Topic, focus, and frame-setting constructions

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• How various topic, focus, and frame-setting constructions are marked syntactically and what they mean

VocabularyVocabulary

NoteTopic, focus, and frame-setting constructions

Topic and focus are discussed extensively in Syntax C. As a brief reminder, topic is the constituent that the sentence is about (normally the subject), and focus is a marking (through phonological stress or movement) that invites us to think about alternatives and negates those alternatives. In Laura ate BROCCOLI for dessert on her first birthday, the sentence is about Laura, so she is the topic. The focused element, BROCCOLI, is in all caps to show phonological stress. The most obvious alternative for broccoli in this case is a real dessert like cake, ice cream, or a cupcake. When we stress broccoli, we negate these other (tastier) options.

Frame-setting constructions restrict the speaker’s claim to a certain domain. These kinds of constructions are often found at the beginning of a sentence, such as In terms of her relationships, Abigail is a healthy individual. The first phrase In terms of her relationships restricts the claim of Abigail is a healthy individual to only that domain. In this kind of sentence, we might draw an inference that Abigail is unhealthy in other domains of her life, but this is not a necessary inference. We might be listing out all the ways that Abigail is a healthy individual, such as in In terms of her eating habits, spiritual life, and exercise routine, Abigail is a healthy individual; indeed, in terms of her relationships also, Abigail is a healthy individual. The specific inference that arises must, then, be determined by the context, though by restricting the claim to one domain, we often do infer that other domains are different.

Each of these notions is reflected in the syntax of Greek. Because the expression of topic and focus was covered in Syntax C, we only present brief examples here with little explanation. Frame-setting constructions occupy most of our attention.

NoteTopic

As mentioned, the topic of the sentence is often the subject. It is the thing about which something is asserted. Topics that are shifted from one entity to another normally come before the verb and are often marked with δέ (example from Kirk 2012:103):

All of the subjects in the clauses (ὁ ἀγρός, τὸ καλὸν σπέρμα, and τὰ ζιζάνια) are known entities in the discourse because they were mentioned previously. As known entities, they are available as topics. As each new topic is introduced, δέ is used to signal to the hearer/reader that they need to switch topics to whatever constituent goes with δέ. In the middle example with τὸ δὲ καλὸν σπέρμα, a demonstrative pronoun is used to refer back to the topic, showing that there is a position in the sentence before the subject that can be occupied by the topic.

NoteFocus

Focus can be indicated in several ways syntactically. Like the topic, a focused element may be found before the subject in a position that it would normally not occupy. Given that ἐξ ἔργων moves past the verb and subject in the below example, the order of the elements is Focus>(Subject)>Verb>(Subject) whenever the focused element does undergo movement.

As discussed in Syntax C, focus need not always involve movement, especially contrastive focus and additive focus, so the movement we see in Jas 2:24 need not always occur.

NoteFrame-setting constructions

Frame-setting constructions are used to situate the reader to temporal, locational, or “aboutness” information that is relevant to the following clause. Common syntactic constructions include the use of γίνομαι/εἰμί + temporal/location phrase or clauses that begin with περί.

In each of the above cases, the frame is set before the main clause. The temporal frame in Luke 1:59 moves the time of the narrative to a certain day (namely 8 days after John the Baptist is born), and then the first relevant event that happens on that day is given (followed by other events on that day). In Rom 9:26, which is a quote from Hosea 1:10, the location is specified to be the place where the people were originally called ‘you are not my people,’ and then the calling event is said to happen in that same place (ἐκεῖ being used anaphorically). Finally, 1 Corinthians has several sections that begin with περί where Paul changes the topic of what he is writing about (7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1). The aboutness frame-setting restricts the following claim to a certain domain and shifts the topic in the discourse as a whole.

As pointed out by Krifka (2007), frame-setting constructions are similar to both topic and focus, but they are not to be equated with either. Like focus, they negate alternatives. In each of the above examples, other potential temporal, locational, or aboutness options are negated, e.g. it was on the eighth day, and not another day, that Zechariah and Elizabeth went to circumcise the child. Like topics, frame-setters can contribute aboutness information, i.e. the subsequent clause can be said to address a certain topic, in this case ‘Apollo.’ However, because frame-setters can co-occur with a topic and focus, they are not the same. The topic in Luke 1:59 remains Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives (referred to in the previous verse and continued implicitly in the verb ἦλθον) despite the change in the temporal frame of the narrative. In Rom 9:26, ἐκεῖ is fronted for focus (‘there’ and not somewhere else) after the locative frame-setting device is used. Thus, frame-setters, though often serving similar functions to topic and focus, cannot be equated with them.