Definition
A theme is the initial constituent of a sentence, viewed in relation to a more highly communicative theme or focus elsewhere in the sentence.
Examples
- The man is coming.
- Under no circumstances will he come.
Sources 3
- Hartmann and Stork 1972, 237
- Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985, 1361–1363
- Crystal 1985, 308