ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at semantic phenomena in Standard Arabic related to Peri/Thema–Nuc/Rhema structures which are clearly incompatible with traditional notions of theme and rheme, particularly the use of V-S word order in event-oriented/events-based/narrative sentences, and of S-V word orderin topic-oriented/concept-based sentences in Standard and Colloquial Arabic. It shows how some semantic realisations of V-S and S-V word ordersin Arabian Peninsular Arabic are the converse of those in Brazilian Portuguese, and that there are also striking differences between Arabic and Romani. Initial position in an utterance is likely to have a kind of prominence, independent of considerations of theme and rheme. This kind of semantic prominence, however, is not the same as what is meant by theme in a Prague-School account, or what is meant by given, or by theme, in a Hallidayan account.
