Università di Macerata
Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia
MEDIAZIONE LINGUISTICA - Classe: L-12
a.a. 2013-2014 – II semestre
Lingua e traduzione inglese II
Mod. A: LINGUA E TRADUZIONE TURISTICA
Dott.ssa Marisa Di Lello
A clause consists of two segments:
The first segment is called the THEME
The second segment is called the RHEME.

A halfpenny is the smallest English coin
THEME
RHEME
(I will tell you about a halfpenny)

The smallest English coin is a halfpenny
THEME
RHEME
(I will tell you about the smallest English coin)
THEME:
the starting point of the communication chosen
by the speaker/writer.
The theme is what the clause is about.
RHEME:
the remaining part which develops the theme.
The rheme is what the speaker says about the
theme.
It is the communicative goal of a clause
because it represents the very information that
the speaker/writer wants to convey to the
hearer/reader.
The rheme fulfils the communicative purpose of
an utterance.
Therefore,
Every clause says something (the rheme)
about something (the theme).
(Baker 1992)
The theme-rheme organization and the information structure
of a sentence are semantically interconnected.
In the normal case, the speaker chooses the theme from what
is given in a communication, i.e. from the parts of a
communication which the hearer can reconstruct and which are
accessible in his store of knowledge.
The speaker also places the emphasis, or information focus, of
his communication on the part reserved for the
communicationally-new, i.e. positionally for the rheme.

For each type of clause (e.g. declarative,
interrogative, imperative)
there is one unmarked (=typical)
thematic structure
and one or more marked (=unusual)
thematic structures.
THEME + RHEME
[subject]
[verb+object/complement+adverbial]
English has a fairly fixed word order:
Subject
You
THEME
Verb + Object/Complement + Adverbial
will discover the magnificent
west front of the Holy Trinity
Church within a short stroll
RHEME
THEMATISATION (OR FRONTING) OF:

1) PLACE AND TIME ADVERBIALS (slightly marked)
[they are not highly marked, because adverbials
are fairly mobile in English]

2) OBJECT AND COMPLEMENT (highly marked)

3) PREDICATED THEMES (highly marked)
Thematisation is a textual feature of the
language of tourist guides.
It’s common to both English and Italian
geographical and historical descriptions.
1) Thematisation (or fronting) of
Place and Time Adverbials:
Place and time adverbials tend to be positioned at
the beginning of declarative clauses.
This feature is very frequent and natural in Italian,
but slightly marked (=unusual) in English, which
has a fairly fixed word order.
In the space of a few miles you can find not only the World
Heritage, but one of our leading stately homes….
After the battle of Hastings in 1066, the invader William, Duke
of Normandy, took over.
Sulla sponda sud-occidentale, si apre un ninfeo scavato nella
roccia…
Nel 1777 il Granduca Pietro Leopoldo indicò in Sarteano la sede
di un unico palazzo del gonfalone…
Fronted adverbials fulfil two textual functions:


They act as points of orientation by
connecting back to previous stretches of text.
They act as points of departure by connecting
forward and contributing to the development
of later stretches.
(Baker 1992)






Further north along the coast is a fine example of
18th century Scottish architecture…
Closer to home, the Picts’misterious symbols and
standing stones are most notably interpreted at (...)
At its heart, ancient Bridgnorth has one of the
finest settings in the country (…)
Just a few miles from the Welshpool home of the
Llanfair (…) is Montgomery with its castle (…)
To the west, the remote Clee Hills and the long
ridge….
All around this area are delightful, unspoilt
villages, remote churches and country pubs.




Nel centro storico l’elemento di costruzione
dominante è il granito.
Dopo il centro sportivo C.O.N.I., si incontra
L’Emissario, grandiosa opera di ingegneria
romana…
Da Palau è poi facile raggiungere in autobus
un’altra bellezza della costa nord-occidentale (…).
Nei pressi di Codroipo ci accoglie la residenza
dell’ultimo doge veneziano, Ludovico Manin.


In the early 11th century, a Danish king,
Canute, consolidated England into a relatively
peaceful unity.
On Christmas day, 1066, William, Duke of
Normandy, was crowned in Westminster
Abbey.



Durante il lungo conflitto tra Firenze e Siena, la
città condivise le sorti di quest’ultima, pagando a
caro prezzo le conseguenze di questa sua fedele
amicizia.
Alla fine della seconda guerra mondiale, al borgo
antico comincia così ad affiancarsi un insediamento
del tutto nuovo (…).
Nel 421 a.C., l’intera zona flegrea cadde sotto il
dominio delle popolazioni campane.
PREFERRED STRUCTURE (UNMARKED THEME):
The part of Montepulciano that has developed outside
the city walls ever since the 15th century is well worth
a visit.
MARKED STRUCTURE:
Well worth a visit is the part of Montepulciano that
has developed outside the city walls ever since the
15th century.
Use of an it- structure (or a cleft structure)
a given element of a clause is placed near the
beginning.
The theme of a cleft clause is the element
which occurs after the verb to be.
Predicated themes:
often imply contrast (like all marked themes);
signal information structure by presenting
the element following it + BE in the main
clause as the new information.
Unmarked theme:
The first race between the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge was in 1829 at
Henley.
Highly marked structures (predicated themes)
See Examples of cleft structures
Unmarked theme:
The first race between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge
was in 1829 at Henley.
Highly marked structures (predicated themes)
 It was the first race between the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge that took place in 1829 at Henley.

It was between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge that
the first race took place in 1829 at Henley.

It was in 1829 that the first race between the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge took place at Henley.

It was at Henley that the first race between the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge took place in 1829.
The thematisation of


PLACE AND TIME ADVERBIALS
OBJECT AND COMPLEMENT
can be reproduced naturally in Italian, so that
it will be possible to maintain the same point
of orientation in the target text.

-ING FORM

PREP. +
-ING FORM

AS + SUBJECT +
PRESENT TENSE
Starting at sea-level at Llandudno,
this single track line winds and
climbs its way up the beautiful Conwy
and Lledr valleys.
After leaving the historic town of
Shrewsbury, with its castle and
Elizabethan houses, the train passes
through Church Stretton before
turning south-west and crossing the
river Theme into Wales.
As the visitor nears the end of the
Venice-Trieste motorway, after many
kilometers
of
flat
terrain
the
landscape suddenly changes.
PAST
PARTICIPLE
PREP. +
INFINITIVE
GERUND
Lasciata Sassari, si prosegue verso Osilo
ammirando massicci calcarei a strapiombo.
Prima di far tappa a Tempio arriviamo a
Bortigiadis.
Partendo dalla stazione di San Benedetto del
Tronto e costeggiando il litorale adriatico, si
transita per Pescara.


On the left before
Piazza della Borsa is
the great square
building called the
Tergesteo.
Opposite the Old Stock
Exchange the green
building of the Casa
Bartoli houses shops
and flats.


Sulla sinistra, prima di
giungere in Piazza
della Borsa si incontra
il grande edificio
quadrato del
Tergesteo.
Di fronte alla Borsa
Vecchia l’edificio verde
Casa Bartoli, che si
configura come unità
commerciale e
abitativa.

Worthy of note are
the fountains
decorated with
statues by Giuseppe
Pokorny and Ugo
Hardtl.

Degne di nota sono
le belle fontane con
sculture di
Giuseppe Pokorny e
Ugo Hardtl.

The richly
decorated exterior
contrasts with a
soberly functional
interior, designed
by the architect
Geiringer.

Alla ricchezza
decorativa esterna
fa da contraltare
l’interno sobrio e
funzionale dettato
dall’architetto
Geiringer.


Palazzo Dreher stands
at the beginning of Via
Cassa di Risparmio.
The triangle marked
out by these buildings
contains a column
surmounted by a
bronze statue of
Habsburg Emperor
Leopold I.


Da Palazzo Dreher si
diparte via Cassa di
Risparmio.
Nello spazio
triangolare definito da
questi edifici è inserita
la colonna sormontata
dalla statua bronzea
che ritrae Leopoldo I
d’Asburgo.

The castle owes its
charm to the white
Istrian stone it is
built with.

Gran parte del suo
fascino il castello
lo deve al biancore
della pietra bianca
d’Istria con la
quale è stato
realizzato.

To describe the
Triestine Carso we
need only say that
it is a unique
territory, without
equal in Europe, a
land of charm and
mystery shrouded
in fantasy and
myth.

Per descrivere il
Carso triestino è
sufficiente
affermare che è un
territorio unico,
senza uguali in
Europa, un
territorio di fascino
e di mistero,
sospeso tra la
fantasia e il mito.

In the summer,
Viale XX Settembre
offers a pleasant
environment for
walkers to linger at
the tables placed
outside between
the rows of trees.

D’estate è piacevole
sostare ai tavolini
all’aperto inseriti
tra la doppia fila di
alberi del Viale XX
Settembre.

What awaits us at
the bottom? A
once-ploughed
patch of grass, a
chaotic mass of
stones, or a cave
whose gaping
entrance invites our
hesitant steps to
venture inside.

Cosa ci sarà sul
fondo? Un praticello
un tempo coltivato,
un ammasso di
pietre o una grotta
che spalanca il suo
ingresso invitando
il passo esitante a
entrare.