What is a topic?

Definition
	A topic is a noun phrase that expresses what a sentence is about, and to which the rest of the sentence is related as a comment.

Examples (English, Japanese, Tagalog)
	Initial position in word order, as in the following: That new Mazda, I’d like to test-drive it. In Japanese or Tagalog, the marking of a noun phrase

Sources
	Hartmann and Stork 1972 239
	Crystal 1980 358
	Levinson 1983 88
	Andrews, A. 1985 77–78, 80

Context for this page:

Concept module: topic
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): T
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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