Topical theme in German

The annotation scheme for theme in English cannot be directly applied to the annotation of the German corpus, due to differences in the word order typolo- gy of English and German. The basic word order of English in declarative clauses is subject-verb-object (SVO) (Biber et al. 1999, 899), and the word order theme-rheme THEME- RHEME-TYPE theme THEME- TYPE topical TOPICAL- TYPE unmarked marked unmarked-structural textual TEXTUAL- TYPE structural-conjunctive conjunctive-adjunct continuative interpersonal INTERPERSONAL- TYPE modal-adjunct vocative other OTHER- TYPE rheme minor

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is described as ‘fixed’, i.e. “the placement of the core elements of the clause is strictly regulated” (Biber et al. 1999, 898). German word order, on the other hand, is less strictly regulated. The German standard reference for grammar, the Duden Grammatik (Fabricius-Hansen et al. 2006, 1134), speaks of the Ger- man word order (Grundreihenfolge der deutschen Wortstellung): In an independ- ent declarative clause, the basic word order is subject > finite verb part > ad- verbial > objects > non-finite verb part. In front of the finite verb, at the begin- ning, we find the thematic constituent, usually the subject.

The finite verb is fixed to the second position in an independent declarative clause in German. The finite verb in second position plus any non-finite parts of the verbal group that may stand in the last position of the clause together form the Satzklammer, e.g. Ich bin schon immer etwas schwierig gewesen. In Ger- man grammar, we speak of the Satzklammer, the Vor-, Mittel- and Nachfeld, see the example in figure 6.4:

Vorfeld Satzklammer-

Anfang Mittelfeld

Satzklammer-

Ende Nachfeld

Ich bin schon immer etwas

schwierig gewesen

weil ich … Figure 6.4 Basic word order in German

The Vorfeld is the position in a German clause where we would typically find the unmarked topical theme, i.e. the subject. Götze and Hess-Lüttich (1999, 481) give the following example:

(a) Müller hat eine Million im Lotto gewonnen.

The Vorfeld, however, does not have to be filled by the subject. Götze and Hess- Lüttich (1999, 481) explain that if a constituent other than the subject moves to the Vorfeld, we speak of inversion. The finite verb in second position functions like an axis around which the subject and the other constituent revolve. They give this example:

(b) Eine Million hat Müller im Lotto gewonnen.

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Inversion serves the speaker to put the emphasis on the constituent in the Vorfeld, which may not always be the subject (Götze and Hess-Lüttich 1999, 481). Thus, if the subject stands before the finite verb, the subject is the un- marked topical theme. If a speaker or writer uses inversion, i.e. if she puts a constituent other than the subject in Vorfeld position, that constituent would be a marked topical theme. But “[f]unctional elements other than the subject can easily be conflated with Theme, often without creating a particularly marked word order” (Steiner and Teich 2004, 143).

They continue by saying that

[…] it is not the Subject in German which realizes the Mood el- ement together with Finite, but rather the position of the Finite itself. The Subject in German does not have a high functional load for expressing Mood, and is therefore not tied to a pre- verbal position in declaratives. For the same reason, German has no obligatory ideational element within the Theme. (Steiner and Teich 2004, 180)

In the view of Steiner and Teich (2004, 121), the topical theme in German is unmarked if the most inherent / least oblique participant role stands before the finite verb. The most inherent / least oblique participant (1st _{participant role) is} either

a) the subject which is required by intransitive, transitive and ditransitive verbs, e.g sie schläft, er küsst sie, sie gibt ihm eine Ohrfeige.

b) the indirect object (nominal group in dative case) which is required by a small group of intransitive verbs, e.g. mir ist kalt/schwindelig/übel. Steiner and Teich (2004) suggest to speaking of an unmarked theme if the Vorfeld is filled with either ‘1st _{participant role’ (i.e. the most inherent), circum-} stance, textual or interpersonal elements. This view is shared by Neumann (2003). Traditional grammars suggest that we should draw the line between unmarked and marked topical themes between subject in Vorfeld position, since this is the most frequent choice, and anything else in Vorfeld in declara- tive clauses. But some clauses, as Steiner and Teich´s examples show, do not

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require a subject but an object in Vorfeld position, e.g. Mir ist kalt (Steiner and Teich 2004, 155).

In order to gain more clarity about where the line between unmarked and marked topical theme should be drawn in German, the annotation scheme of theme for German was extended to add information on which constituent oc- cupies the Vorfeld position, see figure 6.5 below. The additional information enables us to study the frequency of the different kinds of constituents in Vorfeld position, and to draw the line between unmarked and marked topical theme where it seems appropriate. More information on how to annotate con- stituents in the German theme-rheme structure can be found in the appendix.

Figure 6.5 Annotation scheme for theme in German

The main types of constituents which can be found frequently in the first posi- tion in a clause in GN are demonstrated with examples 137 to 143 below.

(137) 1st _{participant subject in the Vorfeld: Meine Kindheit war super.} (‘My childhood was great.’)

(138) 1st _{participant object in the Vorfeld, required by a small number} theme-rheme THEME- RHEME-TYPE theme THEME- TYPE topical TOPICAL- TYPE 1st-participant-subject 1st-participant-object other-participant-(marked) circumstance-temporal other-circumstance-(marked) finite-verb w-phrase dependent-clause-1st-participant-or-circ-temporal dependent-clause-other-(marked) unmarked-structural any-part-or-circ-unmarked-in-dependent textual TEXTUAL- TYPE structural-conjunctive conjunctive-adjunct continuative interpersonal INTERPERSONAL- TYPE modal-adjunct vocative other OTHER- TYPE rheme minor

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of intransitive verbs: Mir ist immer so schwindelig. (‘Me is always so dizzy.’)

(139) Temporal circumstance in the Vorfeld: Letzte Woche habe ich ihm davon erzählt (‘Last week have I him of it told.’)

(140) Dependent finite clause expressing 1st _{participant or temporal} circumstance in the Vorfeld: Als ich noch geraucht habe wog ich 75 kg. (‘When I still smoked have weighed I 75 kg.’)

(141) Other participant, i.e. objects of transitive and ditransitive verbs in the Vorfeld: Einen von beiden werde ich verlieren. (‘One of the two will I loose’).

(142) Other circumstance in the Vorfeld: In meinem Kopf kreisen so viele Gedanken. (‘In my head circle so many thoughts.’)

(143) Dependent finite clause expressing other participant or circum- stance in the Vorfeld: Wo wir gehen, wachsen Blümchen. (‘Where we go grow flowers.’)

Table 6.1 gives the raw and relative numbers for different constituents in the Vorfeld position in the German newsgroup corpus.

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Constituent in Vorfeld GN F GN%

1st participant subject 819 67

1st participant object 2 0

Circumstance temporal 71 6

Finite verb in interrogative 56 5

W-phrase in interrogative 41 3

Dependent clause 1st part. or circ. temporal 9 1 Any unmarked in dependent clause 10 1

Other participant 52 4

Other circumstance 34 3

Dependent clause other part. or circ. 14 1

Unmarked structural theme 116 9

Total 1,224 100

Table 6.1 Raw and relative numbers for different constituents in Vorfeld posi- tion

Clearly the subject in theme position is the most frequent choice, and therefore the most unmarked type of topical theme with 67% of all clauses, exceeding even Petersen’s (forthcoming) estimate of 60% of subjects in Vorfeld position. There are only two clauses in the entire GN corpus that have an object as the most inherent participant; these must be counted as unmarked topical themes since certain verbs require this construction. The temporal circumstances are most frequently found in Vorfeld position, twice as often (6%) as all other cir- cumstances combined (3%). They are thus counted as unmarked topical themes. There are also a few dependent finite clauses that function as subject or temporal circumstance (1%), plus a few unclear cases (1%). All these con- stituents together with the finite verbs and w-phrase in interrogatives make up 83% of all topical themes. I will conclude for the present study that they form the unmarked topical themes in German.

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The marked topical themes in German include participants which are objects of transitive and ditransitive verbs as well as all circumstances except temporal ones and finally dependent finite clauses that function as object or other cir- cumstance. Unmarked structural topical themes, as in English, are relative pronouns and relative pro-adverbials and relative adverbials which at the same time function as subject of a clause and as connecting word. Table 6.6 gives a list of these lexical items that can be unmarked structural topical themes in German.

Type Examples

Relative pronoun der/die/das, wer/was, welche/welches/welcher Relative pro-

adverbial

wo, wohin, wann, wie, warum, wieso, woher, weswegen, wes- halb,

Relative adverbial wogegen, worauf, wonach, wodurch

Figure 6.6 List of relatives functioning as unmarked structural topical theme in German (Fabricius-Hansen et al. 2006, 310, 584)

If constituents in the German annotation of topical themes are grouped togeth- er in the way described here, the raw and relative numbers are comparable to the numbers from the English theme annotation, see table 6.2 below.

Topical theme EN F GN F EN% GN%

unmarked 1,251 1,008 88 83

marked 76 100 5 8

unmarked structural 102 116 7 9

Total 1,429 1,224 100 100

Table 6.2 Comparison of raw and relative numbers for types of topical theme