Лекции по теоретической грамматике английского языка. Тивьяева И.В. - 100 стр.

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The theme of the actual division of the sentence may or may not coincide

with the subject of the sentence. The rheme of the actual division, in its turn, may

or may not coincide with the predicate of the sentence — either with the whole

predicate group or its part, such as the predicative, the object, the adverbial.

The theme need not necessarily be something known in advance. In many

sentences it is, in fact, something already familiar, as in some of our examples,

especially with the definite article. However, that need not always be the case.

There are sentences in which the theme, too, is something mentioned for the first

time and yet it is not the centre of the predication. It is something about which a

statement is to be made. The theme is here the starting point of the sentence, not its

conclusion.

3. Language means of expressing the theme and the rheme

Many languages

, like English, resort to different means in order to signal a

new topic, such as:

- Stating it explicitly as the subject (which tends to be considered more topic-

like by the speakers).

- Using passive voice

to transform an object into a subject (for the above

reason).

- Emphasizing the topic using clefting

- Through periphrastic

constructions like "As for...", "Speaking of...", etc.

- Using left dislocation

(called topic fronting or topicalization, i. e. moving

the topic to the beginning of the sentence).

Examples:

The dog bit the little girl.

The little girl was bitten by the dog.

It was the little girl that the dog bit.

Speaking of the girl, she was bitten by the dog.

The little girl, the dog bit her.