A Linguistic Stylistic Analysis of Yusufu’s Love Path

Cite this article as: Aliyu, Y. M. (2025). A linguistic stylistic analysis of Yusufu’s Love Path. Sokoto Journal of Linguistics and Communication Studies (SOJOLICS), 1(3), 168–175. https://www.doi.org/10.36349/sojolics.2025.v01i03.022

A LINGUISTIC STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF YUSUFU’S LOVE PATH

By

Yusuf Musa Aliyu

yusufmusagicci@gmail.com

Department of English and Linguistics

Federal University Dutse

Abstract 

Literature is a significant source of data for stylistic studies. The study aims to examine stylistic features in the AuwaluYusufuHaruna’s first novel in English. The research is primarily a content analysis. It recognises that the novel has not attracted much linguistic research interest since its coming into the limelight. To study it from the linguistic viewpoint, the research applies the transitivity model under Systemic Functional Linguistics by Halliday as an analytical tool. The study explores the clauses with reference to system networks in general and the transitivity system in particular. The research, first off, identified the independent clauses in the text. Subsequently, 20 independent clauses were randomly chosen for the analysis of transitivity patterns. The analysis pays attention to participants, processes and circumstances in the clauses. The research discovered that the material process is more frequent than other process types in the novel by far, accounting for 40% of the 20 clauses with the mental process accounting for 25%. This choice helped the writer in presenting actions of the characters rather than giving a mere narration, and in effect giving the story a sense of life.

Keywords: Style, stylistics, system networks, Systemic Functional Linguistics, transitivity

1. Introduction

Stylistics studies language use in all its forms. Given that stylistic investigations are often closely aligned with literature, it is not uncommon to find the view that stylistics equals literary stylistics, even though linguistic stylistics is a full-fledged type of stylistics with its own methodologies. Consequently, literary stylistic studies are more frequently conducted on literary works than linguistic stylistic analyses. This study adopts the latter approach, focusing on the linguistic features of the novel Love Path by Nigerian writer Auwalu Yusufu Hamza. The study is of linguistic stylistic interest while retaining relevance to literary stylistics. Its areas of interest include the metafunctions identified by the developers of systemic functional theory (SFL), led by M.A.K. Halliday, with particular attention to transitivity patterns. This framework allows the analysis of how the experiential and logical worlds of the author are represented through the experiences of the major characters in the text, Jamila and Adamu. Central to this perspective is the notion that all languages possess metafunctions represented in the lexicogrammar, Transitivity, Theme, and Mood, which SFL theorists describe as system networks operating at the level of the clause. This study focuses on the transitivity system to investigate how it structures selected clauses in the novel and anchors the expression of meaning by the author.

Auwalu Yusufu Hamza hails from Utai in Wudil Local Government of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Born in 1959, he attended St. Louis Primary School and Government Secondary School Gwale, both in Kano. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the City University of New York and a Professional Diploma in Mass Communication from Bayero University, Kano. He served as chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Kano State Chapter. His notable works include Gidan Haya (Hausa), Citizen’s Parade, Empty Courts, and A Question of Marriage.

The novel Love Path, the author’s debut in English, contains 157 pages and was first published in 1999, with a reprint in 2007. The text juxtaposes two distinct ways of life, the Hausa-Fulani cultural lifestyle and the imported Western lifestyle, through the experiences of Jamila and Adamu. The narrative argues that preserving traditional cultural values and religious beliefs represents the appropriate path.

Style refers to the manner in which language users express themselves. Language allows multiple modes of expression, enabling the same message to be conveyed in numerous ways. The organization of speech or written text provides insight into who produced it, the context of its production, the intended audience, and the communicative purpose. For this reason, scholars distinguish the styles of authors such as William Shakespeare, Toni Morrison, post-colonial writers, Caribbean authors, and African American novelists, as well as the genres they employ, including children’s literature, satire, and protest writings. Style encompasses choices in sentence length, vocabulary, and lexical complexity, and it is often argued that the language of poetry is less accessible than that of autobiographies. Systemic Functional Linguistics recognises this variability, framing language as a system of choice. According to Leech and Short (1983), style involves the way language is used in a given context, by a given person, for a given purpose. Stylistics, the branch of linguistic study concerned with style, seeks to explain how varying language choices serve different communicative purposes. Linguistic stylistic analyses are conducted at multiple levels, including sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, text, and meaning, and they examine the relation between linguistic form and literary function (Leech & Short, 1983).

Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) focuses on the functions of language and its use (Coffin, Donohue, & North, 2009). It offers a robust framework for understanding language and its communicative potential (Fawcett, 2010). Within SFL, system networks, Transitivity, Mood, and Theme, allow for a detailed analysis of clause-level meaning. Transitivity, representing the ideational metafunction, is the system of representing the world and is crucial for revealing the language user’s perspective. Unlike analyses focused solely on form, transitivity analysis examines Participants, Processes, and Circumstances within clauses (Halliday, 1994). The Process represents the action, event, or state being described, Participants are those involved, and Circumstances provide information about the surrounding context, such as time, location, manner, or cause. Halliday (1994) identifies different types of Processes, including Material (doing), Mental (sensing), Verbal (saying), Existential (existing), and Relational-Attributive (attributing). Through these components, transitivity analysis allows for a nuanced understanding of how authors encode their experiences and perspectives within the linguistic structure of a text.

In this study, the focus on transitivity in Love Path allows for an exploration of how Auwalu Yusufu Hamza represents his characters’ experiences and, by extension, his worldview, using the linguistic resources of English. By examining the choices made in the lexicogrammar, the study highlights the interface between language form, stylistic function, and meaning construction in literary discourse.

2.  Literature Review

Abdulraheem (2016) carried out a linguistic stylistic study of poems by TanureOjaide. The study delved into poetry studies using Systemic Functional Linguistics. It concentrated on network systems – MOOD, THEME and TRANSITIVITY. The researcher asked such questions as how lexical options in the poems help in achieving meaning and how the choice of words and expressions define’sOjaide’s style.  He navigated the semantic relations such as synonymy and repetition from the poems by Ojaide such as The Fate and Delta Blues. This writer argues that the introduction of semantic relations in a study that claims that adopt the Halliday’s functional theory is misplaced. Restricting the research to the system networks would have produced better outcomes in serving as a bridge between the fictional world and the real one, and between the literary world and the linguistic world through the lines of the poems.  

Mohammed (2018) undertook a linguistic stylistic analysis of two novels. The study analysed Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Paradise. It employed the systemic functional approach. The investigation, like the present one, focused on system networks – TRANSITIVITY, MOOD and THEME, bit unlike this one, it was also interested in other linguistic details. Sentence types, the application of repetition and semantic relations were as well investigated. In TRANSITIVITY, the research restricted itself to material, mental and relational processes. The findings revealed occurrence of more indicative moods – declarative and interrogative. It was also discovered that the novels are full of material, mental and relational processes. The work is related to the present one for its use of Systemic Functional Linguistics to study a literary form and more especially its focus on network systems. A particular attention to system networks would have aided the research more in achieving its objectives.

Elakeche (2015), in an investigation titled, ‘A Transitivity Analysis of Alkali’s Stillborn’, analysed the utterances, thoughts and actions of Grandma and other characters she relates with in the novel using the transitivity theory. The findings of the research suggest that language can be manipulated to build characters, and that there are five classes of transitivity processes in the novel: material, verbal, mental, relational and behavioural. It concludes that transitivity gives more nuances to the commentary on the personality of characters. Like the present study, the research applies the transitivity framework to study a literary work. Unlike the current research, its scope accommodates utterances of a defined number of characters in a text. While the current research relies more on the utterances of the major characters, no utterance is discriminated against.

Babangida (2016), in a research titled ‘Study of Language and Style in Peter Abraham’s Mine BoyThrough the Verbal Transitivity Process’, demonstrated the possibility of using the transitivity theory in the analysis of literary narratives, adopting Halliday’s transitivity theory. The study found that verbiage is the most significant part of the verbal process and that verbiages are dynamic. Similar to the current study, the research investigated style using the transitivity. Unlike the present research that studies all the process types, the focus of the research is the verbal process alone. A study of all the processes would have given a more vivid picture of the story.

Orakwue (2015) embarked on a study entitled ‘A Linguistic Stylistic Analysis of ChimamandaAdichie’sPurple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun. The study was aimed at identifying some linguistic features. The author made use of the transitivity model to appreciate her cultural and historical realities behind the novels. The researcher used Systemic Functional Linguistics to accomplish this task. The study examined the author’s use of nouns, processes, adverbs and sentence types. It discovered more proper and common nouns, material processes, adverbs of manner and not many simple sentences. The research also revealed that register variables hugely affected the writer’s choices. The research is relevant to the present one for studying Adichie’s texts and its employment of Systemic Functional Linguistics. It is different from this study in that it studied a different author. A strict focus on the transitivity patterns would have saved the research from derailing.

Isyaku (2014) examined patterns of transitivity in news media. He analyses transitivity system in selected newspaper reports across subjects that are related to health, politics, education, sports and science. He asks questions such as how transitivity system accounts for language function in newspaper reporting from Systemic Linguistic point of view and how newsmen package and present their experiences of life. Findings of the research reveal that mental, material, relational and verbal processes are found in news reports. Isyaku’s research is related to the present one because of its use of SFL as theoretical framework.

3.  Theoretical foundation and Research Method

Transitivity is the model adopted for the study. This analytical tool is otherwise known as the transitive system or the grammar of experience (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004). The research acknowledges that literature is a platform exploited by writers to put their experience of the world on the paper. This transitive system construes the experience of language users through processes (goings-on).

In transitivity, the Actor functions in the structure of the clause as representation. A clause has meaning as a representation of some process in ongoing human experience; the Actor is the active participant in that process. It is the element the speaker portrays as the one that does the deed(Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004).

The clause is also a mode of reflection, of imposing order on the endless variation and flow of events. The grammatical system by which this is achieved is that of TRANSITIVITY (cf. Halliday, 1967/8). The transitivity system construes the world of experience into a manageable set of PROCESS TYPES. Each process type provides its own model or schema for construing a particular domain of experience as a figure of a particular kind — a model such as the one illustrated above for construing signification: Token (usually) + Process (means) + Value (mostly).

A simple clause consists of a process (action, event or state) and one or more participants in that process. To this may be added various circumstances. The relationship between a process and its participants is known as transitivity (Banks, 2019:21-34).  There are various processes types: material process, mental process, relational process, verbal process, existential process and behavioural process (ibid).

Material processes are actions and events which take place in the physical world (Banks, 2019). It has to do with goings-on. Material processes typically of an agentive type (Banks, 2019). The participant that performs the action is referred to as ACTOR and the entity affected by the action is BENEFICIARY, GOAL or RANGE.

Mental processes are events of a cerebral nature: these can be ‘cognitive’, dealing with types of thinking, ‘perception’, dealing with types of sensing (seeing, hearing, etc) or ‘affective’, dealing with liking and disliking (Banks, 2019:21-34). They have two participants: SENSER and PHENOMENON.

Relational processes state a relationship between two entities, or between an entity and its characteristics. There are three types of relational processes: attributive (which gives the characteristics or features of an entity), identifying (which refers to the same entity in different words) and possessive (deals with things like the relationship of inclusion, which can be assimilated to possession). In other words, relational processes link two items or an item with its attributes. The attributive process has two participants: CARRIER and ATTRIBUTE. The identifying process has SIGN and VALUE as its participants. The possessive process has POSSESSOR and POSSESSED.

Verbal processes are processes of communication (Banks, 2019:21-34). They have two participants: SAYER (the person who is communicating) and VERBIAGE (the content).

Existential processes indicate the existence of something. These clauses have only one participant: EXISTENT. Behavioural processes are dealing with behaving. They have BEHAVER and BEHAVIOUR. The processes have been summarized in the following table:

Table i: Process types

	Process type	Category meaning		Participants
1.	Material	‘doing’		Actor, goal
	(a) Action	‘doing’
	(b) Event	‘happening’
2.	Mental	‘sensing’		Phenomenon
		‘seeing’
		‘sensing’
		‘thinking’
3.	Relational	‘being’		Token, Value
	(a) Attribution	‘attributing’		Carrier, attribute
	(b)Identification	‘identifying’		Identifier, identified
4.	Behavioural	‘behaving’	Behaver
5.	Verbal	‘saying’	Sayer, Target
6.	Existential	‘existing’	Existent

Adopted from Halliday(1981:131) in Elakeche (2015: 21)

The study makes use of the random sampling procedure to draw 20 clauses from the clauses that make up the novel. The transitivity is found only in an independent clause. 20 clauses will be the representatives of all the main clauses in the text.This data selection method will help the writer to investigate the actual experiences of the author. It then dissects each of the clauses to make clear which portion is Participants, which section is Process and which is Circumstance. The type of participant each clause has is tied up to what process type it embodies. These processes are labelled as Material, Mental, Behavioural, Existential, Verbal and Relational.

4.  Data Presentation and Analysis

Each of the 20 clauses is analysedin a tabular form. Each analysis reveals the participant(s), process and circumstance, where it is present.

Table 1

…you say it’s some sort of a religious issue (P. 1)

You	Say	It’s some sort of a religious issue
Sayer	Pro: Verbal	Verbiage

‘You’ is the participant in the clause above. The constituent indicates the maker of the statement that is the point of reference. ‘Say’ is the process. Because it is about saying, it denotes a verbal process. ‘Verbiage’ shows the remarks made by the participant. The clause projects the central theme of the novel, the clash of religions and civilisations.

Table 2

You see (P. 3)

You	See
Senser	Process: Mental

‘You’ is the participant in this sequence. What the participant does is engage his ‘celebral environment’ to ‘see’, a mental process that deals with perception of reality.

Table 3

Allwe are saying is that members of our Club have the right to an assembly… (P. 3)

We	Are saying	is that members of our Club have the right to an assembly
Sayer	Pro: Verbal	Verbiage

‘We’ is the element that fits the participant slot within the structure of this clause. The predicator ‘saying’ signifies the verbal process while the remainder of the clause constitutes what is said by the participant

Table 4

She was gorgeous, tall and slim with a great figure (P. 10).

She	Was	Gorgeous, tall and slim with a great figure
Carrier	Pro: Relational	Attribute

 

The nominal group ‘she’ is the participant in this relational clause. The finite element ‘was’ introduces the relational process while the adjectival group and prepositional phrase function altogether as an attribute of the nominal element.

Table 5

The scholarship gave her the opportunity to study for her secondary education in England (P. 11).

The scholarship	Gave	The opportunity	To study for her secondary education	In England
Actor	Pro: Material	Range	Circs: Reason	Circs: location

 The sequence ‘the scholarship’ is the participant in this material process. The predicator ‘gave’ introduces process. The second nominal group ‘the opportunity’ is the range of the material process. ‘To study for her secondary education’ is a circumstance of reason while the prepositional phrase ‘in England’ is a circumstance of location.

Table 6

The atmosphere was cool… (P. 11)

The atmosphere	Was	Cool
Carrier	Pro: Relational	Attribute

 The nominal group ‘the atmosphere’ is the participant. The finite element ‘was’ introduces the relational processes while the adjectival group is the attribute of the carrier expressed in the nominal group.

Table 7

…Humaira saw Umar, the Ameer of the Mujahedeens (P. 12)

…Humaira	Saw	Umar, the Ameer of the Mujahedeens
Senser	Pro: Mental	Phenomenon

 The nominal element ‘Humaira’ is the participant in this clause. The mental process is introduced by the predicator ‘saw’. The remaining part of the clause is the phenomenon which the senser perceives.

Table 8

The slim, cheerful man greeted Jameela…. (P. 13)

The slim, cheerful man	Greeted	Jameela
Actor	Pro: Material	Target

 The nominal group which has ‘man’ as its head is the participant in this clause. The material clause is expressed by the predicator ‘greeted’. The second nominal element is the recipient of the action the participant did.

Table 9

You know yayaAdamu (P. 16).

You	Know	YayaAdamu
Senser	Pro: Mental	Phenomenon

 The nominal element ‘you’ is the first participant in this clause. The mental process of perception is expressed through the predicator ‘know’. The second nominal group is the reality that the senser perceived.

Table 10

They said hello to them… (P. 17).

They	Said	Hello	To them
Sayer	Pro: verbal	Verbiage	Receiver

 The nominal group ‘they’ is the first participant in this clause. The verbal process is unveiled by the predicator ‘said’. ‘Hello’ is what the first participant said. The prepositional phrase ‘to them’ is the receiver.

Table 11

I know (P. 18).

I	Know
Senser	Pro: Mental

 The nominal element ‘I’ is the participant, Senser. The mental element of perceiving reality is expressed by the predicator ‘know’.

Table 12

Jameela slept well… (P. 20).

Jameela	Slept	Well
Behaver	Pro: Behavioural	Circumstance

 The nominal element ‘Jameela’ is the participant. The verbal group ‘slept’ represents the behavioural process while ‘well’ is a circumstance showing how the participant slept.

Table 13

Humaira waited…. (P. 20).

Humaira	Waited
Actor	Pro: Material

 The nominal group ‘Humaira’ is the participant in the above close. The did something. That thing she did was ‘waiting’, which is a material process.

Table 14

The girls sat in the back seat of Adamu’s BMW 525i…. (P. 21)

The girls	Sat	in the back seat	of Adamu’s BMW 525i
Actor	Pro: Material	Circs: location	Circs: location

 The nominal group ‘the girls’ is the participant in the clause above. The verbal group ‘sat’ is the material clause. The two prepositional phrases function as a circumstance of location.

Table 15

She handed the phone to him (P. 22)

She	Handed	The phone	To him
Actor	Pro: Material	Goal	Circs: receiver

‘She’ is the participant. The predicator ‘handed’ is the material clause. The second nominal group ‘the phone’ is the goal while the prepositional phrase ‘to him’ is a circumstance.

Table 16

…Adamu announced that he didn’t have enough money (P. 27).

Adamu	Announced	that he didn’t have enough money
Sayer	Pro: Verbal	Verbiage

 The nominal group ‘Adamu’ is the participant in this process. The predicator ‘announced’ stands for the verbal process. ‘That he didn’t have enough money’ is what the participant said.

Table 17

I know what you mean (P. 28).

I	Know	What you mean
Senser	Pro: Mental	Phenomenon

 The nominal group “I’ is the first participant in this process. The predicator ‘know’ introduces the mental process of cognition. ‘What you mean’ is the phenomenon.

Table 18

You switch it off… (P. 29).

You	Switch	It	Off
Actor	Pro: Material	Affected	Circs: manner

 The nominal group ‘you’ is the first participant in this clause. The predicator ‘switch’ introduces the material process of going-on. The second participant ‘it’ is affected by the doing of the first participant. The adverbial group is a circumstance.

Table 19

She dropped the receiver on her bed…. (P. 37)

She	Dropped	The receiver	On her bed
Actor	Pro: Material	Affected	Circs: location

 

‘She’ is the first participant in the close above process. The predicator ‘dropped’ is the material process. The second participant in the nominal group ‘the receiver’ is affected by the action of the first participant. The prepositional phrase ‘on her bed’ is a circumstance of location.

Table 20

She stood up from her chair… (P. 150).

She	Stood up	from her chair
Actor	Pro: Material	Circs: location

 The nominal group ‘she’ is the participant. The verbal group that succeeds it expresses the material process. The prepositional phrase that follows represent a circumstance of location.

5. Discussion of Findings

From the 20 clauses analysed, it was found out that the material process (of happening or doing) is more frequent, accounting for 40% of the process types. This has an effect in the story. The story is told from the third person point of view. The writer presents the events in the novel in a way that he is able to give the story life. He gives a picture of what his characters did rather than give a rendition non-stop. This kind of style is engaging the audience for readers would feel as though they are watching a show in a concert. This way of organising stories is more common in the literary genre for in dramas stories are demonstrated whereas they are narrated in prose-fiction. It follows that the style of AuwalYusufu in the novel is that of plays and a deviation from the manner of composing prose.

Next to it is the mental process. It is now an established fact that transitivity has to do with representation of the world. Writers of fiction take advantage of the literary avenue to express the experience of the world under their belt to reader. It is therefore not a wonder that in the expression of these experiences through characters, the mental process accounts for 25% of the process types.

The use of the verbal process to tell stories in the prose genre is the most usual thing. However, the verbal process is not the dominant process but the third, accounting for only 20% of the process types. As raised elsewhere, this makes the style of the author somewhat different from the conventional style of prose-fiction.

The transitivity patterns reinforce the central thematic preoccupation of the novel, which is the need to preserve religious and cultural identities of the setting.

The findings are summarized in the table blow.

Table 21

S/N	Process	Frequency	Percentage
1	Material	8	40%
2	Mental	5	25%
3	Verbal	4	20%
4	Relational	2	10%
5	Behavioural	1	5%
Total		20	100%

 6. Conclusion

The study has attempted to analyseLove Path by AuwalYusufu from the perspective of the transitivity model chsmpioned by Systemic Functional Linguistics. In other words, the discussion was on the clause in its ideational function. The purpose was to find out which of the process types is more frequent in the text and how does the more frequency it instead of others helped in conveying the intended message. The material process, which shows events or happenings as they unfold which gives the audience a sense of what is going, outnumbers other processes in the novel. The implication of the process taking the lion’s share is that the story is very active, typical of the style since in the drama genre, which shows things rather than narrating stories.

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