Rhematic Structure, a Squib

Based on ideas derived from the Prague School, Halliday made a distinction between thematic structure and information structure. Thematic structure divides the clause into a theme and a rheme. While there is a vast literature on the nature of the theme, that on the rheme is sparse. At the same time the rheme is frequently long and complex, a fact which led some to suggest that the theme extends beyond the first major component, which Halliday had identified as constituting the theme. It is hypothesized that Halliday’s position is basically correct, but that where the rheme contains more than one component, these will be ordered by the speaker in decreasing order of thematic importance. This is illustrated with several authentic examples.