The Hallidayan notions of theme and rheme pose an interesting challenge to linguists in their attempts to pin them down more specifically. Argues that, because the thematic structure of the clause organizes itself as a message, a useful starting point in theme/rheme research is an understanding of how clausal messages are typically processed by…

Examines the claim that transformational rules are psychologically real, and applies this claim to all aspects of transformational grammar. (AM)

Examines the innate faculties that underlie linguistic competence, especially syntactic competence, and proposes a theory of these faculties which accounts for the complexities of language and the evolution of human language. (AM)