enfocabais

Enfocabais is a term used in speculative linguistics and conlang circles to describe a hypothetical device for marking focus within a verb phrase. In this framework, enfocabais functions as a dedicated marker that signals emphatic focus on the action or its object, rather than ordinary topical emphasis. It is not attested in natural languages.

Name origin. The label blends the Spanish verb enfocar with the -ais ending, a common second-person plural imperfect form. Because of this, enfocabais is often used as a mnemonic tag rather than as an asserted surface form of any real language.

Morphology and syntax. In proposed models, enfocabais is realized as a clitic attached to the verb or as a separate particle preceding it. Its function is to encode emphatic focus on the action or its object, and it may interact with prosody or word order. It does not by itself encode tense.

Example. In a hypothetical language, the sentence "María enfocabais el objeto" would translate roughly as "María was focusing the object with emphatic focus." The exact realization varies across models; the important point is the explicit focus marking.

Usage and reception. Enfocabais is discussed mainly as a conceptual tool in information-structure studies and conlang practice. It is not used in descriptive linguistics of real languages, and some critics view it as speculative. Proponents see it as a useful thought experiment about focus encoding.

See also. Focus (linguistics), Information structure, Prosody, Constructed language.