Reading Report

2.5. Subject, Actor, Theme One of the concepts that is basic to the Western tradition of grammatical analysis is that of subject. Since this is a familiar term, let us take it as the starting point for investigating the function in an English clause. Example : My grandmother told my mom first this news. In accordance with the syntactic principles established by medieval grammarians, which were themselves based on the grammars of ancient Greece and Rome, each clause contains one element which can be identified as its Subject; and in this instance, th- Subject would be My grandmother. It is possible to conclude that subject is the label for a grammatical function of some kind. There seems to be something in common, as regards their status in the clause, to all the elements we have labeled in this way. But it is not easy to say exactly what this is; and it is difficult to find in the grammatical tradition a definitive account of what the role of subject means. Instead, various interpretations have grown up around the subject notion, ascribing to it a number of rather different functions. Theses resolve themselves into three broad definitions, which could be summarized as follows: (i) (ii) (iii) That which is the concern of the message That of which something is being predicated The doer of the action

The author gave three definitions of subject, these definitions are obviously not synonymous; they are defining different concepts. But the big happens if it is possible for the category of subject to embrace all these different meanings at one and the same time? There is no longer obvious answer. It could be split up among these

meanings. The terms that came to be used in the second half of the nineteenth century, when there was a renewal of interest in grammatical theory, were psychological subject (theme), grammatical subject (subject), and logical subject (actor). The significance of these three functional concepts is that each one corresponds to a different mode of meaning in clause. As working approximation, we can define each them as follows: (i) (ii) (iii) 3. The theme is the function in the clause as a message. The subject is a function in the clause as an exchange. The actor is a function in the clause as a representation (of a process). Clause as Message

In this chapter we may explore these three aspects of meaning of the English clause, using the notions of Theme, Subject, and Actor as points of departure. Theme and Rheme, in some language, which have a pattern of this kind, the

theme is announced by means of a particle: in English, the theme is indicating by position of the clause. Following the terminology of the Prague school of linguists, the theme is the element which serves as the point of departure of the message. While the remainder of the message, the part in which the theme is developed, is called The Rheme. Simple Themes of more than one constituent, as a first step we made two

assumptions ; that theme of a clause consist of just one element, and that element is represented by just one constituent one nominal group , adverbial group, or prepositional phrase. A common variant of this elementary pattern in that in which the theme consists of two or more elements forming a single complex element.

Theme and mood, what is the element that is typically chosen as Theme in an

English clause? The answer to that question depends on the choice of mood. Every independent clause selects for mood. Some like John! And Good Night! Are MINOR clauses; they have no thematic structure and so will be left out of account. Other characteristic Theme:

(1) Conjunctive and modal Adjuncts. (2) Conjunctive and Relatives. Multiple Themes, we considered various instances of a Theme having more than

one constituent group or phrase, like the Walrus and The Carpenter. This were still said to be simple Themes, since the thematic element itself was a single unit, without any further internal structures. Clauses as a Themes, up now we have been considering Theme-Rheme purely

as a structure within the clause, a structure whose elements are therefore constituents of the clause; basically this is what it is. Predicated Themes, to explain the function of such predications we have to

anticipate the discussion. It has been pointed out already that English speech progresses as an unbroken succession of melodic units called tone group and each of them constitutes one unit of information. Theme in dependent, minor and elliptical clauses. We have not explicitly

considered Theme in clauses other than independent ones, although by referring to conjunctions and relatives as structural Themes we have suggested that such clauses to display thematic structure. There is thematic structure in fact, in all major clause types that is, all clauses expressing mood and transitivity, whether independent or not. Thematic interpretation of a text.

8.6. Given & New and Theme & Rheme There is a close semantic relationship between information structure and thematic structure. Other things being equal, a speaker will choose the Theme frok within what is Given and locate the focus, the climax of the New, somewhere within the Rheme. But although they are related, Given + New and Theme + Rheme are not the same thing. The Theme is what I, the speaker , choose to take as my point of departure. The Given is what you , the listener, already know about or have accessible to you, Theme + Rheme is a speaker oriented, while Given + New is listener oriented.

Maureen O. Kardinan F21110329