2. Actual division of the sentence.
In studying the structure of a sentence, we are faced with a problem which has been receiving ever greater attention in linguistic investigations of recent years. This is the problem of dividing a sentence into two sections, one of them containing that which is the starting point of the statement, and the other the new information for whose sake the sentence has been uttered or written. This has been termed “functional perspective”. It cannot be said that every sentence must necessarily consist of two such sections. Some sentences (especially one-member sentences) cannot be divided up in this way, and doubts are also possible about some other types.
Let’s first clarify some notions;
“psychological subject”, “psychological predicate” (proposed by the German scholar H. Paul)- what is objectively expressed in it, independently of a hearer’s personal views or tastes.
“Lexical subject”, “Lexical predicate” (proposed by prof. A. Smirnitsky)- analyze the function of a word or a word group within a sentence expressing a certain thought; their function, that is, in expressing either what is already assumed or what is new in the sentence uttered.
“Theme”/ “Rheme”. These terms came into use lately, particularly in the works of several Czech who have especially studied the problem. Notably with reference to the English language (both from the modern and the historic viewpoint).
The terms “Theme” and “Rheme” are both derived from Greek, and are parallel to each other. The term “theme” comes from the Greek root the- “to set”, or “established” and means “that which is set or established”. The term “rheme” is derived from the root rhe- “to say”, or “tell” and means “that which is said or told”.
The means of expressing a thematic or a rhematic quality of a word or phrase in a sentence to a great extent depend on the grammatical structure of the given language and must differ considerably, according to that structure.
Thus, in a language with a widely developed morphological system and free word order, word order can be extensively used to show the difference between theme and rheme.
Ukrainian: Старик вошел и Вошел старик
English: The old man came in (We cannot make the words old man express the rheme without introducing further changes into the structure of the sentence)/
In Modern English there are several ways of showing that a word or phrase corresponds either to the rheme or to the theme.
Rheme. A method charastically analytical and finding its parallel in French is the construction it is… that (it is…who) with the word or phrase representing the rheme enclosed between the words it is and the word that (who, which)
For it is the emotion that matters (Emotion is in this way shown to represent the rheme)
Other constructions: though-clause
It is….that (parentheses- (вводное слово) after all, possibly come in within the frame)
Particle (only, even, etc)+ a phrase or a word in question
The indefinite article (owing to its basic meaning of “indefiniteness” the indefinite article tends to analyze the new element in the sentence, that which represents the rheme. The definite article tends to point out that which is already known, that is the theme)
Suddenly the door opened and a little birdlike elderly woman (rheme) in a neat grey skirt and coat seemed almost to hop into the room.
Suddenly the door opened and the little birdlike elderly woman in a neat grey skirt and coat seemed almost to hop into the room (rheme).
Suddenly the door opened (rheme) and the little birdlike elderly woman in the neat grey skirt and coat seemed almost to hop into the room.
There are also some other means to show the theme of the sentence:
Definite article.
A loose parenthesis introduced by the prepositional phrase
As for (as to), while the main body of the sentence there is bound to be a personal pronoun representing the noun which is the centre of the parenthetical as-for-phrase.
As for the others, great numbers of them moved past slowly or rapidly, singly or in groups, carrying bags and parcels, asking for directions, presenting time-tables, searching for something familiar like the face of a friend or the name of a particular town cranked up in red and gold… (the rest of the sentence represents the rheme)
There are two more points to make concerning functional sentence perspective:
1. The theme need not necessarily be something known in advance. In many sentences it is, in fact, something already familiar. There are sentences in which the theme, too, is something mentioned for the first time and yet it is not the centre of the predication. It is something about which a statement is to be made. The theme is here the starting point of the sentence, not is conclusion.
Jennie learned forward and touched him on the knee.
2. Many questions concerning functional sentence perspective have not been solved yet and further investigation is required. It is by no means certain that every sentence can be divided into two clear-cut parts representing the theme and the rheme respectively. In many cases there are probably intermediate elements, not belonging unequivocally(недвусмысленно, ясно - ) to this or that part, though perhaps tending rather one way or another.
Communicative types of sentences.
Declarative sentences or statements.
A declarative sentence or statement is used when the speaker wishes to give someone some piece of information which the hearer is unlikely to know. It may be done in the form of an affirmative or negative statement.
He always comes late – he doesn’t come so late.
Declarative sentences are endless in their variety. We will consider the point of view of prof. V.V.Buzarov who says that there are eight sentence – patterns which are very common in everyday conversation.
1. The pattern Here/There comes our bus or Here/There it is.
They are rather common in everyday speech. But when the subject is a personal pronoun, the subject-predicate inversion does not take place.
Here you are. (= This is for you).
Here we are (= We’ve arrived at the expected place).
There you are (= That supports or proves what I’ve said).
2. The existential sentences of the pattern There + be + a noun-phrase.
An English sentence like A book is on the desk or Some books are on the shelf is possible but uncommon. It is important to notice that in informal English the introductory subject there often determines agreement with the predicate, so that the verb be is singular even when the notional subject is plural.
There’s two patients in the waiting-room.
Another common sentence-pattern with the introductory there is that in which the notional subject is followed by a for-to-infinitive construction or simply by a single infinitive as attribute.
There was no one for us to talk to.
This type of the introductory there-sentence sometimes has a definite notional subject expressed by a noun with the definite article.
There’s the man next door to consider.
3.Introductory It-subject
The anticipatory it usually introduces the notional subject which may be expressed in various ways: by an infinitive, a gerund, infinitival or gerundial complexes and even a subordinate clause.
It’s no use going there so early.
In informal spoken English the reverse process sometimes occurs: an infinitive or gerundial phrase or a clause is placed in front position and the main clause with that at the end of a sentence after an intonation break.
Meeting you in London that day, that was pleasant.
The pattern She is easy/ a pleasure to teach.
This sentence is the converted variant of To teach her is easy/a pleasure.
The object is picked out from the sentence and placed as subject in the reworded sentence. The number of adjectives used in such constructions is very limited. Thus, the adjective easy in this construction could be replaced by agreeable, amusing, difficult, hard, hopeless, interesting, nice, pleasant, impossible.
There is another similar construction like He is foolish to meet her again. And again the number of adjectives used in this construction is also limited: brave, clever, cruel generous, good, polite, kind, rude, selfish, silly, stupid, wicked, wise, reasonable.
He/ John is sure / certain to like it.
It is frequently used in conversational English.
You are sure to like the place. He is likely to see her.
Construction with correlative subjects or objects.
There is a special type of syntactical construction in which a word-substitute (usually a personal pronoun) is placed at the beginning of the sentence, whereas the noun-phrase to which it refers is pushed to the end. The noun-phrase tag acts in this construction as repeated (tautological) subject, the personal pronoun being the initial subject.
He’s a complete idiot, that brother of yours.
The pattern He/John was man enough to do …
Colloquial English makes ample use of a special construction in which such nouns as: man, fool, idiot … are used as predicatives without the indefinite article (because they denote here qualities rather than substances).