This document discusses textual meaning and thematic structure in language. It defines key concepts such as theme, rheme, information structure, thematization, and thematic progression. Theme refers to the starting point or topic of a message, usually found at the beginning of a clause, while rheme is the rest of the clause and contains the information being said about the theme. There are different types of themes, including experiential, interpersonal, and textual themes. Thematic progression patterns in texts include constant theme, linear theme, and split rheme patterns. The document also examines problems that can occur in theme analysis, such as with existential there, projections, interpolations, and preposed attributives.

2. TEXTUAL MEANING
MOD
ETEXTUAL
THEME
COHESIVECOMPONENTS
•REFERENCE
•ELLIPSIS/SUBSTITUTION
•LEXICALCOHESION
•CONJUNCTION
•STRUCTURAL COMPON.
•INFOMRATION ST.
•THEMEMATICST.

3. INFORMATION STRUCTURE
• Usually foundat the beginning.
• the first constituent of the clause.
• Optional element
• The focusof speaker’s message
• Obligatoryelement

4. THEMATIZATION
THEMATIC STRUCTURE
THEME:
• the starting point for the message.
• the first constituent of the clause.
RHEME:
• The rest of the clause
This is what I’m sayingabout it.
This is what I’m talkingabout
THEME
RHEME
Match….

5. TYPES OF THEMES
• EXPERIENTIAL / TOPICAL
• nominal groups,
• embeddedclauses,
• prepositional phrases, etc.
• INTERPERSONAL
• modaladjuncts,
• vocatives
• TEXTUAL
• continuatives,
• conjunctiveadjuncts,
• conjunctions.

6. UNMARKED/MARKED
UNMARKED MARKED
DECLARATIVE
CLAUSES
Subject Adjunct
Complement
WH -QUESTIONS WH word / group (wh wordis notat the front)
YES/NO-
QUESTIONS
Finite + subject (Finite+ subject are not at the
front. it is rare.)
IMPERATIVES (finite) + Predicator You
Adjunct

7. EXCLAMATIONS:
• Analysedin the same way as Wh-questions
Dividedin:
• MAJOR: they haveTHEME
• MINOR: theydon’t haveTHEME (no predicator)
ELLIPTICALCLAUSES:
• THEMEor RHEMEmay be missing.

8. THEMATISING STRUCTURES
• THEMATIC EQUATIVES
• PREDICATED THEME
• THEMATISEDCOMMENT
• PREPOSEDTHEME

9. THEMATIC EQUATIVES
• Alsocalled “pseudo-cleft”
THEME = RHEME (TOBE)
What……..is …………..”
What I want is what you have.
• Theyare easier to process
• Theyorient the listener/hearer
• MARKEDTHEME:: a pronoun/sth. elsethat makes referenceto sth.
mentionedbefore.

10. PREDICATED THEME
• Alsocalled “cleft sentences”
It’s……..(that/who/…)………..”
It’s me who wants what you have.
• Theyguide the reader towards a particular patternof emphasiswhich is not
the most natural one..

11. THEMATISED COMMENT
It’s interesting what you have.
• It is a startingpoint of the message.
• The real subject is the Secondclause.
• The wholecomment is the THEME

12. PREPOSED THEME
Happiness, that’s what life is about.
• The speaker announces the THEME as a separateconstituent.
• A pronoun is used.
• It’s usuallythe subject

13. THEME IN CLAUSE COMPLEXES
Withoutreplyinghe put his head under the blankets.
• The dependent clause (in this case: the dependent cl. comes first) is the THEME.
• It can be FINITEor NON-FINITE.
• If the independent clausecomes first the THEME of thatclauseis the THEME
OF THE WHOLECLAUSECOMPLEX.
T-UNIT: An independent clause+ all its dependent clauses.

14. MULTIPLE THEMES
THEME
=
Textual / interpersonal / experiential elements
Themeconsistsof all the elements up to the first EXPERIENTIALELEMENT.
“well,children, thestoryis about to continue

15. THEMATIC PROGRESSION
• THE CONSTANT THEME PATTERN.
• THE LINEAR THEME PATTERN
• THE SPLIT RHEME PATTERN
• DERIVEDTHEMES

16. CONSTANT THEME PATTERN
• Clause 1: theme A + rheme B
• Clause 2: theme A + rheme C
• Clause 3: theme A + rheme D
M.A.K. Halliday, in full Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (born April 13, 1925, Leeds, Yorkshire, Eng.), British
linguist, teacher, and proponent of neo-Firthian theory who viewed language basically as a social phenomenon.
Halliday obtained his B.A. in Chinese language and literature from the University of London and then did
postgraduate work in linguistics, first at Peking University and later at the University of Cambridge, from which he
obtained his Ph.D. in 1955.
In his early work, known as “scale and category linguistics,” Halliday devised four categories (unit, structure, class, and
system) and three scales (rank, exponence, and delicacy) to describe language. He also did work on intonation
(Intonation and Grammar in British English, 1967) and on discourse analysis (Cohesion in English, 1976). His later
theory, sometimes called systemic linguistics, was that language has three functions: ideational, interpersonal, and
textual.

17. LINEAR THEME PATTERN
• Cl 1 theme A + rheme B
• Cl 2: theme B + rheme C
• Cl 3: theme C + rheme D

18. SPLIT RHEME PATTERN
• C1: theme A + rheme B + rheme C
• C2: theme B + rheme D
• C3: theme C + rheme E

19. DERIVED THEMES
• Systemic functional grammar (SFG) or systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a
grammatical description developed by Michael Halliday in a career spanning more
than 50 years.[1] It is part of a social semiotic approach to language called systemic
linguistics. The term systemic refers to the view of language as "a network of systems,
or interrelated sets of options for making meaning"[2]. The term functional refers to
Halliday's view that language is as it is because of what it has evolved to do. Thus, what
he refers to as the multidimensional architecture of language "reflects the
multidimensional natureof humanexperience and interpersonal relations."

20. PROBLEMS IN THEME ANALYSIS
• EXISTENTIAL THERE
• PROJECTION
• INTERPOLATIONS
• PREPOSEDATTRIBUTIVES

21. EXISTENTIAL THERE
THEME
=
THERE + PREDICATOR
“There” isn't analysedin the experiential analysis so the first
experientialelementis the predicator.
Therewasa nice house there.

22. PROJECTION
QUOTES
• Two separateanalysis
“Comebackhere!” criedMr. Jackson.
INDIRECT SPEECH
“Theirparentsinsisted that they should leave before dark.
• a T-unit:shouldbe analysedas a wholeclause BUT ….
It can be analysedas separateclauses.
“Theirparentsinsisted //thattheyshould leave before dark.

23. INTERPOLATIONS
RELATIVE CLAUSES
APPOSITION
• Theyare separatemessages BUT …..
• Theydependon the subject they are modifying
SO ……
• This clauses are analysedas part of the THEME together with the subject.
The fire, whichdestroyedalmost everything, lasted for 3
hours.

24. PREPOSED ATTRIBUTIVES
• They’reattributesof the subject
• They’replacedbeforethe subject, at the beginningof the clause.
• Theyhaveexperiential meaning BUT …. They dependon the subject. SO …..
• The wholeNG is the THEME. (PREPOSEDATT + SUBJECT)
Extremelyintelligent,theboy solved the mystery.

25. THEME IN TEXTS
• THEMECHOICES: four main functions:
1. Signalling:
• maintenance: usingthe same THEME
• progression: choosing as THEMEan element fromthe preceding
RHEME.
2. Specifying/Changingthe FRAMEWORK: choosing:
• Marked themes
• Predicated themes, thematic equatives, etc.
3. Signalling boundariesin section in the text.
4. Signalling an important starting-point.

26. TEXT ANALYSIS

27. CONJUNCTIONS
They had to run for their lives because thefirehadalmost
completelysurroundedtheirposition.
• Theyjoin two sentences. BUT, AND, OR,
• The coming clauseforms part of a largerunit: clause complex
• Theysignal how a clause is relatedto the other clause
• It is the natural point of departure
• Theyare restrictedto be at the beginning of the clause.

28. CONJUNCTIVE ADJUNCTS
Thusthey went to the nearest place
• TheyDO NOT linka clauseinto a Larger UNIT.
• Theysignal how the clause fits in with the precedingtext.
• Theyhavea more organisingfunction.
• Theyare more free to move in the clause.
• Their most common positionis at the beginningof the clause.

29. MODAL ADJUNCTS
Surprisingly, they couldfind a place to hide
• Theysignal the speaker’sjudgement of the relevance of the message.
• Theyare seenas comments on the content
• theyorient the reader by signalling a standpoint from whichto view the
information.

30. CONTINUATIVES
Now,they had to start all over again.
• Theyare always at the beginningof the clause.
• Theysignal that a NEWMOVE is beginning.
• Theyare also called“DISCOURSEMARKERS”.