Syntactic analysis KHAIRUNNADIAH BINTI MOHD SAMUDDIN

LEW WENG YEW

S Korea 'nut rage' attendant sues A South Korean flight attendant is suing Korean Air and a jailed former

executive in the US over what became known as the "nut rage" incident.

Lawyers for Kim Do-hee allege that Heather Cho verbally and physically attacked Kim Do-hee for the way she served nuts on a plane taking off from New York's JFK airport on 5 December.

Cho later ordered the taxiing plane to offload another flight steward.

Last month, Cho was jailed for one year for obstructing aviation safety.

Cho - also known as Cho Hyun-ah - was a vice-president overseeing cabin

service for Korean Air, and is also the daughter of the airline's chairman. She is appealing against her conviction.

Ms Kim's civil lawsuit, filed in New York City, is seeking compensation for damage to her career, reputation and emotional wellbeing.

It alleges that Cho screamed obscenities and hit Ms Kim after being served the nuts in their bag not a bowl.

Ms Kim's lawyers said that "the evidence in this case will demonstrate that Cho's actions were not only humiliating, degrading, and damaging to Kim, but were also emblematic of Cho's unbridled arrogance and disturbing sense of entitlement".

The summons also stated she was pressured to lie to government investigators to cover up the incident and to appear in public with Cho "as part of an orchestrated effort to try and rehabilitate Cho's public image", reported AP.

They said the airline had not responded to Ms Kim's attempt to settle her claim privately.

A Korean Air spokesman told the BBC that it had no comments on Ms Kim's lawsuit.

Earlier reports said that after Cho was served the nuts by Ms Kim, she summoned head steward Park Chang-jin and confronted him about the presentation.

Mr Park said in a television interview in December that he was forced to kneel in front of Cho, who then ordered him off the flight.

The case opened a national debate about the Korean business system, which is dominated by family firms known as chaebols.

Some of the families running these businesses have been accused of high-handedness and acting with impunity.

HEADLINESS Korea “Nut Rage” Attendant Sues

Active sentence whereby the attendant is the actor.

Intransitive verb is used in the sentence. The verb “sues” does not have an object to receive the action.

Ambiguity in the sentence to attract the attention of the readers.

SIMPLE AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

• News is fairly structured in a complex way and it is very seldom to find a simple clause structure.

Example 1

“Mr Park said in a television interview in December that he was forced to kneel in front of Cho, who then

ordered him off the flight”

Example 2

Ms Kim's lawyers said that "the evidence in this case will demonstrate that Cho's actions were not only humiliating, degrading, and damaging to Kim, but

were also emblematic of Cho's unbridled arrogance and disturbing sense of entitlement".

Analysis of Example 1“Mr Park said in a television interview in December that he was forced to kneel in front of Cho, who then ordered him off the flight”

Main clause:

Mr Park said in a television interview in December

Complementizer (link clauses and have no meaning):

that

Subordinate clause:

that he was forced to kneel in front of Cho

Relative pronoun:

who

Subordinate clause:

who then ordered him off the flight

“Ms Kim's lawyers said that "the evidence in this case will demonstrate that Cho's actions were not only humiliating, degrading, and damaging to Kim, but were also emblematic of Cho's unbridled arrogance and disturbing sense of entitlement".

Main clause:

Ms Kim’s lawyers said

Complementizer:

that

Subordinate clause:

that “the evidence in this case will demonstrate

Complementizer:

that

Subordinate clause:

that Cho’s actions were not only humiliating, degrading, and damaging to Kim

Subordinate conjunction:

but

Subordinate clause:

but were also emblematic of Cho’s unbridled arrogance

Subordinate conjunction:

and

Subordinate clause:

and disturbing sense of entitlement”

Analysis of Example 2

• Nevertheless, there are simple sentences in news story; they are used to report something that is important to be easily understood.

Example 1

“Cho later ordered the taxiing plane to offload another flight steward”

Example 2

“She is appealing against her conviction.”

ACTIVE & PASSIVE SENTENCE

Active sentences are mostly used in the news article:

“A South Korean flight attendant is suing Korean Air and a jailed former executive in the US over

what became known as the "nut rage" incident.”

“It alleges that Cho screamed obscenities and hit Ms Kim after being served the nuts in their bag

not a bowl.”

“Some of the families running these businesses have been accused of high-handedness and acting with impunity.”

Active sentences are used when the actor is emphasized.

Instead of giving the spotlight to the consequences the actor has to bear, the writer decides to let the actor receives the attention more from the audience/ readers.

However, passive sentences are used in the news article as well, but to a lesser margin.

“Some of the families running these businesses have been accused of high-handedness and acting with impunity.”

“He was forced to kneel in front of Cho…”

In these cases, the person or the thing that is being acted on is the main priority.

The first example displays no agent to emphasize on ‘some of the families’ rather than explaining the party that accuses them (general public)

The second example also showcases no agent as it is understood in the context (agent: Cho)

TENSE Simple past

A Korean Air spokesman told the BBC that it had no comments on Ms Kim's lawsuit.

Cho later ordered the taxiing plane to offload another flight steward.

Simple present

It alleges that Cho screamed obscenities and hit Ms Kim after being served the nuts in their bag not a bowl.

Present continuous

A South Korean flight attendant is suing Korean Air and a jailed former executive in the US over what became known as the "nut rage" incident.

She is appealing against her conviction.

Past perfect

Some of the families running these businesses have been accused of high-handedness and

acting with impunity

NOMINALISATION Ms Kim's civil lawsuit, filed in New York City, is

seeking compensation for damage to her career, reputation and emotional wellbeing.

…but were also emblematic of Cho's unbridled arrogance and disturbing sense of entitlement.

THANK YOUKHAIRUNNADIAHLEW WENG YEW