ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a systemic functional account of the verbal group in Khorchin Mongolian, a dialect of Mongolian spoken in eastern Inner Mongolia. Two basic verbal group systems, vg deixis and vg type, are established based on the role the verbal group plays in a clause. The vg deixis system includes the features [elaborated] and [restricted]. Elaborated verbal groups function in indicative clauses; restricted verbal groups function in imperative clauses. The vg type system includes the features [eventive] and [non-eventive]. Eventive verbal groups function in non-relational clauses; non-eventive verbal groups function in relational clauses. The systems vg deixis and vg type are simultaneous co-selecting systems. An eventive elaborated verbal group selects from the systems vg polarity, vg tense, aspect, vg modality and relative tense; a non-eventive elaborated verbal group selects from the systems vg polarity, vg tense and aspect. Both eventive and non-eventive restricted verbal groups select from the systems vg person and aspect. The interactions between these systems show how axial argumentation can inform systemic functional language description at ranks below the clause. This chapter also shows the way the system-structure relations can be used to make explicit the valeur of a specific grammatical category.
