The article proposes an approach to pick out four different functions of rheme in the very beginning of a sentence; they are emphasis, divided rheme, facilitated construction and thematizing of a part of a compound rheme. The emphasis is the extra force that the speaker gives to a word placed in the beginning of the sentence which has the particular importance in an emotional speech or text. The divided rheme the speaker can use to stress both important parts of a compound rheme; in this case the rheme is divided into two parts and the first of them is moved to the beginning position in the sentence. The facilitated construction is used for making a complicated compound construction easier to understand, thereto the rheme is also divided into two parts and the first of them is moved to the very beginning of the sentence. If the speaker moves the second part of the divided rheme to the first position in the sentence then it becomes its theme, this process can be called thematizing.
Udilova Darja. FUNCTIONS OF RHEME IN THE BEGINNING OF A SENTENCE IN MODERN SWEDISH