Topicalization
under the Microscope
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At first-glance, a sentence can be broken down
into:
A Topic and a comment
This is just one way of looking at the sentence at a superficial level: The topic (what is being talked about) and the comment (what’s being said about the topic). The ability to recognize grammar at this level is allows you to produce ASL sentences using proper ASL syntax. Syntax is the “word order” used by the language to convey information in a meaningful way. The most common syntax of ASL is called Topicalization. This is the practice of putting the Topic before the comment. Otherwise known as the
Topic + Comment Sentence structure
At closer look, every
full sentence is a combination of a subject and a verb. And most sentences will also include one or
more objects. To complicate things even further, time plays an integral part of
many sentences. At this level sentences
can be broken down into:
Subject, verb, Object & time
Let’s explore the meanings of these terms in a bit
more detail:
Verb: this is the action. It’s what’s happening in the
sentence. In English, this can be as
passive as “be” or “is”. In ASL it can
be as subtle as the predicate pronoun: “it”.
Subject: This is the “doer” the person, place or thing
that is “doing” the verb.
Object: This is the thing that is being acted upon by
the subject.
Time: This is the temporal aspect, the time that
the verb is or is going to take place.
+ Not
every sentence has an object or temporal aspect, but they all have a subject
and verb.
© Rick Mangan 2000
Syntax
of Topicalization:
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One way to think of
Topicalization is to liken it to drawing a picture. For most of us, when we begin a picture, we
start with the main point: identifying it by size, shape before we fill in the
details. In this way you can think of
your sentence as your picture. Your
topic is your main theme and your comment consists of the details you add to
the picture afterward. Your comment can
be negative, affirmative, or even a question.
In this light, signing a sentence is much like drawing a picture in
another person’s head! Be gentle. Be clear.
Don’t make them erase! (This wears on the brain!) Stating your topic first, helps your
“listener” see the picture in a logical order.
The rules of Topicalization in ASL are
simple, but require lots of practice before it feels natural. They are:
1. Topic +
comment (topic followed by comment)
2. Time;
subject; object; verb.
In the basic topic-first
sentence, your topic will be either your object or your subject. Your comment can be anything: subject, verb,
or object. In all of the following
combinations, you can see that the topic comes before the comment. Regardless of whether it is the subject or
the object, the topic always comes first!
Topic comment syntax
Object subject/verb o-s-v
Object verb/subject o-v-s
Subject verb/object
s-v-o
Subject object/verb
s-o-v
Where time is a factor: It generally comes first (although there will be
instances when you choose to end your sentence with the temporal aspect, for
emphasis). Generally, your syntax will
follow these patterns:
1.Time;
subject; object; verb: “Tomorrow I doctor+appointment
have”
2.Time;
object; subject; verb: “Tomorrow doctor+appointment
I have”
3.Time;
Object; verb; Subject: “Tomorrow have doctor+appointment
I”
4. Time; Subject; verb; Object: “Tomorrow I have doctor+appointment”
Time First: Where a sentence begins with time (past,
next-week, every-year, recently, tomorrow, etc.) the temporal aspect can
precede your topic, or it can be the topic itself.
Time as topic: In this arrangement, the time
involved in the sentence has greater or equal importance than the object or
subject:
½ Last-night I TV watch (t-s-o-v)
½ Every-night I arrive home
tired (t-s-v-o)
½ Tomorrow
grass mow I (t-o-v-s)
½ Once-in-a-while
book I read (t- o-s-v)
Time before topic: In
most cases, time is a simple precursor to the topic: The “When” that comes before the “What,”
“WHO,” “Where,” “WHY,” or “HOW.” IN
these sentences, the topic still holds the greatest importance--time is just
setting the scene, making sure that everything’s good and clear so the topic
won’t get lost.
½ (t-s-o-v)
yesterday my sister job quit
½ (t-o-v-s) Later book read I
½ (t-o-s-v)
Last week job I apply
½ (t-s-v-o) Yearly
she fly-to
Time as closure: As I said, there will be cases when you choose to save your temporal
aspect until the end for emphasis.
Because the last sign of any sentence can be held, it can carry more
weight, being the last “word hanging in the air”. Time-signs that commonly close sentences
include: finish, not-yet, sometimes, future, Never, later, past, always, tomorrow, yesterday, soon, and week-days. In this kind of sentence time appears in the
comment line.
½ I
go-out movies never (s-v-o-t)
½ Grass
mow I tomorrow (o-v-s-t)
½ I-call-you
next-week (s-v-o-t)
½ I work
Microsoft before (s-v-o-t)
½ Book I
read once-in-a-while (o-s-v-t)
½ My
sister new car buy yesterday (s-o-v-t)
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With practice, the syntax of Topicalization
becomes natural and second-nature, even if you are a native speaker of
English. The trick is to remember to
place your topic right out there in front each time you lift your hands
to communicate. Of course, this
requires that you first know how to recognize your topic. It’s takes conscious effort and analysis at
first, but with time and practice you will develop a “gut-level” feel for your
topic in any given context. When you
are able to unlock the syntax of Topicalization, you will have: The key to clarity.