Discourse Function of Grammatical Modifiers in Niyi Osundare and Ray Ekpu’s Media Essays

Abstract

This study investigates how grammatical modifiers influence the propositional content of Niyi Osundare and Ray Ekpu's media essays. In order to accomplish this goal, the study applies the experiential and logical functions of Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) to examine sixteen media essays that were specifically chosen from Osundare and Ekpu’s publications. In order to express their propositional content, the media essays use pre- and post-modifiers. Premodifiers include pronominal references and determiners, participial and attributive adjectives, compound words, and appositives. Relative and infinitive clauses, as well as prepositional phrases, are postmodifiers. Determiners and references serve as deictic elements that are experientially used to characterize and define textual meanings. Adjectives with attributional and participial functions act as epithet to precisely define and enlarge the nominal group head. Appositives and compound words serve as classifiers, elaborating and highlighting the information contained in the nominal group structure. Additionally, prepositional phrases, relative clauses, and to-infinitive clauses play supportive and interpersonal functions by defining the non-referent and offering extra details, which are extremely helpful in understanding the propositional content of the media essays. The study concludes that grammatical modifiers help readers access information in media essays quickly and directly.