4.1.2. New information focus
Information focus provides new information to a discourse, usually in response to questions. In DGS, information focus is optionally marked by raised eyebrows, head nods, and wide-open eyes. There is a tendency that the information focus constituents remain in their original sentence position.
A: eric buy what?
‘What did Eric buy?’
foc
B: eric book buy
‘Eric bought a book.’
As the marking of information focus is optional and often subtle, it is especially difficult to distinguish, for instance, subject focus marking from general subject marking in DGS. Furthermore, DGS signers most naturally reply to a question that is asking for particular new information (narrow focus question) with a single constituent answer and not with a full sentence in which the narrow constituent is marked for new information focus.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant Agreement No 693349.