西方语言学A Diachronic Analysis of Theme Rheme Theory.doc

A Diachronic Analysis of Theme/ Rheme Theory 1. Introduction 2. Literature Riview 3. Analysis of Theme/Rheme ideas by Weil, Mathesius, Firbas and Halliday 3.1 Henri Weil 3.2 Mathesius 3.3 Firbas 3.4 Halliday (每部分包括个人的理论基础、定义、贡献、不足四小部分) 4. Conclusion 1. Introduction Theme/Rheme theory is an important functional linguistic theory and applied in many areas, such as English teaching, translation studies etc. while more and more attention is drawn into its application, the research to its history and development seems to be kind of neglected,. However, the knowledge of the history will definitely for its use as a whole. Out of this reason, this paper will make a diachronic study of Theme and Rheme theory. Up to now, the researches about Theme and Rheme focus on its application, especially the application of Halliday’s theory. Besides, some literature is about the history, but they are only concerned with part of the history of development. A full research is still blank. In this case, this paper is necessary. The following part can be divided into parts: 2. Literature review 3. Analysis of Theme/Rheme ideas by Weil, Mathesius, Firbas and Halliday The terms of Theme and Rhem are the product of functional linguistics. To be exact, it originates from the founder of Prague School, Mathesius. Relevant researches also take Mathesius as the initioator of Theme/Rheme and their researches begin with Mathesius. However, Mathesius’ ideas about Theme and Rheme are mainly inspired by another French scholar, Henri Weil. Therefore, a full study of the development of Theme/Rheme can not neglect Weil. In this case, the prominent scholars who make remarkable contribution to Theme/Rheme theory is Weil, Mathesius, Firbas and Halliday. In this part, I will illustrate Theme/ Rheme of the four researchers from four points of view: the theotetical base, the definition of Theme/ Rheme, the contributions, and the problems. Of the four, the first two are just objective descriptions of the theo