Abstract:

Data show the fact that the DP clause is often used to begin a clause or a text, thus performing the hyper Theme or macro Theme in the discourse. We aim to look into these functions from a cognitive-functional approach. A brief survey has been made of the approaches of various linguistic schools to the paragraph. While following Dooley, we see it as the minimal complete discourse unit, we adopt an eclectic approach so that we may bring to light the structure and texture of the clause. Six samples are studied to show how knowledge management and attention management in conceptual organization combine to bring out the intended meaning the narrator may have in mind, and how attention management brings out a difference in the foregrounding of the discourse, thus confirming the fact that the DP clause is capable of performing the function of hyper Theme. Such DP clause as appears in the initial position of a paragraph also contributes to the creation of texture by either ushering in a new space when the DP₁ is realized by a verb of the metaphorical be type,or relating what goes before in the previous paragraph with what comes after in the paragraph it begins when the DP₁is realized by a verb of the metaphorical become type. In the study of macro Theme, two texts are studied in terms of conceptual functions in the discourse space in order to see the general outline of the text and avoid the pitfall of not seeing the forest for the trees. The results of the analysis show that the DP clause performs the textual function as macro Theme adequately.

Key words: English, double predicate, clause, textual function, hyper Theme, macro Theme