a. Ideational Theme
The ideational theme that is also called the topical theme, is usually the first
nominal group of a clause. Gerot, et al. 1994:104 suggest ‘that not all topical theme is the first nominal group in a clause, it can be a nominal group complexes,
adverbial groups, prepositional phrases or even embedded clauses’ Gerot, et al. 1994:104.
There are two kinds of topical Themes; marked and unmarked.
According to Gerot et.al. 1994:104 ‘it is named ‘marked’ as it stands out, it is not the one that we normally expect to find, usually a topical theme is the subject
of a clause’. The quotation implies that an unmarked topical Theme is the subject of a clause, while a marked one is not. The clauses below may help the above
explanation become clear.
Mega did not come to the meeting Mega and Sukma did not come to the meeting.
Who were not invited did not come to the meeting.
Mega, Mega and Sukma, and Who were not invited are the examples of unmarked topical Themes. They can be in the forms of a nominal group Mega, a nominal
group complex Mega and Sukma, or an embedded clause Who were not invited.
The marked topical Theme can be found in the various forms, such as: adverb, a prepositional word group, or a complement, for example:
Quickly, he goes In a moment, he goes out
A book, he gives
The bold type words are the examples of the marked topical Themes, Quickly is in the form of adverb, In a moment, a prepositional word group, and A book, a
complement.
b. Textual Theme
The textual theme relates the clause to its context. It can be a ‘continuative’ andor a ‘conjunctive adjunct’ e.g. right, well, OK, now, anyway, of course,
nevertheless, and a conjunction e.g. but, and.
The difference between the conjunctive adjunct and the conjunction is very slight. The former is the textual theme that can move freely in a clause,
whereas the latter tends to remain at the beginning of a clause. Another difference between them is that the former tends to join text outside of the clause complexes
and the latter within a clause complex . The continuative is a small set of item which is always at the beginning of a clause. For example:
Right, what we need to do today
is revise the writing. Continuative textual theme
Topical theme Rheme
In the example above the continuative Right provides a signal to the listener that the
speaker is about to start to say. As the function is such, it cannot be put somewhere else but at the beginning of the clause.
Well, on the
other hand
if we
wait until Friday …… Continuative
textual theme Conjunctive
textual theme Conjunction
textual theme Topical
theme Rheme
The conjunctive textual theme on the other hand provides to join the text outside of the cause, the preceding clause. Whereas the conjunction if is to join the text
we wait till Friday with what so ever text as it is presented in …… , meaning that
it joins the text within the clause.
c. Interpersonal theme
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