Outrageously Funny Search Suggestion Engine :: Emphasis Fluid

👉 The emphasis fluid refers to a linguistic phenomenon where the focus or highlighted part of a sentence shifts dynamically based on context, speaker intention, and discourse structure. Unlike rigid syntactic markers (e.g., cleft sentences or word order changes), emphasis fluid relies on prosodic cues (intonation, stress, rhythm) and pragmatic factors to signal what information is new, contrastive, or central to the conversation. For example, in "It’s
John
who left early," stressing "John" emphasizes he is the unexpected or key subject, even if the sentence structure doesn’t explicitly mark him as the focus. This flexibility allows speakers to adapt emphasis to conversational goals, making it a core tool for clarity and nuance in communication.

emphasis fluid