rheme

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rheme

 (rēm)
n. Linguistics

[From Greek rhēma, something that is said, word, subject of a speech (modeled on theme); see wer- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rheme

(riːm)
n
(Linguistics) linguistics the constituent of a sentence that adds most new information, in addition to what has already been said in the discourse. The rheme is usually, but not always, associated with the subject. Compare theme5
[C20: from Greek rhēma that which is said]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

com•ment

(ˈkɒm ɛnt)

n.
1. a remark, observation, or criticism: a comment about the weather.
2. gossip; talk: His absence gave rise to comment.
3. a criticism or interpretation, often by implication or suggestion: The play is a comment on modern society.
4. a critical or explanatory annotation to a text or to a passage in a text.
5. Also called rheme. the part of a sentence that communicates new information about the topic.Compare topic (def. 3).
v.i.
6. to make remarks or observations.
7. to write explanatory or critical notes upon a text; elucidate.
v.t.
8. to make comments or remarks on.
9. to furnish with comments; annotate (a text).
Idioms:
no comment, I refuse to speak; I have nothing to say.
[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin commentum device, fabrication (Late Latin: interpretation, commentary), n. use of neuter of commentus, past participle of comminīscī to devise =com- com- + -minīscī; see reminiscent]
com′ment•a•ble, adj.
com′ment•er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Translations
rhème
Mentioned in
References in periodicals archive
The clearest construction tends to begin with information that follows the previous sentence (what is already 'given' to the reader comprising the theme) followed by the details which discuss this (what is 'new' comprising the rheme).
Permettez-moi tout d'abord de vous remercier et de remercier votre Journal AlBayane qui me fait l'honneur et le plaisir de m'interviewer autour d'un rheme tres important, a savoir: avez-vous un bon medecin?
Bien que le theme soit parfois associe a la phrase ou la proposition, et qu'il soit souvent contraste au rheme comme rassemblant les informations deja connues de la personne qui lit, ce n'est pas dans ce sens ou nous l'entendons ici.
Cenopythagorean categories (source: Peirce 1931b: 254-265) A B C Name of Sign 1 1 1 Qualisign (I) 2 1 1 Iconic Sinsign (II) 2 2 1 Rhematic Indexical Sinsign (III) 2 2 2 Dicent Sinsign (IV) 3 1 1 Iconic Legisign (V) 3 2 1 Rhematic Indexical Legisign (VI) 3 2 2 Dicent Indexical Legisign (VII) 3 3 1 Rhematic Symbol (Symbolic Rheme) (VIII) 3 3 2 Dicent Symbol (Proposition) (IX) 3 3 3 Argument (X) A Example 1 A feeling of "red" 2 An individual diagram 2 A spontaneous cry 2 A weathercock or photograph 3 A diagram, apart from its factual individuality 3 A demonstrative pronoun 3 A street cry 3 A common noun 3 Proposition 3 Syllogism
Halliday (1985) says that "the theme provides the environment for the remainder of the message, the rheme".
Austin calls the production of sound a phone, whereas a pheme is a repeated utterance with a definite sense of meaning (a subset of a pheme in his system is a rheme to refer to a sign that represents its object).
VALLDUBI, Enric y VILKUNA, Maria (1998): "On Rheme and kontrast.
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