Prominence and Markedness in New Testament Discourse 15 refers to material that is least prominent to the discourse. “The background elements seem to function at the level of clause, since these are often used to establish the backbone of a narrative or the supporting historical and descriptive material for a discursive or expositional text”61. The sequence of a narrative is usually maintained with the use of the aorist tense- form, and further supporting information is generally conveyed through infinitives, participles, and secondary constructions. Background, then, while important to develop the storyline or argument, is the base level of prominence in a discourse. Foreground refers to elements that “are those that have significance greater than the simplest structural discourse unit, the clause. The items introduced, whether they be persons, events, motifs or other concepts, are meant to be distinguished from background material, whether this be supportive or mainline discourse”62. These may be elements that are repeated throughout the discourse, or in the naming of a character within the discourse. Foreground is the primary way in which the writer/speaker may choose to emphasize certain parts of the discourse. Finally, frontground refers to “those linguistic elements which stand out somewhat unexpectedly, that is, they are semantically marked, even if they have been previously introduced into the discourse”63. They may not carry much semantic weight, but they function as “attention grabbers” in the discourse. Frontground material is the less common way for a writer/speaker to introduce prominent material, since it is used for “excessive emphasis.” It also incidentally is the least frequent of the three levels of prominence. Of course, background elements have the lowest degree of prominence, while foreground has a higher degree; frontground is considered even higher than foreground. In summary, background is material that serves as the backbone of the narrative or discourse, and it provides the various details and arguments without which the narrative or discourse does not stand. The foreground material is the essential focus of the writer and should be given attention by the reader/listener. Additionally, frontground material including material in the discourse that the writer wants to especially highlight, elements that may be complex, defined, or contoured in some way. The well-known illustration of a bookcase may help. The background is the entire bookcase, while foreground is a row of books. Frontground, then, is a single selected book64. 61 Porter, “Prominence,” 54. 62 Porter, “Prominence,” 55. 63 Reed, Philippians, 108. 64 Porter, Idioms, 23.