Topic as a structure, character entity, message, and transaction

Abstract EN

The term topic has been defined by so many linguists and scholars corresponding to their interests and purposes, yet no comprehensive and accurate definition has been stimulated to convey all the essential features of this term.

The research is an endeavor to shed some light on four main trends that define the term topic.

The first one looks at the topic as a structure which could be grammatical and informational.

The second sees Topic as an entity that is to say a discoursal rather than a sentential process.

The third one considers Topic as a message of two types : Local topic which is identified in terms of the semantic relationships set up between the successive sequences of sentences of a discourse, or rather the propositions (idea units) they express.(b) Global topic is concerned with the meaning of large discourse chunks.

Finally the fourth one which focuses on topic as a level that spells out the subject-matter a certain chunk of discourse.