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The dynamicity of communication below, around and above the clause
Edited by Ben Clarke and Jorge Arús-Hita
[English Text Construction 9:1] 2016
► pp. 143–164

Phasal dynamism and the unfolding of meaning as text

In this paper I explore the etic category of textuality and the emic category of Theme arguing that while Theme in English may simultaneously signal the point of departure of a clause with respect to the preceding text and also the ‘aboutness’ of the clause in relation to the method of development of a text, this is not necessarily the case with other languages. In particular I consider the rich textual resources of Scottish Gaelic, a verb-initial language with no morphological marking for Theme, to problematise standard treatments of thematicity in languages other than English. I elaborate on Cloran’s (2010) account of Rhetorical Units to present as a hypothesis for further exploration the idea that, while Gaelic and English ground clauses in both space and time, Gaelic is a process-centred language while English is a Subject-centred language and that these differences in the respective characterology of the two languages have repercussions on the process of textualisation and the method of development in each language.

Keywords: Rhetorical Unit, Gaelic, Theme, textuality, textualisation
Published online: 30 June 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.9.1.08bar
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Arús-Hita, Jorge
2022. A contrastive look at Theme as point of departure in English and Spanish academic writing. English Text Construction 15:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Bartlett, Tom
2021. Interpersonal Grammar in Scottish Gaelic. In Interpersonal Grammar, ► pp. 257 ff. DOI logo
Bartlett, Tom
2023. Chapter 3. Atopicality as the unmarked logical structure in Scottish Gaelic. In Reconnecting Form and Meaning [Studies in Language Companion Series, 230], ► pp. 71 ff. DOI logo
Bowcher, Wendy L.
2021. Context of situation and the role of language. Functions of Language 28:3 ► pp. 315 ff. DOI logo
Gentens, Caroline, Lobke Ghesquière, William B. McGregor & An Van linden
2023. Introduction. Reconnecting form and meaning. In Reconnecting Form and Meaning [Studies in Language Companion Series, 230], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Wegener, Rebekah
2019. What makes a text a text?. Functions of Language 26:1 ► pp. 28 ff. DOI logo
Wegener, Rebekah & Lise Fontaine
2023. A Functional Approach to Context. In The Cambridge Handbook of Language in Context, ► pp. 116 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2017. Looking ahead: systemic functional linguistics in the twenty-first century. In The Routledge Handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics, ► pp. 658 ff. DOI logo

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