An Analysis of Ariana Grande’s Twilight Zone Transitivity Process

Abstract

The transitivity processes in Ariana Grande’s song “Twilight Zone” are investigated through the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) framework, which is developed by Halliday and Matthiessen (2014). The song is recognized for its unclear and reflective lyrics. To analyze the lyrics, a qualitative descriptive approach is used. The lyrics are broken down into individual clauses, and each is examined to identify the six types of transitivity processes: material, mental, relational, behavioral, verbal, and existential. The findings revealed 42 transitivity processes, with relational processes appearing most often, accounting for 40.48%, mental processes at 30.95%, and material processes at 14.29%. Existential processes composed 9.52%, and behavioral processes accounted for 4.76%. Notably, verbal processes were not present in the analysis. The high frequency of relational and mental processes suggests that the song centers on emotional exploration and forming identity. In contrast, the limited use of processes focuses on external actions or speech, underscoring the song’s dreamy and inward-looking nature. This research presents that transitivity analysis can reveal the linguistic techniques used in pop music lyrics to convey meaning, emotion, and perspective.