The Grammar of Textual Meaning

The Grammar of Textual

Meaning: THEME

Widhiyanto
Universitas Negeri Semarang
[email protected]
Textual Meaning

■ Enables text to be negotiated

■ The system of Theme: Theme + Rheme
■ Theme: point of departure of the message
■ Rheme: new information about point of
departure
Clause: Theme
■ Type:
- Single: Topical Theme
- Multiple:
1. Attitudinal: interpersonalˆtopical Theme
2. Conjunctive: textualˆtopical Theme
3. Both: textualˆinterpersonalˆtopical Theme
■ Un/marked:
- Unmarked
- Marked
■ Un/predicated:
- Predicated
- Unpredicated
Textual:
Subject as Theme
You probably haven’t heard.
Yellow canaries have been used to test..
The Queen opened her heart to…
This friend of mine is the only one…
Theme Rheme
‘Heavy Subject’ as Theme
The language that the Eskimo people

speak around the top of the world, in the
places as far as Siberia, Alaska, differ slightly in
Canada, and Greenland details of vocabulary.
A keen interest in the environment,

familiarity with the working of
would be a strong
Government and country planning
advantage.
Theme Rheme
Adjunct as Theme
Last night a man was helping the police.
In our collection you will find…
Out of 30 judges only one is a woman.
As a tax payer I object paying for …
In common with … it is considered…
Theme Rheme
Complement as Theme
All the rest we’ll do for you.
Friends like that I can do without.
Theme Rheme
Next door is the museum.

Towards the west of … lies the theatre.
There ‘s the tin opener
Theme Rheme
(circumstantial Attributive
Complement)
Theme in WH questions
What happened to her?
What do you know
Which platform does it leave from
How did you come to employ
What use him.
How often is a second?
are you supposed to…
Theme Rheme
Marked Theme & Yes/no Q
After the party, where did you go?
Marked Theme Rheme
Have you finished your mean, sir?

Did he tell you where I was?
Hasn’t he changed his name?
Theme Rheme
Imperative Clauses
Leave the lamp here.
Don’t cry about it.
Do have some cheese.
Let’s go for a walk.
Theme Rheme
You just shut up, will you?

On arrival at the airport, Take a taxi.
For a sharper taste, Squeeze some lime over it
Theme Rheme
Exclamative clauses
What a nice plant you’ve got.
How absolutely lovely she looks tonight.
Theme Rheme
Elliptical Clauses
Who (would you most like to meet?)
(I ‘d most like to meet) Your real father.
Why ever (will you) not (come)?
(That ‘s a) Amazing discovery.
(Are you) Not sure what a special delivery is?
Theme Rheme
Thematic Equatives
What you need to do is to write…
What really got up my nose was the way she…
What I want to talk about is the nature of …
What one will not learn here is anything about…
What happened was that he…
Theme Rheme
Marked Thematic Equatives
That ‘s not what I want.

That ‘s why he left.
Making her feel good about is, after all, what he does
herself best.
And nothing is precisely what we got.
Theme Rheme
Predicated Theme
It is not the technology which is wrong
It is we who have not learned…
It is not painting, but politics, which has brought…
It is the second of this point that I shall be concentrating…
It wasn’t until 1998 that we finally came back…
Theme Rheme
Thematised Comment
It is true that it took five years to…

It may be That the news reporters…
It’s interesting that you should say that.
It is difficult to know exactly…
It is regretted that the University is
unable…
Theme Rheme
Proposed Theme
People like us, in the we have to be careful…

middle, that’s what life is about.
Happiness, what was he on about?
The bloke who rang last does she know you’re
night, here?
Your Mum,
Theme Rheme
Theme in dependent and dominant clause
As the expanded, the decreased.

universe temperature
of the
radiation
Theme Rheme
Theme 1 Rheme 2 Theme 2 Rheme 2

Multiple Themes
Well, Certainly sanity is a precarious state.
My God, Harriet, we ‘ve been …
But surely the course doesn’t start…
And, oddly he was right.
Textual Interpersonal Experienti Rheme
al
Theme
Alternative ordering
Unfortunately, however, the politician did not…
Not
surprisingly, then its operation was stopped.
Interpersonal Textual Experiential

Rheme
Theme
Yes/No Interrogatives
Had she missed her Mum?
Mrs. Louis, would you say it is true?
Well, Do have one of these…
Please don’t make me out as some
hysterical idiot.
Textual Interpersonal Experien
tial Rheme
Theme
Conjunction as a part of Theme
Thus, disorder will tend to increase…
Nevertheless, we can reflect on our…
However, when ice forms, they will have…
Then we haven’t met before, have we?
Certainly, his wife June was a very odd woman.
Admittedly, he took the trouble to destruy…
Please may I leave the table?
Theme Rheme
Interpolation in Theme
Karr, 40, is a testimony to survival.
It was a philosopher – was it
Searle or Saussure - who proposed that
language…
Theme Rheme
Existential
There was no question of Kate’s marrying Ted.
There is something special about the situation.
Theme Rheme
Preposed Attributive in Themes
Always ready the instant you needs no battery or mains

need it, the torch charging.
Standing in extensive has been carefully maintained

gardens, the house to a high standard.
Theme Rheme

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What are the different types of Themes discussed in the document?

What are some examples of different types of Themes given in the document?

The Grammar of Textual

■ Enables text to be negotiated

The language that the Eskimo people

A keen interest in the environment,

Next door is the museum.

Marked Theme Rheme

Have you finished your mean, sir?

You just shut up, will you?

That ‘s not what I want.

It is true that it took five years to…

People like us, in the we have to be careful…

As the expanded, the decreased.

Theme 1 Rheme 2 Theme 2 Rheme 2

Interpersonal Textual Experiential

Always ready the instant you needs no battery or mains

Standing in extensive has been carefully maintained

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