Mick O'Donnell On Theme

Michael O'Donnell wrote to sysfling on 16 Jun 2019 at 18:24:

In Halliday's approach (for English), Theme stops with the first topical (experiential) element, which in this case is the circumstance of time, "in 1925". "Halliday" is thus Rheme. 

I myself am a proponent of the Berry approach (which I believe is similar to the Fawcett approach), whereby one has Subject-theme, and elements in front of that are also "Additional Theme", e.g. 

Additional-Theme	Subject Theme	Rheme
In May 1476,	he	He took part in an armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry a valuable cargo to northern Europe.
	He	docked in Bristol, Galway, in Ireland and was possibly in Iceland in 1477.
In 1479	Columbus	reached his brother Bartolomeo in Lisbon, keeping on trading for the Centurione family.
	He	married Filipa Moniz Perestrello, daughter of the Porto Santo governor, the Portuguese nobleman of Genoese origin Bartolomeu Perestrello.
In 1479 or 1480,	his son Diego	was born.

This approach better captures the continuity or discontinuity of the Subject selections, and allows for the presence of marked elements in front of the Subject.

Blogger Comments:

Applying this model yields:

Additional-Theme	Rheme	Subject Theme
blessed	are	the meek
on your left	is	the main bedroom
a little further on	is	the Rijksmuseum

Additional-Theme	Additional-Theme		Rheme	Subject Theme
where	precisely	in that case	are	they?

[1] This is the opposite of what is true. Unsurprisingly, the "continuity or discontinuity" of the Subject selections is shown by the selection of Subjects.  The question of the "continuity or discontinuity" of Subject selections as Theme is nullified by this approach, since all Subjects are claimed to be Themes.

[2] To be clear, this approach adds nothing with regard to "the presence of marked elements in front of the Subject", since 'Additional Theme' is just a rebranding of 'marked Theme', without acknowledging its markedness.  Moreover, it is the distinction between Theme and Subject that provides the criterion for the distinction between marked and unmarked Theme in declarative clauses.

∞

To be clear, this approach merely confuses the interpersonal selection of Subject, the carrier of modal responsibility in a clause as exchange, with the textual selection of Theme, the point of departure for a clause as message.  Subject is reprised in a Mood Tag; Theme is realised by everything up to and including the first experiential element.