New / Given Information
Is this information new or already in the conversation?
意味
Whether a piece of information is being introduced, repeated, contrasted, assumed, resumed, or made prominent.
見分け方
Ask whether the listener already has this information in the mental scene.
例
new|known|already mentioned|same one
a man... the man|this idea|that problem
A woman entered the room. The woman smiled.
Visual guide
Conversation state: 1 NEW A woman entered. -> add woman #1 2 GIVEN The woman smiled. -> reuse woman #1 Listener already has it.
One referent, many statuses: NEW: a woman GIVEN: the woman RESUMED: she / Ø CONTRAST: that woman Languages mark this by: article, order, stress, particle, pronoun, omission
言語別ビュー
母語では
New and given information are strongly tied to が, は, demonstratives and omission.
女の人が部屋に入った。その人は笑った。
A woman entered the room. That person smiled.
学習中の言語では
New and given information are tracked by articles, pronouns, repetition, stress, and topic structures.
Une femme est entrée. La femme a souri.
A woman entered. The woman smiled.
Learners often repeat nouns too much or choose articles that do not match discourse status.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.