Transitivity Analysis of Kenya Supreme Court Judgements on Election Petitions and Civil Cases

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science

© 2022 by SSRG - IJHSS Journal

Volume 9 Issue 3

Year of Publication : 2022

Authors : Elijah Chege Ndumia, Christine Atieno

10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V9I3P114

How to Cite?

Elijah Chege Ndumia, Christine Atieno, "Transitivity Analysis of Kenya Supreme Court Judgements on Election Petitions and Civil Cases," SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 9,  no. 3, pp. 100-107, 2022. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V9I3P114

Abstract:

Transitivity analysis provides an efficient model for studying processes and participants in discourse. This is crucial in revealing the clauses' nature and motivation for different actions. Various studies have been conducted on political, media, and classroom discourse transitivity. However, the legal discourse has not been sufficiently addressed in transitivity studies. This study examined the role of transitivity in a legal discourse focusing on the special grammatical features meant to enhance seriousness, precision, and longevity. The study undertook a functional-linguistic analysis of Kenya Supreme Court judgments on election petitions and civil cases, intending to examine the transitivity processes used and their contribution to discourse meaning. Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics theory guided the study. Various transitivity processes were explored. These processes include behavioural, mental, verbal, material, relational, and existential. This study established that the processes were used in the judgments to index the cognitive, objective, dialogic, and referential aspects of legal discourse.

Keywords:

Transitivity, Legal discourse, Transitivity processes, Cognitive function, Dialogic function, Referential function.

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