Actual division of the sentence. Methods of identification of the theme and the rheme.

Alongside of the traditional nominative division of the sentence, the idea of the so-called ‘actual division’ of the sentence has been put forward in theoretical linguistics. The purpose of the actual division of the sentence, called also the ‘functional sentence perspective’ (FSP), is to reveal the correlative significance of the sentence parts from the point of view of their actual informative role in an utterance, i.e. from the point of view of the immediate semantic contribution they make to the total information conveyed by the sentence in the context of connected speech. In other words, the actual division of the sentence in fact exposes its informative perspective.

The main components of the actual division of the sentence are the theme (T) and the rheme (R). The theme (from the Greek ‘the’ – ‘to set’, ‘to establish’) expresses the starting point of the communication, i.e. it denotes an object or a phenomenon about which something is reported. The rheme (from the Greek ‘rhe’ – ‘to say’, ‘to tell’) expresses the basic informative part of the communication, its contextually relevant center. Between the theme and the rheme are positioned intermediary, transitional parts of the actual division of various degrees of informative value (these parts are sometimes called ‘transition’). The theme and the rheme of the actual division of the sentence may or may not coincide with the subject and the predicate, respectively.

E.g. They obeyed. Here is your book.

46. When the difference between homonyms is not only confined to the lexical
meaning but the grammatical types are also different, they are called grammatical
homonyms. They are given separate entries in the dictionary. In these cases, the
words have similar canonical form but different paradigms and structural
patterns. Verbs occurring as transitive and intransitive or lexical units that occur
as nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. (e.g. cut (v.), cut (n.), cut (adj.)) are examples of
such homonyms (ibid.).

Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and spelling, or, at least, in one of these aspects, but different in their meaning.

bank, n.-a shore bank, n.-an institution for receiving, lending, exchanging, and safeguarding money

ball, n. – a sphere; any spherical body ball, n.-a large dancing party

In the process of communication they are more of an encumbrance, leading sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding. Yet it is this very characteristic which makes them one of the most important sources of popular humour. The pun is a joke based upon the play upon words of similar form but different meaning

Sources of Homonyms:

Phonetic changes which words- undergo in the course of their historical development. Night andknight,

Borrowing. A borrowed word may, in the final stage of its phonetic adaptation, duplicate in form either a native word or another borrowing. rite, n. – to write, v.- right, adj. the second and third words are of native origin whereas rite is a Latin borrowing (< Lat. ritus).

Conversion – comb, n.- to comb, v., pale, adj.- to pale, v., to make, v, - make, n. Homonyms of this type, which are the same in sound and spelling but refer to different categories of parts of speech, are called lexico-grammatical homonyms.

Shortening. E.g. fan, n. in the sense of “an enthusiastic admirer of some kind of sport or of an actor, singer, etc.” is a shortening produced from fanatic.

Words made by sound-imitation) can also form pairs of homonyms with other words: e, g. bang, n. (“a loud, sudden, explosive noise”) – bang, n. (“a fringe of hair combed over. the forehead”).

(Two or more homonyms can “originate from different meanings of the same word when, for some reason, the semantic structure of the word breaks into several parts. This type of formation of homonyms is called split polysemy.

Board – a long and thin piece of timber

Board – daily meals especially provided for pay.

Board – an official group of persons who direct or supervise some activity. A board of directors

All the meanings developed from the meaning ” a table”.

Classification of Homonyms

The subdivision of homonyms into:

homonyms proper – words same in sound and in spelling. 1.fit – perfectly fitting clothes. 2. fit – nervous spasm.

homophones -the same in sound, different in spelling.1. been 2.bean

homographs -the sane in spelling, different in sound 1.to lead – go before, show the way 2. lead – a heavy rather soft metal.