29. Functional sentence perspective

A sentence can be divided into two sections, one of them expresses the starting point of communication, the other – some new information. This division is termed "functional perspective”. (I made the trip out here for curiosity,just to see where you were intending to go). The words “I made the trip” are the starting point, the rest of the sentence contains new information). Not every sentence must necessarily consist of these 2 sections. Some sentences (especially one-member sentences) cannot be divided in this way.The terms "theme" & "rheme" are generally applied to these 2 sections. Theme expresses the starting point of the communication. Rheme expresses the basic informative part. The term "theme" means 'that which is set or established'. The term "rheme" means 'that which is said or told'. The means of expressing theme & rheme are different in different languages. Thus, in a language with a free word order, word order can show the difference between theme and rheme. For instance, in Russian the word which comes last represents the rheme, and the rest - the theme. such variation is impossible in English. The means of expressing the rheme in modern English : 1.Lexical meanings: constructions it is ... that, it is ... who,it is... which; particles (only, even, etc.), indefinite article. 2. Logical stress. 3. Change of syntactic structure (It was he who did it). 4.Passive voice

In Modern English there are several ways of showing that a word or phrase corresponds either to the rheme or to the theme.

The rheme is pointed out with the help of the constructions it is ... that (it is ... who and it is... which), particles (only, even, etc.) accompanying the word or phrase in question.

It goes without saying that every particle has its own lexical meaning, and, besides pointing out the rheme, also expresses a particular shade of meaning in the sentence. Thus, the sentences Only he came and Even he came are certainly not synonymous, though in both cases the subject he is shown to represent the rheme by a particle referring to it.

Another means of indicating the rheme of a sentence may sometimes be the indefinite article.

There are also some means of showing that a word or phrase represents the theme in a sentence. Sometimes this may be achieved by using the definite article. But there are other means of pointing out the theme as well. One of them, which includes both grammatical and lexical elements, is a loose parenthesis introduced by the prepositional phrase as for (or as to), while in the main body of the sentence there is bound to be a personal pronoun representing the noun which is the centre of the parenthetical as-for-phrase. (As for the others, great numbers of them moved past slowly or rapidly). After the theme of the sentence has been stated in the prepositional phrase as for the others, the subject of the sentence, great numbers of them, specifies the theme (pointing out the quantitative aspect of the others) and the rest of the sentence, long as it is, represents the rheme, telling, in some detail, whatever the others were busy doing at the time.

The theme need not necessarily be something known in advance. 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 (Jennie leaned forward and touched him on the knee) which is the opening sentence of a short story. Nothing in this sentence can be already familiar, as nothing has preceded and the reader does not know either who Jennie is or who "he" is.

Means of expressing theme: 1.Definite article. 2. as-for-phrase. (As for the others, great numbers of them moved past slowly or rapidly). After the theme of the sentence “as for the others”, the phrase “great numbers of them” specifies the theme and the rest of the sentence represents the rheme. However, there are sentences where the theme is something mentioned for the 1 time too and yet it is something about which a statement is to be made.