rhematic

plural rhematics

1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe provision of new information regarding the current theme.

   Within a non-theme, transitionals cede to rhematics, the transition itself being lowest on the CD scale.

   1995, Francis P. Dinneen, “Different Constants”, in General Linguistics, Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, →ISBN, page 565

2. countableobsoleterareuncountablehuman sciencesIn the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834): the doctrine or study of arranging words into sentences clearly.

   The object of rhetoric is persuasion,—of logic, conviction,—of grammar, significancy. A fourth term is wanting, the rhematic, or logic of sentences.

   1830 September 23, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Logic”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 207

   1 more example

   He [Coleridge] establishes an opposition between Σύνταξις ῥημάτων or ῥηματική ("rhematic"), the art of joining words into sentences, and γραμματική ("grammar"), which in its derivation from γράμμα (a letter, written character) is the art of joining letters together, spelling. Or, cf CN IV 4771: "Grammar [is] the scheme & instrument of connecting words significantly, the Meta-grammatic <rhematic>, the Doctrine of arranging words perspicuously" […]

   1984, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, edited by George Whalley, Marginalia II: Camden to Hutton (The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 12, part 2; Bollingen Series; 75), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul; Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 881

1. Of or pertaining to a rheme.
   1. not comparablehuman sciencesOf a part of a sentence: providing new information regarding the current theme.

      Rhematic relations are, in a sense, 'intermediate syntactic meanings'. To avoid a proliferation of types of intermediate meanings I do not extend the concept of intermediate syntactic meaning to cover rhematic relations.

      1983, Hans-Heinrich Lieb, Integrational Linguistics (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory; 17), volume I (General Outline), Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 364

      3 more examples

      In addition, if imitation and recycling tend to turn thematic titles into rhematic ones as I have shown for Situations, the use of sequels and continuations cannot avoid doing so. The title Le Menteur [The Liar: [Pierre] Corneille] was perfectly thematic; in La Suite du Menteur [Sequel to The Liar: Corneille], which is rhematic (this play is the sequel ...), Le Menteur itself becomes rhematic (this play is the sequel to the play entitled ...).

      1997, Gérard Genette, translated by Jane E. Lewin, Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 87

      Given that rhematic subjects are more common in Czech than in English […], the degree of syntactic constancy among rhematic subjects may be supposed to be lower than among subjects counted without respect to their FSP [functional sentence perspective] role. To test this assumption, I collected 50 rhematic subjects from each original of Čermáková's sources and examined their syntactic counterparts in the other language.

      2003, Libuše Dušková, “Constancy of Syntactic Function across Languages”, in Josef Hladký, editor, Language and Function: To the Memory of Jan Firbas, Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 132

      The terms "theme" and "rheme" are both derived from Greek, and are parallel to each other. The term "theme" comes from the Greek root the- "to set", or "establish", and means "that which is set or established". The term "rheme" is derived from the root rhe- "to say", or "tell", and means "that which is said or told" (about that which was set or established beforehand). These terms are also convenient because adjectives are easily derived from them: "thematic" and "rhematic", respectively. The etymology of the terms presupposes that the thematic part of the sentence contains the topic, while the rhematic part conveys new information about the topic.

      2007, Iryna Alexeyeva, Theoretical Grammar Course of Modern English, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: Nova Knyha, →ISBN, page 295

   2. not comparableOf or pertaining to a sumisign.

      Rhematic Indexical Sinsign: As an object of raw experience, a burst of unplanned hollering is a rhematic indexical sinsign: it directs attention to the object which caused the presence of the sign […].

      1995, Victorino Tejera, Literature, Criticism, and the Theory of Signs (Semiotic Crossroads; 7), Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 137

      1 more example

      [Charles Sanders] Peirce argues that common and proper nouns function typically as indices, whereas verbs and adjectives are typically icons and rhemes (MS 516:39). The noun camel is a rhematic index when it is interpreted and thus connected with real-life experience. The adjective green is a rhematic icon open to many interpretations because it says nothing about any object to which this color should be attributed.

      2015, Winifried Nöth, “Three Paradigms of Iconicity Research in Language and Literature”, in Masako K. Hiraga, William J. Herlofsky, Kazuko Shinohara, Kimi Akita, editors, Iconicity: East Meets West (Iconicity in Language and Literature; 14), Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, pages 29–30

2. not comparableobsoleteOf or pertaining to word formation.
3. not comparableobsoleterareIn Coleridge's work: relating to the arrangement of words into sentences clearly.
4. not comparableobsoleteraregrammarHaving a verb for its base; derived from a verb.

   rhematic adjectives

   4 more examples

   Passive rhematic adjectives ending in -able […]

   1877, Fitzedward Hall, On English Adjectives in -able, with Special References to Reliable, London: Trübner, →OCLC, page 47

   Emotion may sometimes cause the speaker to adopt a marked sequence, and the rhematic adjective will then appear in sentence-initial position.

   1976, Patrick David Teskey, Theme and Rheme in Spanish and English (Occasional Papers in Linguistics and Language Learning; 1), Coleraine, County Londonderry: Board of Studies in Linguistics, New University of Ulster, →ISBN, page 40

   Since in many languages adverbs do not have a fixed place in the word order, questions can be used to isolate the unmarked position of rhematic adverbs. […] There are facets of contrastive NPs [noun phrases] which are both "old" or thematic information and "new" or rhematic information. Consider the use of contrastive constructions to repair texts. In such cases the contrastive NP represents rhematic information in that it adds information to the text which corrects the hearer's error.

   1992, Russell S. Tomlin, Richard Rhodes, “Information Distribution in Ojibwa”, in Doris L. Payne, editor, Pragmatics of Word Order Flexibility (Typological Studies in Language; 22), Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, pages 120 and 130

   In terms of its phrasal environment, adjective intensification seems to occur most 'naturally' in predicative position. By modifying an independent, rhematic adjective, the intensifiers seem to perform their function in the most efficient way.

   1999, Gunter R. Lorenz, Adjective Intensification – Learners Versus Native Speakers: A Corpus Study of Argumentative Writing, Amsterdam; Atlanta, Ga.: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 210

   Synonyms: verbal