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Discourse Analysis

Theme refers to the starting point or topic of a clause, which is often the subject. Rheme is the remaining part of the clause that provides new information about the theme. In English, the theme is typically found at the beginning of a clause, followed by the rheme, though other languages may position these elements differently. Together, the theme and rheme create cohesion and establish the relationship between parts of a sentence. However, the boundary between them is not always clear, leading to potential confusion in terminology.

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32 views3 pages

Discourse Analysis

Theme refers to the starting point or topic of a clause, which is often the subject. Rheme is the remaining part of the clause that provides new information about the theme. In English, the theme is typically found at the beginning of a clause, followed by the rheme, though other languages may position these elements differently. Together, the theme and rheme create cohesion and establish the relationship between parts of a sentence. However, the boundary between them is not always clear, leading to potential confusion in terminology.

Uploaded by

Faryal Karim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Discourse Analysis

THEME AND RHEME:


The idea of theme and rheme comes from the functional linguistics and these
elements contribute to the texture in a text. Most clauses have two parts: a theme
and a rheme.
THEME:
Theme (in some sources, also “topic,” “background,” or “presupposition”) is the
semantic point of departure of a clause (or more broadly, discourse) about which
some information is provided: or theme is the starting point of a clause and gives
us an idea about what the clause is about.it is the shared information between
writer and reader.
EXAMPLES:
1) Tom likes traveling.
2) Our friends have invited us.
In these examples, the theme (Tom/our friends) is in the initial position. This is the
most common position for the theme in English. Due to the SVO (subject-verb-
object) structure of atypical English sentence, the theme is often the subject of the
sentence; however, passive voice violates this rule. It is worth mentioning that in
some other languages (e.g. Japanese), the commonplace for a theme is the end of a
sentence. In languages with free word order (e.g. Ukrainian), the theme can be
found in the middle of a sentence.

RHEME:
Rheme (in some sources, also “comment,” “focus,” or “pre dictation”) is the
destination where the presentation moves after the departure point: Or rheme is the
remaining part of a clause. The rheme of a clause is what is actually said about the
theme of the clause.
EXAMPLES:
3)Tom likes traveling.
4)Smoking is harmful to our health.
In examples 3 and 4, rheme is represented by “like traveling” and “is harmful to
our health”. Structurally, rheme usually follows a theme in English. Theme –
rheme relationship produce cohesion making parts of a sentence a communicative
whole. The boundary between Theme and Rheme is simple but not always obvious
enough resulting innumerous cases of terminological confusion which are further
enhanced by the various definitional criteria. Thus for ‘theme’, we find the terms
‘topic,’ ‘background,’ ‘presupposition, and for ‘rheme,’ ‘comment,’ ‘focus,’
‘predication’ (in various combinations). The theme is thefirst element occurring in
a clause; the remainder clause is Rheme,

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