functional sentence perspective (FSP)

A theory of LINGUISTIC analysis associated with the modern exponents of the PRAGUE SCHOOL of linguistics. It refers to an analysis of UTTERANCES (or texts) in terms of the INFORMATION they contain, the role of each utterance part being evaluated for its SEMANTIC contribution to the whole. The notion of ‘COMMUNICATIVE dynamism’ has been developed as an attempt to rate these different LEVELS of contribution within a structure, particularly with reference to the concepts of RHEME and THEME.