Spotlight / Focus
Focus
Emphasis
Cleft
Contrastive focus
What is the most important new information?
booster
intermediate
Information structure
معنی
The part of the message that carries the main emphasis, contrast, correction, or answer to the current question.
اسے کیسے پہچانیں
Ask which part would be stressed or corrected in context.
مثالیں
الفاظ
only|even|it was|not X but Y
فقرے
it was Anna who|ANNA did it|only Peter
جملہ
Anna bought the book, not Peter.
Visual guide
Basic shape
Message = background + focus Who bought the book? background: bought the book FOCUS: Anna Anna bought the book. = Anna, not Peter
Compare shape
Same focus, many shapes Stress: ANNA did it Cleft: it was Anna who... Particle: only Peter Contrast: not X but Y Word order/focus slot may mark it Task: find the spotlight
زبان کا جائزہ
آپ کی زبان میں
Urdu (standard)
موجودگی
strong
اہمیت
Focus is expressed by particles such as ہی, بھی, تو, word order and stress.
علی ہی آیا۔
Ali only came.
سیکھی جانے والی زبان میں
Bengali (standard)
موجودگی
strong
مشکل کی سطح
Focus can be shown by stress, word order and particles such as -ই.
আমি-ই কাজটা করেছি।
I myself did the work.
سیکھنے والوں کا عام مسئلہ
Learners may miss the strong exclusive/corrective force of -ই.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.