A SubTop may be defined as a Topic which may be legitimately inferred from a GivTop [Given Topic] on the basis of our knowledge of what is normally the case in the world.
- Dik (1989), a pag.275

Sometimes, given a certain GivTop [Given Topic], we may go on to talk about another Topic related to it “as if” it had been introduced before. For example, once we have introduced a certain party as a D-Topic [Discourse Topic], we may go on to talk about “the music” as if it were a GivTop, as in (7) John gave ‘a party’ last week, but ‘the music’ was awful This is warranted on the basis of the common knowledge that usually some music is played at parties, and that the music may be important for the atmosphere. In such cases, we shall call “the music” a Sub-Topic (SubTop) of “the party”.
- Dik (1989), a pag.267