Author(s)

Suqin Li^1,2

¹School of Foreign Languages of Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
²School of Foreign Languages of Dali University, Dali, China.

The Bai language (shortened as Bai) used in southwest China demonstrates a variety of typological facets in terms of the Theme structure. The usual Theme in Bai clauses is a nominal phrase, or a pronominal phrase. Bai clauses can often start with the Object being the topical Theme. It has low tolerance for multiple Themes. The subjectless clauses indicate richer possibilities in construing meaning than their counterparts with recovered Subjects.

Bai, Types of Themes, Topical Theme Marker

Li, S. (2015) A Description of the Theme Structure of Bai Clause. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 5, 528-538. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2015.56046.