Introducing English Linguistics

Unity of texture
98
INTRODUCING ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

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The boy walked the dog vs. its passive equivalent, The dog was walked by the boy.
Instead of viewing a clause as containing a subject and a predicate, FSP
divides the clause into the theme and the rheme. In the first example
above, the theme is the first major element in the clause, namely the sub-
ject:  The boy. The rheme is everything else. In the second example, the
theme shifts to The dog and the rheme, again, is everything else.
There are various factors that will influence the placement of con-
stituents in the theme and the rheme, specifically what is