Re: topic/focus or theme/rheme

Raimundus A. Brown scripsit:

> But then I read elsewhere: "topicalization takes place when a constituent
> is moved to the front of a sentence, so that it functions as a topic."
That works only for languages where the topic *is* at the front of
the sentence, like Chinese and some kinds of English.  Nobody writing
about Japanese topicalization would say such a thing!

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)