Topical Sentences

By Reba Orton

What are topics?

• A topic is really an add-on, like the tag questions found in English:

English:Mom already left, right? S V Tag-Q ASL:________________________y/n-qMOTHER FINISH LEAVE, RIGHT? S V Tag-Q

How Do Topics Work?

• Topics are added on to the beginning of sentences, not at the end.

• One example in English is when a teacher is speaking to one person who wants to take a test early and then speaking to the rest of the class to avoid misunderstandings.

English:

_____________Topic, ______________________________Comment

"As for the rest of you, I am still giving you your final tests on Friday."

ASL Topical Sentence Structure

• ASL topical sentences are regular SVO ASL sentences with a topic added to the beginning.

 ___________t, ________________________________________c

YOU-PLURAL, STILL I-GIVE-YOU-PLURAL FINAL TEST FRIDAY

 • There is a head rise and a brow rise during the

ASL topical portion of this sentence.

What Are Topics Used For?

• Topical sentences are more commonly found in other spoken languages, not English.

• Topical portions of sentences are used for– attention getting,– starting a new topic, or– alerting others of changes in the

subject

MISUNDERSTOOD I-ASK-YOU

• I-ASK-YOU may have been mistranscribed in old ASL books as YOU.

• The I-ASK-YOU is a horizontal 1-handshape with an index finger flick.

• This kind of mistranslation may leave you with an erroneous impression that ASL is not SVO because many times the subject ME is left out at the beginning of the ASL sentence.

• The ME is assumed to be there, even though it is not produced.

ASL IS SVO

• ASL sentence structure is basically Subject, Verb, Object. Spanish is an example of a language where the subject is left out.

• For example,  nodSpanish: Yo tengo la libro ahora, si.

S V O nodEnglish: I have the book now, yes. S V O

The “I” is Assumed

nod

Spanish: Tengo la libro ahora, si.

V O

nod

ASL: HAVE BOOK NOW, YES

V O

CONCLUSION

• ASL tags are also added to the end of the sentence for emphasis, for example,

ASL: ME, ME, ME, YOU!

English: You only think of yourself!