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Theory and Practice in Functional-Cognitive Space
Edited by María de los Ángeles Gómez González, Francisco José Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez and Francisco Gonzálvez-García
[Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics 68] 2014
► pp. 107–126

Theme and variations

 | formerly University of Nottingham, UK
 | University of Liverpool, UK
 | University of Nottingham, UK
There has been a great deal of interest recently in investigating the configurations of linguistic choices which characterise different registers. This chapter focuses on the particular area of patterns of thematic choice across registers. We bring together two traditions in register analysis: Systemic Functional Linguistics, and Corpus Linguistics as implemented by Biber and colleagues. We carry out a manual analysis of Theme, using SFL categories, in a small set of texts designed to mirror the registers which appear at key points on Biber’s Dimension 1 (“Involved versus Informational Production”). The goal is to see to what extent variation in thematic patterning accords with the positioning on Biber’s scale; and we attempt to account for any similarities and differences that emerge.
Published online: 22 July 2014
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https://doi.org/10.1075/sfsl.68.05ber
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Pérez-Guerra, Javier
2021. Theme as a proxy for register categorization. In Corpus-based approaches to register variation [Studies in Corpus Linguistics, 103], ► pp. 85 ff. DOI logo
Gómez González, María de los Ángeles & Ana Patricia García Varela
2014. Discourse-organizational patterns in English and Spanish. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 27:1 ► pp. 87 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2021. Conjunctive Markers of Contrast in English and French [Studies in Corpus Linguistics, 99], DOI logo

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