elativetopic

Elativetopic is a term in discourse linguistics describing a topic whose relative prominence depends on context. An elativetopic is not inherently central to a discourse plan; its status shifts with perspective, purpose, or information needs of interlocutors. The concept helps explain how topics become salient only in certain frames of reference.

Origin and etymology: The term is a portmanteau of elative and topic, with early use attributed to L. A. Marin in 2018. It denotes that topichood can be relational, varying across discourse contexts.

Core ideas: Topic status is relative and depends on perspective, purpose, and information needs. Discourse devices such as fronting, pronoun use, or contrastive markers can signal an elativetopic. Researchers analyze shifts in topic status across turns and goals; examples illustrate audience-specific elativetopics (e.g., "electric vehicles" for consumers vs. "grid reliability" for policymakers).

Applications: The concept is used in discourse analysis, information-structure studies, and natural language processing. Recognizing elativetopics can aid topic segmentation, dialogue management, and context-aware response generation.

Reception and criticism: Some scholars argue the concept is fluid and difficult to test cross-linguistically, while others see it as a useful lens for context-dependent topic dynamics. Ongoing work aims for formal annotation schemes and experimental validation.