4.3.1. Focus
In DGS, focus is marked prosodically and/or syntactically. Prosodic focus marking may be tensed/pronounced and large signing and the lengthening of signs. Non-manual focus marking comprises raised eyebrows, head nods and tilts, and wide-open eyes.
A: alisa buy what?
‘What did Alisa buy?
foc
B: alisa car buy
‘Alisa bought a car.’
Syntactically, focused elements can be placed sentence-finally as in question-answer-sequences.
re foc
alisa buy what: car
‘Alisa bought a car.’
There is a lexical element glossed as self (signed with the B-handshape held upright and palm facing inwards to the body) that is associated with focus and is called a focus marker.
foc
man self book read
‘It was the man (himself) that was reading a book.’
The sign self follows the focused constituent and is accompanied by focus marking facial expressions including raised eye brows, wide eyes and head nods.