Systemic Functional Perspectives of Japanese - Descriptions and Applications - Elizabeth A. Thomson
The system of THEME in Japanese
Systemic Functional Perspectives of Japanese - Descriptions and Applications - Elizabeth A. Thomson
Elizabeth A. Thomson [+]
University of New South Wales
Elizabeth A. Thomson is the Director of Studies, Defence Force School of Languages, and Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales. She coordinates The Genre Project, an ongoing research initiative aimed at mapping the genres of Japanese, particularly those found in the workplace and in Education. She teaches linguistics, Japanese language and English for Academic Purposes. In 2003 she was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning (Arts) and in 2001 her co-authored CD-ROM, Academic Writing was the winner of the Tertiary Technology Showcase Category in The Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing.
Description
This paper will describe one instance of the system of Theme in Japanese as it is realised in a set of selected written texts. The unit over which Theme/Rheme is mapped is the Theme unit which is defined grammatically as a co-referential unit in which the referent is the first constituent (Thomson, 2005:162), and semantically as one phase of continuous thematic progression (Thomson, 2005:165). The realisation of Theme is the constituent in first position of the Theme unit. The following description includes a treatment of single Themes, multiple Themes, implicit Themes and marked Themes.