Doing, saying, and evaluating authority: transitivity patterns in Dayak Bentian women’s interaction

This study examines how transitivity configurations contribute to authority-related meanings in Dayak Bentian women’s interaction. Drawing on approximately three hours of naturally occurring talk in domestic and communal settings, the study employs qualitative clause-level analysis informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics. Authority is understood as an interactional achievement emerging from the interplay of grammatical configurations, participant roles, activity contexts, and social functions. The analysis examines twenty-one focal clauses illustrating recurrent material, verbal, and relational processes. Findings show that material clauses organise practical activities by assigning responsibilities, sequencing tasks, specifying appropriate means, and establishing standards of completion. Verbal clauses articulate norms, prohibitions, and expectations, often presenting them as socially shared understandings rather than individual preferences. Relational clauses frame behaviour, emotions, and temporal expectations by characterising actions or situations as harmful, excessive, expected, or normal. These findings do not imply that particular process types inherently encode authority. Rather, grammatical choices acquire authority-related significance through their situated use in organising conduct, articulating norms, and framing shared expectations. By examining naturally occurring interaction in a minority-language community, this study extends transitivity research beyond written and mediated texts, highlighting grammar’s role in everyday social organisation.