In linguistics, the topic (or theme) is the thing being predicated (talked about), and the comment (or rheme) is the thing being said about the topic.

Different languages mark topics in different ways. For example, English either tries to make topics into subjects, or employs word order and/or lexical means ("As for...", "Regarding..."). Chinese simply places the topic first in the sentence; and Japanese marks it with a special clitic postposition (は, wa). The tendency to move topicalized constituents to the beginning of sentences (topic fronting) is widespread.

See also

• Topic (linguistics)
• Topic-prominent language

References

• Charles F. Hockett, A Course in Modern Linguistics. The Macmillan Company: New York 1958. (pp. 191-208)
• Vilém Mathesius, A Functional Analysis of Present Day English on a General Linguistic Basis. edited by Josef Vachek, translated by Libuše Dušková. The Hague - Paris: Mouton 1975.