4.3.2. Topic
As we have seen in previous sections topics in LSC are placed at the beginning of the sentence [PRAGMATICS 4.2]. Topicalized elements are usually followed by an intonational break, which is marked by a simultaneous change in the non-manual markers and also (possibly) an eye blink.
top
onion, ix1 hate
‘Onions, I hate.’
(based on Pfau & Quer, 2010: 9)
In the example above (repeated from [PRAGMATICS 4.2]), onion is the topicalized element and it is marked by raised eyebrows. As can be observed, raised eyebrows can also be used in the expression of focus.
When the topic is contrastive it is marked through the same combination of markers found for contrastive focus: body leans and head tilts from left to right, and the use of the opposite sides of space.
left sp right sp
bl-left bl-right
[giorgia]T [linguist]F [raquel]T [interpreter]F
‘Giorgia is a linguist and Raquel is an interpreter.’
(© Alexandra Navarrete-González, 2019. Reprinted with permission from Navarrete-González, 2019: 32)
In the example above the signs giorgia is expressed with a left body lean and head tilt in the left side of the signing space. By contrast, the sign raquel is expressed towards the right side of the signing space with a right body lean and head tilt.
In sum, LSC uses the same markers for the expression of contrast in both topics and foci.