实义切分理论和系统功能语法视角下的theme和rheme

Theme and Rheme Revisited:From the Viewpoints of Actual Sentence Division and Systemic-Functional Grammar

Theme和rheme是功能句法的核心概念。布拉格学派的句子实义切分理论(或功能句子观)和系统功能语法都采用了这对术语,但对它们的阐释存在质的差别。尽管不少学者分别对两派理论进行了全面的介绍和研究,但尚缺少对两个理论框架下的theme和rheme的系统对比分析。鉴于此,本文从两派理论的创始人Mathesius和Halliday的语言功能观出发,明确theme和rheme在不同理论背景下的内涵、关系和划分标准,并厘清其与相关概念的关系,揭示两种功能句法的深刻差异。

Theme and rheme are key concepts of functional syntax.While both terms are employed by actual sentence division(ASD or functional sentence perspective)and systemic-functional grammar(SFL),they are identified and examined from different perpectives.Though the tenets of these two schools have been extensively discussed,a systematic comparison of the two basic terms is still lacking.In view of this,this article aims to compare the origins of the two perspectives so as to shed light on the connotations of these two terms,their relation to other related terms,and the criteria of sentence division,thereby reveal the profound distinctions between these two schools of thought on functional syntax.