Hacia una definición de la función tema
Date
2005Abstract
Como apunta Fries (1995), desde que Mathesius (traducido por Firbas 1964:286) hace su
formulación inicial de Tema en la que combina dos aspectos: (1) information which is known
or obvious in the situation, (2) information from which the speaker proceeds, este concepto ha
sido objeto de extenso debate entre los miembros de la Escuela Lingüística de Praga. Dada su
importancia y teniendo en cuenta la falta de unanimidad existente entre las diferentes escuelas
a la hora de definir dicha función, en este trabajo expondremos algunas de las principales
interpretaciones que se han hecho de dicho concepto. Ahondaremos en aquellas diferencias
de definición que han contribuido a su carácter controvertido, específicamente partiremos
de la idea de Tema defendida por la Gramática Sistémico Funcional (GSF) de Halliday para
posteriormente trazar líneas de acercamiento o diferenciación con otras teorías. As Fries (1995) points out, since Mathesius (translated by Firbas 1964:286) offered his
definition of Theme in which he combined two aspects: 1) information which is known or
obvious in the situation, (2) information from which the speaker procedes, this concept has
undergone debate among the members of the Prague School of Linguistics. Taking into
account the importance of this function and the lack of consensus that has existed among
linguists and linguistic schools with respect to its definition, our intention in this essay is to
present some of the most important interpretations this concept has received, underlining
the main differences which have contributed to its controversial character. With this aim,
we will take Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar concept of theme as starting point
and then compare it with other relevant interpretations of this function.