new (adj.)

A term used by some LINGUISTS in a two-part analysis of utterances on the basis of INFORMATION structure; ‘new’ information is opposed to GIVEN. (The contrast between FOCUS and PRESUPPOSITION makes an analogous distinction.) ‘New’, as its name suggests, refers to information which is additional to that already supplied by the previous CONTEXT of speaking; ‘given’, by contrast, refers to the information already available. In the clearest cases, new information is identified by INTONATIONAL emphasis within the TONE UNIT, the NUCLEAR tone (or primary STRESS) signalling its focus, e.g. I’ve got thrèe books in my bag v. I’ve got three books in my bàg, and so on. Several problems arise in determining the scope of the new information, with reference to the previous CONTEXT, however, which have been the subject of much discussion, e.g. A: What can you see? B: I can see cthree mèn, where the three is plainly part of the new information, but does not carry the nuclear tone.