We present a phenomenon in Modern Hebrew where an accented affirmative
particle *ken* ‘yes’ adjoins to the verb in a proposition p and contributes
the meaning ‘indeed p’. Similar phenomena were investigated in English and
German, under the term verum (‘truth’) focus, and are often explained via a
silent truth operator at the left periphery of the clause. Alternative
accounts derive the same meaning through the mechanism of focus
alternatives. The data from Hebrew provides evidence in favor of the latter.