Translation

             1.       Thematic Structure : Theme and Rheme

            One way of explaining the interactional organization of sentences is to suggest that a clause consists of two segments. The first segment is called the theme. The theme is what the clause is about. It has two functions: (a) it acts as a point of orientation by connecting back to previous stretches of discourse and thereby maintaining a coherent point of view, (b) it acts as a point of departure by connecting forward and contributing to the development of later stretches. In Ptolemy’s model provided a reasonably accurate system for predicting the positions of heavenly bodies in the sky, the theme is Ptolemy’s model. This is what the clause is about.

            The second segment of a clause is called the rheme. The rheme is what the speaker says about the theme. It is the goal of discourse. It is the most important elementin the structure of the clause as a message because it represents the very information that the speakers wants to convey to the hearer. It is the rheme that fulfils the communicative purpose of the utterance. In the above example, the rheme is: provided a reasonably accurate system for predicting the positions of heavenly bodies in the sky, which is what the writer has to say about Ptolemy’s model. This basically means that every clause has the structure of a message: it says something (the rheme) about something (the theme).

            A number of interesting points:

·         Thematic analysis can be represented hierarchically. Since sentences often consist of more than one clause, they will have several layers of thematic structure.

·         You will note that i have put some elements in parentheses, for example because,to suggest that they do not quite fit into the analysis.the reason is that, strictly speaking, some elements are not part of the basic thematic structure of the text because they are not part of the propositional meaning of the message. These include special linking devices such as however, nevertheless, because and moreover which are called conjunctions. They also include items which express the attitude of the speaker, such as unfortunately, in my opinion, frankly, and clearly (these are called disjuncts).

·         Conjunctions  and disjuncts aside, there tends to be a very high correlation between theme/rheme and subject/predicate in the Hallidayan model. The correlation does not hold in the case of marked themes as we shall see shortly but, generally speaking, the distinction between theme and rheme is more or less identical to the traditional grammatical distinction between subject and predicate.

a)      Thematic structure: grammaticality vs acceptability

            Theme and rheme are not grammatical notions. They have little to do with whether a given sequence is or is not grammatical. Grammatical sequences are part of the abstract system of language. In context, grammaticality does not necessarily ensure acceptability or coherence. For example, the following text is well-formed grammatically, but is ill-formed in terms of its thematics:

            “ Now comes the President here. It’s the window he’s stepping through to wave to the crowd. On his victory his opponent congratulates him.’Gentlemen and ladies’. That you are confident in me honours me...’ (from Halliday, 1978:134).

            A grammatical sequence such as on his victory his opponent congratulates can be reordered in a number of different ways without affecting its propositional content. The acceptability, rather than grammaticality, of any these sequences in a given context depends on how it fits into its surrounding textual environment.

b)      Thematic structure: text organization and development

            In this area, a great deal of emphasis has traditionally been placed on theme rather than or rheme. By definition, theme represents the speaker’s/writer’s point of departure in each clause, which suggests that its organizational role is more important than that of rheme. Translators generally face three main possibilities:

c)      Thematic structure: marked vs unmarked sequences

            Thematic choice involves selecting a clause element as theme.the main clause elements are subject, predicator, object, complement, and adjunct. Meaning, choice, and markedness are interrelated concepts. A linguistic element carries meaning to the extent that it is selected. Meaning is closely associated with choice, so that the more obligatory an element is, the less marked it will be and the weaker will be its meaning. For example:

            The fact that adjectives have to be placed in front of nouns in English, for instance, means that their occurence in this position has little or no significance because it is not the result of choice. On the other hand, putting a time or place adverbial, such as today or on the shelf, say at the beginning of the clause, carries more meaning because it is the result of choice: there are other positions in which it can occur. This is one aspect of the relationship between meaning, markedness, and choice.

·         Fronted theme

Fronting involves the achievement of marked theme by moving into initial position an item which is otherwise unusual there ‘(1990: 407). Thematic structures in English, starting with the least marked and ending with the most marked.

Fronting of time or place adjunct

      For example: In May 1476, he took part in an took part in an armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry a valuable cargo to northern Europe.

      For example: In Indonesia the book received a great deal of publicity.

Fronting of object or complement

      For example:

Object: a great deal of publicity the book received in Indonesia.

Complement: well publicized the book was.

            Fronting of predicator

This is the most marked of all thematic choices in English. In addition to fronting the predicator, this choice also involves re-arranging other clause elements and adjusting the form of the verbal group.

      For example: they promised to publicize the book in Indonesia, and publicize it they did.

·         Predicated theme

Predicating a theme involves using an it-structure (also called a cleft structure) to place an element near the beginning of the clause. Another important function of predicated theme is to signal information structure by presenting the element following it + BE in the main clauseas the new imprtant item to which the hearer’s or reader’s attention is drawn.

For example: it was the book that received a great deal of publicity in Indonesia, it was a great deal of publicity that the book received in Indonesia, or it was In Indonesia that the book received a great deal of publicity.

·         Identifying theme

Identifying themes are very similar to predicated themes. Instead of using it (a cleft structure), an identifying theme places an element in theme position by turning it into a nominalization using a wh-structure (called pseudo cleft structure). Predicated and identifying themes are marked but fairly common in English because they offer a thematization strategy that overcomes restrictions on word order. They also offer a way of signalling known vs new information independently of the use of intonation. Stress offers a reliable signal of information status in spoken English.

For example: what the book received in Indonesia was a great deal of publicity, or what was received by the book in Indonesia was a great deal of publicity.

d)      A Brief Assesment of the Hallidayan Position on Theme

Each account is naturally biased towards the native language of the linguist in question as well as other languages with which s/he may be familiar. One of the main differences between the Hallidayan and other approaches is that Halliday has always insisted that, at least in English, the theme-rheme distinction is realized by the sequential ordering of clause elements.

The attraction of Hallidayan view is that, unlike the rather complex explanations of the Prague School, it is very simple to follow and apply. To some extent, it is also intuitively satisfying to suggest that what one is talking about always comes before what one has to say about it. Its disadvantages, on the other hand, include:

a)      Its partial circularity: theme is whatever comes in initial position and whatever comes in initial position is theme.

b)      Its failure to relate descriptions of SVO languages, particularly those with relatively fixed word order such as English, to descriptions of languages with relatively free word order in which. For instance, the verb often occurs in initial positions. If theme is whatever occurs in initial position. We would have to acknowledge that some languages prefer to thematize participants (expressed as subjects in SVO and SOV languages) on a regular basis while other languages prefer to thematize processes (expressed as verbs in VSO languages).

For example:

      Remember Laela?

      Well, he fell off his bike yesterday

      You know Nur?

      John doesn’t attend the class

      Buna form my country came last night