Spotlight / Focus
Focus
Emphasis
Cleft
Contrastive focus
What is the most important new information?
booster
intermediate
Information structure
Ý nghĩa
The part of the message that carries the main emphasis, contrast, correction, or answer to the current question.
Cách nhận biết
Ask which part would be stressed or corrected in context.
Ví dụ
Từ
only|even|it was|not X but Y
Cụm từ
it was Anna who|ANNA did it|only Peter
Câu
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
Góc nhìn theo ngôn ngữ
Trong ngôn ngữ của Bạn
Vietnamese (standard)
Mức độ thể hiện
strong
Tầm quan trọng
Focus can be marked by chính, chỉ, mới, là-cleft-like structures, word order and intonation.
Chính tôi đã trả tiền.
exactly I past pay money
Trong ngôn ngữ đang học
Bengali (standard)
Mức độ thể hiện
strong
Độ khó
Focus can be shown by stress, word order and particles such as -ই.
আমি-ই কাজটা করেছি।
I myself did the work.
Vấn đề thường gặp của người học
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.