a bitter-tasting tablet for Alvin. (Client)

The next one is from Literary Stylistics Notes no. 9 by Ismail S Talib: Transitivity 1

Material process verbs, like mental process verbs, can either be transitive or intransitive. If a verb which describes physical action is transitive, it is virtually definite that it is a material, and not a behavioural process verb. For intransitive verbs, one way to determine whether an action is a material or behavioural process is to look at the actor:

• If the first participant of the intransitive verb denoting physical action is non-human, it is usually a material process verb.
• If the first participant of the intransitive verb is human, the process is
  
  • material if the verb is decidedly actional, or
  • behavioural if the verb is not only actional, but in some way dependent on the person's emotive, sensory or cognitive responses as well.

[Soup]

Does anyone have any idea about material processes?

If yes, can the following be material processes:

1. The society was commissioned by a group of youngsters.
2. The floor area needs to be increased.

Fame, I've been doing a bit of research. There's a way to test for material clauses:

If do, do to/with can serve as pro-verb, the clause is material. For instance: [she kicked the ball] what she did with the ball was kick it, what she did was kick the ball, [they surrounded the garden with a fence] what they did to the garden was surround it with a fence (but not e.g. [she was the leader] what she did with the leader was be her, [the fence surrounded te garden] what the fence did to the garden was surround it).

Source Ling900: Assignment #2: Mode and Transitivity

As for how to deal with passive constructs, I've yet to come across a source for that. Sorry.