Theme Markedness in Persian and English Medical Texts: A Systemic-functional Approach

In this paper an attempt was made to compare the clause theme and its markedness in Persian and English medical texts. The study was conducted according to SFG and is concerned with the thematic structure of this approach. The data gathered were from medical texts in Persian and English languages, and the unit of analysis, according to Halliday’s approach, was clause. This study indicated that in Persian medical texts, many circumstantial adjuncts in the subject position sound unmarked to Persian native speakers and Persian language does not completely conform to the concept of Halliday’s theory Regarding markedness. This research maintained that the properties of being pro-drop and having non-fixed word order distinguish Persian from English regarding the notion of markedness. In fact, Theme markedness is closely related to some factors such as specific genre, authors’/writers’ style differences, emphasis, contrast, and language differences