Mod_rewrite, it's not entirely clear why it doesn't work?

Question

PHP

Hello!
made this .htaccess:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^/([az]*) /index.php?theme=$1
But the links still continue be of the form:
mysite.info/?theme=dictionary
and I would like:
mysite.info/dictionary
Thank you very much!

Answer 1

Forwarded to RewriteRule ^(.[^/]*)$ /index.php?theme=$1 [QSA]
lol!

Answer 2

From the fact that you prescribe such rules, links on the site will not change their appearance.
Links must be changed in the CMS code.
These rules just allow urls like mysite.info/dictionary to be treated like mysite.info/?theme=dictionary