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{{Short description|Grammatical particle used to mark the topic of a sentence}}
A '''topic marker''' is a [[grammatical particle]] used to mark the [[Topic (linguistics)|topic]] of a sentence. It is found in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]], [[Ryukyuan languages|Ryukyuan]], [[Imonda language|Imonda]] and, to a limited extent, [[Classical Chinese]]. It often overlaps with the [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] of 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==
The topic marker is one of many [[Korean particles]]. It comes in two varieties based on its [[phonetic environment]]: [[wikt:은|은]] (''eun'') is used after words that end in a consonant, and [[wikt:는|는]] (''neun'') is used after words that end in a vowel.

===Example===
In the following example, "school" ({{korean|학교|學校|hakkyo}}) is the subject, and it is marked as the topic.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ko|indent=3
|학교 '''는''' 저기 에 있다.
|hakkyo '''neun''' jeogi e itta.
|school '''TOP''' {over there} LOC is
|(The) school is over there.}}

==Japanese: は (''wa'')==<!-- This section is linked from [[Japanese grammar]] -->
The topic marker is one of many [[Japanese particles]].  It is written with the [[hiragana]] [[Japanese grammar#Topic.2C theme.2C and subject: .E3.81.AF wa and .E3.81.8C ga|は]], which is normally pronounced ''ha'', but when used as a particle is pronounced ''wa''. If what is to be the topic would have had が (''ga''), the subject marker, or を (''(w)o''), the [[direct object]] marker, 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 私は (''watashi wa''; "as for me...").  After that, it would not be necessary to mention again that the person is talking about themselves.

===Examples===
In the following example, {{nihongo|"car"|車|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.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|車 '''は''' 新しい です。
|kuruma '''wa''' atarashii desu.
|car '''TOP''' new {[''masu'' form of だ: copula]}
|(The) car is new.}}

In the following example, {{nihongo|"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 {{nihongo|"child"|子供|kodomo}}.  As before, the topic goes at the beginning of the clause.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|テレビ '''は''' 子供 が 見ます。
|terebi '''wa''' kodomo ga mimasu.
|television '''TOP''' child SBJ {[''masu'' form of "to watch"]}
|As for the TV, the child watches (it).}}

In this third example, {{nihongo|"today"|今日|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 {{nihongo|"I"|私|watashi}}. If it were made explicit, it would be marked by が.  As before, the topic goes at the beginning of the clause.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|今日 '''は''' 学校 に 行きます。
|Kyou '''wa''' gakkou ni ikimasu.
|Today '''TOP''' school IO {[''masu'' form of "to go"]}
|As for today, (I) go to school.}}

==Okinawan: や==<!-- This section is linked from [[Japanese grammar]] -->
[[Okinawan language|Okinawan]] uses the topic marker {{lang|ryu|や}} (''ya''). If the topic is not a proper noun or ends with a short vowel, it tends to merge creating long vowels such as ''wan ya'' to ''wannee'' ("I am").

===Example===
{{fs interlinear|lang=ryu|indent=3
|あんまー '''や''' ちゅらさん.
|anmaa '''ya''' churasan.
|mother '''TOP''' beautiful
|Mother is beautiful.}}

==Kurdish==

In multiple [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] and related languages there are certain fixes that signify emphasis and also the [[present continuous tense]]. These may give the sense of "also, too" both by the sentence structure and dialect. It is mostly translatable to English.

In [[Northern Kurdish]] and [[Zazaki]], [[ezafe]] markers 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 be ''the ... one'' for example: Em d kêm in u Xuedê '''ê''' temam e. (lit. ''We are lacking and God is the complete one.'' (=ê temam)). The ''ê'' is the topic marker in this comparison.

===Examples===
{{fs interlinear|lang=tk|indent=3
|top= '''Northern Kurdish (Badinani)'''
|ez '''ê/a''' d bêj-m.
|I '''TOP''' PRES say.1SG.
|I am saying. / I ''am'' saying, I do say, ''I'' say. / I say too.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=tk|indent=3
|top= '''Zazaki'''
|šma '''ê''' aue šm-en-ên.
|You.plural '''TOP''' water drink.PRES.2PL.
|You are drinking water. / You ''are'' drinking water, You do drink water, ''You'' drink water. / You drink water too.}}

In [[Central Kurdish|Central]] and [[Southern Kurdish]] and 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. ([[Sorani]] ''e êre, e êsta'') but when it is put before nouns it emphasizes them and attracts the accent. It is equivalent to [[Northern Kurdish]] "a", as in ''a vêrê, a nha'' (right here, right now) which dialectally can also be used as used in Sorani.

===Examples===
{{fs interlinear|lang=az|indent=3
|top= '''Central Kurdish (Sorani)'''
|'''e''' mn le-gel de dum.
|'''TOP''' I with PRES talk.1SG.
|I am talking to him/her. / I ''am'' talking to him, I do talk to him, ''I'' talk to him. / I talk to him too.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=tr|indent=3
|top= '''Southern Kurdish (Palewani)'''
|'''e''' to ire če ke-i?
|'''TOP''' thou here what do-2SG.
|What are you doing here? / What ''are'' you doing here, What ''do'' you do in here, What are ''you'' doing here? .}}

==Classical Chinese: 者==
{{lang|zh-Hant|者}} ({{Transliteration|cmn|zhě}}) is used sporadically in Classical Chinese and only when an author wants to emphasize the topic. {{lang|zh-Hant|者}} is usually omitted, unlike in other languages where a topic marker is generally required. Note that although 者 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 "{{lang|zh-Hant|陳勝者，陽城人也}}" ({{Transliteration|cmn|Chénshèng zhě, yángchéng rén yě}}), a famous sentence from the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'':

*Literal translation: Chen Sheng is a Yangcheng person. 
*Semantic translation: Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.
*Word for word explanation:
**{{lang|zh-Hant|陳勝}}: name of a 3rd-century B.C. rebel.
**{{lang|zh-Hant|者}}: Topic marker.
**{{lang|zh-Hant|陽城}}: name of a town.
**{{lang|zh-Hant|人}}: person.
**{{lang|zh-Hant|也}}: Is. ({{lang|zh-Hant|也}} means is, am, or are when used in conjunction with {{lang|zh-Hant|者}}; it can mean other things when used independently.)

Note that {{lang|zh-Hant|者}}, as well as the sentence of "{{lang|zh-Hant|陳勝者，陽城人也}}", is romanized here according to modern Mandarin pronunciations. It is unclear how {{lang|zh-Hant|者}} and the entire sentence would have been pronounced 2,000 years ago (and what the proper romanization should have been).

=== Example ===
{{fs interlinear|lang=zh|indent=3
|top= '''Classical Chinese'''
|陳勝 '''者''' 陽城 人 也。
|Chénshèng '''zhě''' Yángchéng rén yě.
|{[person name]} '''TOP''' {[town name]} person is
|Chen Sheng is a Yangcheng person.<br>
<Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.>}}

In modern Chinese, topic markers have been completely lost and are not used anywhere. For example,

{{fs interlinear|lang=zh|indent=3
|top= '''Mandarin Chinese'''
|陳勝 (是) 陽城 人。
|Chénshèng (shì) yángchéng rén.
|{[person name]} (is) {[town name]} person
|Chen Sheng (is) a Yangcheng person.<br>
<Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.>}}

Note: {{lang|zh-Hant|是}} can be omitted in some occasions.

==Quechua: -qa==
The enclitic "-qa" is the topic marker for many [[Quechua languages]]. It can occur on nouns, pronouns and adverbs.

===Example===
In the following example, '''Tupaq''' is the subject, and it is marked as the topic. The evidential suffixe -mi marks the theme. Both suffixes are often used for non-verbal attributive predication in the third person. The topic normally goes at the beginning of the clause.

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top= '''Southern Quechua'''
|Tupaq '''-qa''' hatun runa -m.
|{[person name]} '''TOP''' big person is
|Tupaq is a big person.}}

==Mongolian: бол, болбол==
The [[Mongolian language]] is known to have topic markers. A common one is "бол" (''bol''; in the traditional script: {{MongolUnicode|ᠪᠣᠯ}}), an abbreviation of "болбол" (''bolbol''; in the traditional script: {{MongolUnicode|ᠪᠣᠯᠪᠠᠯ}}), but there are a few other words. These words have other uses as well.

==Turkic languages==

In [[Kazakh language]] ''болсақ'' (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, the [[Turkmen language]] has the unique suffix ''-ä'' for this purpose while other suffixes keep only their literal meanings.
[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] uses ''isə/-sə'' -which means "as for"- as a topic marker.
[[Turkish language|Turkish]] like Azerbaijani uses ''-ise/-se''.

===Examples===

{{fs interlinear|lang=tk|indent=3
|top= '''Kazakh'''
|әке-м '''болса''', көп ішеді.
|father-GEN.1SG '''TOP''' a.lot drinks.
|As for my father, he drinks a lot.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=tk|indent=3
|top= '''Turkmen'''
|jeren '''ä''' heniz hem gelmändir.
|Jeren '''TOP''' still hasn't come.
|Jeren hasn't come yet.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=az|indent=3
|top= '''Azerbaijani'''
|mən '''isə''' günahkaram.
|I am.'''TOP''' sinner.
|As for me, I have committed a sin.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=tr|indent=3
|top= '''Turkish'''
|ben '''ise''' ev-de kaldım.
|I '''TOP''' home-LOC stayed.
|As for me, I stayed at home.}}

==See also==
*[[Topic-prominent language]]
*[[Topic (linguistics)]]
*[[Japanese grammar]]
**[[Japanese grammar#Thematic wa|Thematic wa]]
**[[Japanese grammar#Contrastive wa|Contrastive wa]]
*[[Japanese particles]]
**[[Japanese particles#wa|wa]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* [[James Clackson]] (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=DJDjNp6wODoC&pg=PA90 ''Indo-European linguistics: an introduction'']
* [[Ivan G. Iliev]] (2007) [https://www.scribd.com/doc/133271099/Ivan-G-Iliev-CASE-AND-VOCATIVENESS On the Nature of Grammatical Case ... (Case and Vocativeness)]
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/DownloadF/Kyouzai/ParticlesRomaji.pdf Joshi (Particles) in Japanese – Meguro Language Center]
*[[Wiktionary:は#Particle|Wiktionary definition of は as a particle]]

{{Japanese language}}

[[Category:Japanese grammar]]
[[Category:Korean language]]
[[Category:Syntactic entities]]