Theme and

Rheme
Foundation of
Functional Grammar
Hello!
Participants:
1. Ajeng Sri W. A
2. Aliefia Mutiara
S. L
3. Ani Rusnia
4. Anisa Sofiatu
nnisa
5. Tartila Fitriani
sa
6. Wini Widia W
a ti
 What’s Theme and Rheme?
In English, the Theme can be identified as that or those
elements which comes first in the clause. This represents
the point of departure of this message from the previous
one. The rest of the clause is called the Rheme. New
information is tipically contained in the Rheme.

1. Theme, is broadly speaking, what the clause is going to

be about or in terms of Theme and Rheme, Theme
represents 'This is what I am talking about'.

2. Rheme represents ‘This is what I am saying about’.

 The Categories of Theme

01 02 03
Ideational Textual Theme Interpersonal Theme
 A. Ideational
The ideational or topical theme is usually but not always the first nominal in the clause.
Topical theme may also be nominal group complexes, adverbial groups, prepositional
phrases or embedded clauses. In the unmarked case the topical theme is also the subject.
A topical theme which is not the subject is called a marked topical theme.
 B. Textual Themes
Textual themes relate the clause to its context. They can be Continuatives and/or Conjunctive
Adjuncts and Conjunctions. One difference is that Conjunctive Adjuncts are more free to move in
a clause whereas Conjunctions are pretty well restricted to being at the beginning.
Thus, in the example below, the Conjunction ‘but’ remains at the beginning of the second clause in
each pair. The Conjunctive Adjunct ‘nevertheless’ can occur in various positions in the clause:

The procedure was simple, but The procedure was simple,

nevertheless was very effective: but was, nevertheless, very effective.: The procedure was simple
conjunctions. conjunctive adjunct. but was very effective nevertheless.

Conjuntions tend to provide Textual Themes within a clause complex and are called Structural Themes.
Conjunctive Adjuncts, on the other hand, tend to (but don’t always) join text outside of clause complexes.
They tend to have more of a text-organising function. Continuatives are a small set of items which, if they
are there, are always at the beginning of the clause and signal that a new move is beginning. For example:
well, right, OK, now, anyway, of course  
C. Interpersonal Themes
 FIRST
01 SECTION
Clause as Theme in a Clause Complex

In a hypotactic clause complex, if the dependent clause

comes first then the dependent clause is treated as the
Theme for the whole clause complex. Each clause also
has its own Theme – Rheme structure
Theme Equatives

These occur in certain Identifying

clauses where the Theme and
Rheme are equated with each other.
They almost always involve
nominalisation.
SECOND
02
SECTION
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Theme and Mood
 Theme in Imperratives
The rationale for treating the Process as Theme if we look at a
text that is orientated towards ‘doing’, such as a set of
instructions:

Plug the flex into a 240 Volt AC outlet.

Switch the power on.
Push the button on the control panel...

Here the focus is on the ‘doing’, not on who is doing it, so we

could argue that the Process is thematic.

There are two ways of treating Theme in

Imperative clauses:
Either as Rheme only.
Theme in Exclamatives
This consists of Wh-element plus either a
nominal group or an adverbial group.
Theme Components
 Theme and Text
Another extension of the principle of Theme is to the topic
sentence of a paragraph.

We could look at the topic sentence as the Theme of the

paragraph. Or we could extend it further by regarding the
introductory paragraph of an expository essay, as the
Theme for the rest of an essay. What we find here is the
same pattern repeated on different scales but the
proportional relationship hold.

theme : clause = topic sentence : paragraph = introduction : essay

 Theme and New Information
Another important aspect of how texts develop is through the
interaction of Theme and New Information. Once information has
been presented in a text it is then available to be developed.
Information can either be picked up as Theme or it can be
accumulated as New. This is illustrated with a short text. The
example is taken from a song ‘Finishing Touches’ by Warren
Zevon.
 Theme and Text Development
The following two texts are anwers to the question ‘Are governments
necessary in Australia?’. The texts have been written for this book
but are based on genuine answers to the same question set for a
year nine class in an inner suburban school in Sydney.

The texts are analysed for the Theme below with a discussion of the
differences in Theme patterns following. If only component of the
Theme is Topical then only ‘Theme’ is written.
Text 1
Text 2
 THANK
YOU
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