Atopic markeris agrammatical particleused to mark thetopicof a sentence. It is found inJapanese,Korean,Kurdish,Quechua,Ryukyuan,Imondaand, to a limited extent,Classical Chinese.It often overlaps with thesubjectof a sentence, causing confusion for learners, as most other languages lack it. It differs from a subject in that it puts more emphasis on the item and can be used with words in other roles as well.
Korean: 은/는
editThe topic marker is one of manyKorean particles.It comes in two varieties based on itsphonetic environment:은(eun) is used after words that end in a consonant, and는(neun) is used after words that end in a vowel.
Example
editIn the following example, "school" (Korean:학교;Hanja:Học giáo;RR:hakkyo) is the subject, and it is marked as the topic.
학교
hakkyo
school
는
neun
TOP
저기
jeogi
over there
에
e
LOC
있다.
itta.
is
(The) school is over there.
Japanese: は
editThe topic marker is one of manyJapanese particles.It is written with thehiraganaは,which is normally pronouncedha,but when used as a particle is pronouncedwa.If what is to be the topic would have had が (ga), the subject marker, or を ((w)o), thedirect objectmarker, as its particle, those are replaced by は. Other particles (for example: に, と, or で) are not replaced, and は is placed after them.
The English phrase "as for" is often used to convey the connotation of は, although in many cases this sounds unnatural when used in English. It does, however, convey some senses of the particle, one of which is to mark changing topics. If a person were speaking about someone else and then switched to referring to themselves, they should say tư は (watashi wa;"as for me..." ). After that, it would not be necessary to mention again that the person is talking about themselves.
Examples
editIn the following example, "car"(Xa,kuruma)is the subject, and it is marked as the topic. The が that would normally be there to mark the subject has been replaced by は. The topic normally goes at the beginning of the clause.
Xa
kuruma
car
は
wa
TOP
Tân しい
atarashii
new
です.
desu.
[masuform of だ: copula]
(The) car is new.
In the following example, "television"(テレビ,terebi)is the direct object, and it is marked as the topic. The を that would normally be there to mark the direct object has been replaced by は. The subject, marked by が, is "child"(Tử cung,kodomo).As before, the topic goes at the beginning of the clause.
テレビ
terebi
television
は
wa
TOP
Tử cung
kodomo
child
が
ga
SBJ
Kiến ます.
mimasu.
[masuform of "to watch" ]
As for the TV, the child watches (it).
In this third example, "today"(Kim nhật,kyou)is used adverbially, and it is marked as the topic. Normally there would be no particle marking it as an adverb, and so は is simply added without replacing any particle. The subject, which is omitted, is assumed to be "I"(Tư,watashi).If it were made explicit, it would be marked by が. As before, the topic goes at the beginning of the clause.
Kim nhật
Kyou
Today
は
wa
TOP
Học giáo
gakkou
school
に
ni
IO
Hành きます.
ikimasu.
[masuform of "to go" ]
As for today, (I) go to school.
Okinawan: や
editOkinawanuses the topic markerや(ya). If the topic is not a proper noun or ends with a short vowel, it tends to merge creating long vowels such aswan yatowannee( "I am" ).
Example
editあんまー
anmaa
mother
や
ya
TOP
ちゅらさん.
churasan.
beautiful
Mother is beautiful.
Kurdish
editIn multipleKurdishand related languages there are certain fixes that signify emphasis and also thepresent continuous tense.These may give the sense of "also, too" both by the sentence structure and dialect. It is mostly translatable to English.
InNorthern KurdishandZazaki,ezafemarkers can function both as present continuous suffixes and be used for emphasis or statements in contrary. It can be used in all tenses. This has developed from sentences where the subject is denoted to bethe... onefor example: Em d kêm in u Xuedêêtemam e. (lit.We are lacking and God is the complete one.(=ê temam)). Theêis the topic marker in this comparison.
Examples
editez
I
ê/a
TOP
d
PRES
bêj-m.
say.1SG.
I am saying. / Iamsaying, I do say,Isay. / I say too.
šma
You.plural
ê
TOP
aue
water
šm-en-ên.
drink.PRES.2PL.
You are drinking water. / Youaredrinking water, You do drink water,Youdrink water. / You drink water too.
InCentralandSouthern Kurdishand certain other dialects, the "e" prefix is used to signify the same senses mentioned previously. It originally denotes a meaning close to English "right" as in "right here, right now" etc. (Soranie hêre, e êsta) but when it is put before nouns it emphasizes them and attracts the accent. It is equivalent toNorthern Kurdish"a", as ina vêrê, a nha(right here, right now) which dialectally can also be used as used in Sorani.
Examples
edite
TOP
mn
I
le-gel
with
de
PRES
dum.
talk.1SG.
I am talking to him/her. / Iamtalking to him, I do talk to him,Italk to him. / I talk to him too.
e
TOP
to
thou
ire
here
če
what
ke-i?
do-2SG.
What are you doing here? / Whatareyou doing here, Whatdoyou do in here, What areyoudoing here?.
Classical Chinese: Giả
editGiả (zhě) is used sporadically in Classical Chinese and only when an author wants to emphasize the topic. Giả is usually omitted, unlike in other languages where a topic marker is generally required. Note that although giả can be used as a suffix attached to a verb or adjective, transforming the verb or adjective into a noun, as a topic marker, its grammatical function is fundamentally different from that of a suffix and therefore cannot be viewed as a suffix.
As an example, consider the sentence "Trần thắng giả, dương thành nhân dã" (Chénshèng zhě, yángchéng rén yě), a famous sentence from theRecords of the Grand Historian:
- Literal translation: Chen Sheng is a Yangcheng person.
- Semantic translation: Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.
- Word for word explanation:
- Trần thắng: name of a 3rd-century B.C. rebel.
- Giả: Topic marker.
- Dương thành: name of a town.
- Nhân: person.
- Dã: Is. ( dã means is, am, or are when used in conjunction with giả; it can mean other things when used independently.)
Note that giả, as well as the sentence of "Trần thắng giả, dương thành nhân dã", is romanized here according to modern Mandarin pronunciations. It is unclear how giả and the entire sentence would have been pronounced 2,000 years ago (and what the proper romanization should have been).
Example
editTrần thắng
Chénshèng
[person name]
Giả
zhě
TOP
Dương thành
Yángchéng
[town name]
Nhân
rén
person
Dã.
yě.
is
Chen Sheng is a Yangcheng person.
<Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.>
In modern Chinese, topic markers have been completely lost and are not used anywhere. For example,
Trần thắng
Chénshèng
[person name]
( thị )
(shì)
(is)
Dương thành
yángchéng
[town name]
Nhân.
rén.
person
Chen Sheng (is) a Yangcheng person.
<Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.>
Note: Thị can be omitted in some occasions.
Quechua: -qa
editThe enclitic "-qa" is the topic marker for manyQuechua languages.It can occur on nouns, pronouns and adverbs.
Example
editIn the following example,Tupaqis the subject, and it is marked as the topic. The evidential suffixe -mi marks the rheme. Both suffixes are often used for non-verbal attributive predication in the third person. The topic normally goes at the beginning of the clause.
Tupaq
[person name]
-qa
TOP
hatun
big
runa
person
-m.
is
Tupaq is a big person.
Mongolian: бол, болбол
editTheMongolian languageis known to have topic markers. A common one is "бол" (bol;in the traditional script:ᠪᠣᠯ), an abbreviation of "болбол" (bolbol;in the traditional script:ᠪᠣᠯᠪᠠᠯ), but there are a few other words. These words have other uses as well.
Turkic languages
editInKazakh languageболсақ(bolsaq) is used as a topic marker; which can also mean "if it be". Although other Turkic languages use words or suffixes which originally have different meanings as topic markers, theTurkmen languagehas the unique suffix-äfor this purpose while other suffixes keep only their literal meanings. Azerbaijaniusesisə/-sə-which means "as for" - as a topic marker. Turkishlike Azerbaijani uses-ise/-se.
Examples
editәке-м
father-GEN.1SG
болса,
TOP
көп
a.lot
ішеді.
drinks.
As for my father, he drinks a lot.
jeren
Jeren
ä
TOP
heniz
still
hem
hasn't
gelmändir.
come.
Jeren hasn't come yet.
mən
I
isə
am.TOP
günahkaram.
sinner.
As for me, I have committed a sin.
ben
I
ise
TOP
ev-de
home-LOC
kaldım.
stayed.
As for me, I stayed at home.