Re: INTRODUCTION TO DA -- Discourse Introduction

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: Aug 25 2009, 18:28
Author: Kátia
Subject: Re: INTRODUCTION TO DA
In reply to: Danúbia 's message, "Re: INTRODUCTION TO DA" on Aug 24 2009, 9:02

The theme is the point of departure of the message.
In the sentence below, Janice, the subject, is the point of departure of the message – it’s the entity we know of, the theme we are talking about.

JANICE will give Chris the bill tomorrow

But the order of clause elements can vary, since different elements of structure can be moved to initial position.

Our example admits at least the following possible variants:

1 Chris will be given the bill (by Janice) tomorrow.
2 The bill will be given to Chris tomorrow (by Janice).
3 Tomorrow, Chris will be given the bill (by Janice).

This choice determines the way the message will develop and lead the hearer to identify the New information, usually at the end of the clause.

By choosing variant 1, for example, Chris becomes the point of departure, while tomorrow is still in ﬁnal position, with the Agent, Janice, nearing ﬁnal position.
By using the passive, instead of the active voice, the Agent can be omitted altogether, leaving the bill, nearer ﬁnal position.
Finally, if we bring the time adverbial, tomorrow, to initial position as Theme, as in 3, this element will serve as a frame for the whole event.
By means of such reorganisations of the message, the content of the clause can be made to relate to the rest of the discourse and to the communicative context in which it is produced.

Of course the theme links the message to what has gone before in discourse, but it is not considered as a Cohesive element.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]