the information packaging in which one concept (the comment) is predicated about another concept which is referred to (the topic). Example: The bus stopped is an instance of a topic–comment construction in which stopped is the comment and The bus is the topic. Topic–comment information packaging is basically synonymous with predication; the term 'topic–comment' highlights the fact that a predication is a predication about a referent. (Sections 2.2.2, 10.1.2, 11.1, 11.2.1)