Topic (linguistics)
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| Grammatical categories |
| Animacy Aspect Case Clusivity Definiteness Degree of comparison Evidentiality Focus Gender Mood Noun class Number Person Polarity Tense Topic Transitivity Voice |
In linguistics, topic has a number of definitions. Among the most common are
- a.) the phrase in a clause that the rest of the clause is understood to be about,
- b.) the phrase in a discourse that the rest of the discourse is understood to be about,
- c.) a special position in a clause (often at the right or left-edge of the clause) where topics typically appear.
In an ordinary English sentence, the subject is normally the same as the topic. For example, the topic is emphasized in italics in the following sentences:
- (1)The dog licked the little girl.
- (2)The little girl was licked by the dog.
Although these sentences mean the same thing, they have different topics. The first sentence is about the dog, while the second is about the little girl.
In English it is also possible to use other sentence structures to show the topic of the sentence, as in the following:
- (3) As for the little girl, the dog licked her.
- (4) The little girl, the dog licked her.
A distinction must be made between the clause-level topic and the discourse-level topic. Suppose we are talking about Mike's house:
(6) Mike's house was so comfortable and warm! He really didn't want to leave, but he couldn't afford the rent, you know. And it had such a nice garden in the back!
In the example, the discourse-level topic is established in the first sentence: it is Mike's house. In the following sentence, a new "local" topic is established on the sentence level: he (Mike). But the discourse-level topic is still Mike's house, which is why the last comment does not seem out of place.
Languages have a number of different strategies for signaling the topic of the sentence. Among the most common are the following
- (a) Making the topic the subject of the sentence. In order to make the topic the subject, it may be necessary to use passive voice. This is seen in example (2) above.
- (b) Using a special introductory phrase like "As for...", "Speaking of...", etc, as in example (3).
- (c) Using a special position at the left or right edge of the clause. (This position is sometimes called a topic position, and the rule that places a phrase in such a position is sometimes called topicalization.). This is seen in example (4) above.
- (d) Using special morphology. This is found in languages like Japanese or Korean. A new topic is always introduced in a specific way, like with a topic marker (Japanese and Korean use the suffixes wa and neun/eun, respectively).
- (e) Using some special intonation to show the topic.
Languages often show different kinds of grammar for sentences that introduce new topics and those that continue discussing previously established topics. When a sentence introduces a new topic for discussion, it is most likely to use one of the strategies mentioned in (b), (c), (d) or (e) above.
When a sentence continues discussing a previously established topic, it is likely to use pronouns to refer to the topic. Topics of this sort show a tendency to be subjects, as mentioned in (a) above. In many languages, pronouns referring to previously established topics will show pro-drop.
Languages with special morphology or syntax for topics are sometimes called topic-prominent languages.
[edit] Bibliography
- Givón, Talmy. 1983a. Topic continuity in discourse: A quantitative cross-language study. Amsterdam: Arshdeep Singh
- Lambrecht, Knud. 1994. Information structure and sentence form. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Li, Charles N./Sandra A. Thompson (1976): "Subject and Topic: A New Typology of Languages", in: Li, Charles N. (ed.) Subject and Topic, New York/San Francisco/London: Academic Press, 457-490.
- Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
