Exclamative clause Unmarked: Wh-element + NG or ADVG ^ Subject ^ Finite How beautiful it is! What a nightmare (this is)!

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1 ESFLCW 2013 Coventry, UK, 1 3 July 2013 Workshop Analysing social media using UAM Corpus Tool Mick O Donnell, Madrid, Spain: michael.odonnell@uam.es Basic guideline for manual annotation of Theme in English Anke Schulz, Bremen, Germany: anke.schulz@uni-bremen.de Different clause types A clause is any stretch of language centred on a verbal group. One sentence may consist of one clause, or of more than one clause (clause complex). Clause complexes can consist of (a) two or more independent, co-ordinated clauses, e.g. Helen lives in London //and //she works as a chef there. (b) one independent and one or more sub-ordinated (dependent) clauses, e.g. Helen lives in London //since //she moved there in Topical themes, unmarked and marked Declarative clause (Halliday 1994: 44) Unmarked: Subject ^ Finite ^ Compl / Adjunct A wise old owl lived in an oak. What I want is a proper cup of coffee. Marked: Adjunct ^ Subject ^ Finite / Compl: On Saturday night I went out for a drink. Compl ^ Subject ^ Finite / Adjunct: Her house she painted blue. Predicate ^ Subject ^ Finite: Forget it I never shall. Exclamative clause Unmarked: Wh-element + NG or ADVG ^ Subject ^ Finite How beautiful it is! What a nightmare (this is)! Wh-interrogative clause In a WH-interrogative, the [unmarked] Theme is constituted solely by the WH-element: that is, the group or phrase in which the WH-element occurs. (ibid.:46) Where do you want me to put the flowers? How many years have passed since then? 1

2 Polar interrogative clause In a polar (yes/no) interrogative, the [unmarked] Theme includes the finite verb; but it extends over the Subject as well. Finite verb plus Subject form a two-part Theme, [ ] (ibid.: 46) Is anybody at home? Can you find me an acre of land? Imperative clause In imperative clauses, the non-finite verb or the let s (plus negation marker if preceding the verb) is the unmarked Theme (ibid.: 47) Keep quiet! Don t leave any belongings on board the aircraft! Let s go for a walk! Relative pronouns called unmarked structural theme Relative pronouns are textual and topical theme at the same time, they connect clauses and also function as Subject. Definite relative pronouns: which, who, that, whose, when, where, (why, how) Indefinite relative pronouns: whatever, whichever, whoever, whenever, wherever, however The woman [who lives downstairs] has five cats. Another thing [that upsets me] is presents. Note that in the examples above who and that function as Subject in the embedded clause (can be replaced by she, it), whereas in the examples below, when and that are simple conjunctions (textual Themes), there is a separate Subject in the dependent clause. I always feel so very sad when I think about it. I hope that he will surprise me. Multiple themes The Theme always includes one, and only one, experiential element. This may be preceded by elements which are textual and/or interpersonal in function; if so, these are also part of the Theme. The typical ordering is textual ^ interpersonal ^ experiential; in any case, the experiential element (the topical Theme) comes last anything following this is part of the Rheme. (Halliday 1994: 53) 2

3 Textual themes Halliday (1994: 53) says: The textual Theme is any combination of (i) continuative, (ii) structural and (iii) conjunctive, in that order. (i) A continuative is one of a small set of discourse signallers, yes, no, well, oh, now, [ ]. (ii) A structural Theme is any of the obligatorily thematic elements [ ] Co-ordinating conjunctions: and, or, nor, either, neither, but, yet, so, then, and then, Sub-ordinating conjunction: when, while, before, after, until, because, if, although, unless, since, that, whether, (in order) to, as much as, Even if, in case, supposing (that), assuming (that), seeing (that), given that, provided (that), in spite of the fact that, in the event that, so that, (iii) A conjunctive Theme is one of the conjunctive Adjuncts from the table below, wherever such an Adjunct occurs preceding the topical Theme. Conjunctive adjuncts are those which relate the clause to the preceding text. (Halliday 1994: 49) Type of conjunctive Meaning Examples (not a complete list!) adjuncts appositive i. e., e. g.' that is, in other words, for instance corrective 'rather' or rather, at least, to be precise dismissive 'in any case' in any case, anyway, leaving that aside summative 'in short' briefly, to sum up, in conclusion verifactive actually' actually, in fact, as a matter of fact additive 'and' also, moreover, in addition, besides adversative 'but' on the other hand, however, conversely variative 'instead' instead, alternatively temporal 'then' meanwhile, before that, later on, next, soon, finally, all of a sudden, comparative 'likewise' likewise, in the same way causal so' therefore, for this reason, as a result, with this in mind conditional '(If... ) then' in that case, under the circumstances, otherwise concessive 'yet' nevertheless, despite that 3

4 Interpersonal themes Halliday (1994: 53) says: The interpersonal Theme is any combination of (i) vocative, (ii) modal, (iii) mood-marking. (i) A vocative is any item, typically (but not necessarily) a personal name, used to address; [ ] and is thematic when preceding the topical Theme, e.g. Tania, will you join us for lunch? (ii) A modal Theme is any of the modal adjuncts listed in the table below, whenever it occurs preceding the topical Theme, e.g. To be honest, I don t like snakes. Type of modal Meaning Examples (not a complete list!) adjunct probability how likely? probably, possibly, certainly, perhaps, maybe usuality how often? usually, sometimes, always, never, ever, often, seldom typicality how typical? occasionally, generally, regularly, for the most part obviousness how obvious? of course, surely, obviously, clearly opinion I think in my opinion, personally, to my mind admission I admit frankly, to be honest, to tell you the truth persuasion I assure you honestly, really, believe me, seriously entreaty I request you please, kindly presumption I presume evidently, apparently, no doubt, presumably desirability how desirable? (un)fortunately, to my delight/distress, regrettably, hopefully reservation how reliable? at first, tentatively, provisionally, looking back on it validation how valid? broadly speaking, in general, on the whole, strictly speaking, in principle evaluation how sensible? (un)wisely, understandably, mistakenly, foolishly prediction how expected? to my surprise, surprisingly, as expected, by chance 4

5 Anaphoric ellipsis One reason for a clause which has a rheme but no topical theme can be anaphoric ellipsis. For example, the subject of the second independent clause is the same as in the first sentence, therefore it is implicit. Thus, the topical Theme is missing from the clause and we only annotate what is actually there, i.e. the Rheme. Examples: I //don t want to give up yet, //want to try //and //understand it. Topical // Rheme // Rheme // textual // Rheme People //know //we //are together, //no need to show it. Topical // Rheme // Topical // Rheme //Rheme (Topical Theme there + is is omitted.) Finite dependent clause Dependent clauses typically have a conjunction as structural Theme. (Halliday 1994: 62) I asked her //whether //pigs //have wings. // textual // unmarked topical Theme //Rheme If the dependent clause begins with a WH-element, [ ], that element constitutes the [unmarked] topical Theme (ibid.: 62), because in a dependent clause this is the normal structure. In these clauses the WH-element is a pronoun, e.g. I can t believe //what //you are telling me. (You re telling me something.) // unmarked topical Theme //Rheme I feel threatened by //what //they have. (They have something.) // unmarked topical Theme //Rheme I see //how much // it hurts him. (It hurts him very much.) // unmarked topical Theme //Rheme If the WH-element is a conjunction (textual theme), it can be left out and the sentence still makes sense. If the WH-element is a pronoun (topical theme), the sentence does not make sense without it. There can be marked topical Themes in dependent clauses, e.g I asked her //whether //in spring //the snow will melt. // textual // marked topical Theme // Rheme Minor clause These are clauses with no mood or transitivity structure, typically functioning as calls, greetings and exclamations, [ ] They have no thematic structure [ ] (Halliday 1994: 63) Welcome! Thank you, Lydia. Well done! 5

6 ANNOTATION SCHEME for use with UAM CT (O'Donnell 2008) theme-rheme THEME- RHEME- theme THEME- other OTHER- topical textual interpersonal rheme minor TOPICAL- TEXTUAL- unmarked marked relative-pronoun conjunction conjunctive-adjunct continuative INTERPERSONAL- modal-adjunct vocative REFERENCE Halliday, M. A. K An Introduction to Functional Grammar. 2nd edn. London: Edward Arnold. O'Donnell, Michael The Uam Corpustool: Software for Corpus Annotation and Exploration. In Bretones Callejas, Carmen M. et al. (ed.). Applied Linguistics Now: Understanding Language and Mind. Almería: Universidad de Almería, UAM Corpus Tool (Mick O Donnell) available from (27 June 2013) 6