Textual equivalence: thematic and information structures

• There is a need for analysis of thematic

progression in different lgs over a range of text
types.
• The patterns are always employed in the service of
an overriding rhetorical purpose.
• This is an aspect of texture which is of crucial
importance to the translator.
 Information flow
• (1) Ptolemy’ s model provided a reasonably
accurate system for predicting the positions of
heavenly bodies in the sky.
a)But Ptolemy had to make an assumption that the moon followed a path that
sometimes brought it twice as close to the earth as other times, in order to
predict these positions correctly.

b) But an assumption that Ptolemy had to make in order to predict these positions
correctly was that the moon followed a path that sometimes brought it twice as
close to the earth as at other times.

C) But in order to predict these positions correctly, Ptolemy had to make an

assumption that the moon followed a path that sometimes brought it twice as
close to the earth as at other times.
 Which one is easier to follow? Why?
• The flow of information is smoother in (c)
because the progression of links is less messy
and therefore easier to follow than in (a) and (b).
• Another factor is that it starts with an element
that has already been established before
presenting new information.
 What type of word order does a writer choose?

• Of the numerous formulations available for

expressing a given message, a speaker or writer
will normally opt for one that makes the flow
of information clearer in a given context.
 Interactional organization
• Over and above its prepositional organization,
• a clause also has an interactional organization
which reflects the addresser/addressee relationship.
• It motivates us to make choices that ensure that a
clear progression of links is achieved and that a
coherent point of view is maintained throughout a
text.
• Clause as a message can be analysed in terms
of two types of structure: (a) thematic
structure and (b) information structure.
• The Hallidayan approach treats thematic and
information structures as separate, though often
overlapping features of discourse organization.

Linguists belonging to the Prague School by and

large conflate the two structures and combine them
in the same description.
 Hallidayan overview of information flow
• Thematic structure: theme and rheme
• The theme is what the clause is about. It has two
functions: (a) it acts as a point of orientation by
connecting back to previous stretches of discourse and
thereby maintaining a coherent point of view.
• (b) it acts as a point of departure by connecting forward
and contributing to the development of later stretches.
• The second segment of a clause is called the
rheme.
• The rheme is what the speaker says about the
theme. It is the goal of discourse and
represents the very information that the
speaker wants to convey to the hearer.
 Example
Ptolemy’ s model provided a reasonably accurate
system for predicting the positions of heavenly
bodies in the sky.
In the above example, the rheme is: provided a
reasonably accurate system for predicting the
positions of heavenly bodies in the sky, which is
what the writer has to say about Ptolemy’s model
• Aristotle thought that the earth was stationary
and that the sun, the moon, the planets, and the
stars moved in circular orbits about the earth.
• He believed this because he felt, for mystical
reasons, that the earth was the center of the
universe, and that circular motion was the most
perfect.
 Some interesting points about the analysis
• (a) Thematic analysis can be represented
hierarchically. Since sentences often consist of
more than one clause, they will have several
layers of thematic structure.
• b) Linking devices such as however, nevertheless, because,
and moreover which are called conjunctions do not quite fit
into the analysis.
• Items which express the attitude of the speaker, such as
unfortunately, in my opinion, frankly, and clearly (disjuncts)
also do not fit the analysis.
 Halliday’s view in this relation
• Both conjunctions and disjuncts usually come at the
beginning of English clauses; it is natural for the speaker to
place in initial position an element which relates what s/he
is about to say to what has been
said before (conjunction) or an element which expresses
his/her own judgement on what is being said (disjunct). In
this sense, conjunctions and disjuncts are
inherently thematic (Halliday, 1985).
• However, because conjunctions and
• disjuncts are not part of the propositional
content of the message, they are not
considered thematic in the same way as the
main clause elements subject, predicator,
object, complement and adjunct.
 Thematic structure: grammaticality vs. acceptability

Theme and rheme are not grammatical notions.

In context, grammaticality does not
necessarily ensure acceptability or coherence.
For example, the following text is well-formed
grammatically, but is ill-formed in terms of its
thematics:
• Now comes the President here. It’s the
window he’s stepping through to
• wave to the crowd. On his victory his
opponent congratulates him. ‘Gentlemen and
ladies. That you are confident in me honours
me . . .’
An advertisement for Mazda cars(a translation of an Italian text)
in Alitalia inflight magazine
• What inspired that rebellious young poet called Rimbaud?
What drove him to reach into the innermost part of his soul in
search of the undiscovered? It allowed him to take words that
already existed and yet express himself in a completely new
way. Some creators are brave enough to realise their dreams
without compromise. It is men like this who created the MX-5
in 1989. By ignoring the rules they are constantly reshaping
the future. Even now they are realising a new dream. They
work for Mazda.
 Text organization and development
• The overall choice and ordering of themes, particularly those of
independent clauses, plays an important part in organizing a text
and in providing a point of orientation for a given stretch of
language.
• For instance, travel brochures, at least in English, are
characterized by a proliferation of place adjuncts in theme
position. In the context of travel, location provides a natural point
of orientation around which
• the text as a whole can be organized.
What is the task of the translators?
• Translators generally face two main possibilities:
• (a) If the elements placed in theme position in
the source text can easily and naturally be
placed in theme position in the target text, the
method of development of the two texts will be
the same or very similar.
• (b) If the thematic patterning of the original
cannot be reproduced naturally in the target
language, then you will have to abandon it.
• You must ensure that your target version
maintains a sense of continuity in its own
right.
 Marked vs. unmarked sequences
• The more obligatory an element is, the less
marked it will be and the weaker will be its
meaning.
• For instance, adjectives have to be placed in
front of nouns in English.
• Putting a time or place adverbial, such as
today or on the shelf at the beginning of the
clause, carries more meaning because it is the
result of choice: there are other positions in
which it can occur.
• For example, it is possible but uncommon to
place a complement in initial position in an
English clause (as in Beautiful were her eyes,
rather than Her eyes were beautiful).
 What is the function of a marked theme?
• A marked theme is selected specifically to
foreground a particular element as
• the topic of the clause or its point of
departure.
• Hallidayan linguists identify three main types
of marked theme in English: fronted theme,
predicated theme, and identifying theme.
 Fronted theme
• It refers to the marked theme by moving into
initial position an item which is otherwise
unusual there’.
 Example
• The book received a great deal of publicity in
China.
• In China the book received a great deal of
publicity.(Fronting of time or place adjunct)
• It is marked but not highly marked.
 Fronting of object or complement
• Object: A great deal of publicity the book received
in China.
• Complement: Well publicized the book was.
• The effect of thematizing an object or complement
in English is to provide contrast and to emphasize
the speaker’s attitude to the message.
 Predicated theme
• Predicated themes often imply contrast.
• It was in China that the book received a great deal of publicity
would generally suggest that in China contrasts with other places
where the book did not receive a great deal of publicity.
• Another important function of predicated theme is to signal
information structure by presenting the element following
• It + BE in the main clause as the new or important item to which
the hearer’s/ reader’s attention is drawn.
 Identifying theme
• It places an element in theme position by turning
it into a nominalization using a wh-structure
(called a pseudo-cleft structure)
• What was received by the book in China was a
great deal of publicity.
• What was received by the book in China was a
great deal of publicity.
 ***
• Reduced to a plurality, Felipe Gonzalez’s
socialists need to share power.
• Easy is to dream every night. Difficult is to
fight for a dream.
• Easy is to show victory. Difficult is to assume
defeat with dignity.