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Elena Geiko: Register is the level of formality used when speaking or writing.
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Elena Geiko: Relevant Terms * Register (Style): The level of formality used when speaking and writing. Most speakers of a language know how to use many dialects, using one with friends, another when on a job interview or presenting a report in class, and another with talking with family. These are situational dialects, also called registers or styles. * Slang: An informal style of speech. Combining old words to elicit a more current meaning often creates slang terms. "Spaced out," "right on," "hang-ups," and "rip off" have all gained acceptances as slang terms. Slang terms may also introduce an entirely new word to the language; examples include "barf" and "poop." Finally, slang often ascribes totally new meanings to old words. Some examples of these type of slang words are as follows: grass/pot = marijuana, pig = police officer, sticks = legs. Words such as "rap," "cool," "dig," "stoned," and "split" have extended their semantic domain as well. * Jargon: Words peculiar to a professional realm, science, trade, or occupation. Words such as "ROM," "RAM," "morf," "modem," "bit," and "byte" were once computer jargon and only understood by computer technicians, but they are now understood by a large segment of the population. * Situational Switching: the act of changing one's register to match the setting, situation, addressee, or topic.
Elena Geiko: Some Types of Registers * Formal Register: A type of register that incorporates Standard American English and is used by professionals or in situations where people are not familiar with one another. * Informal Register: A type of register used with more familiar people in casual conversation. In the informal style of register, contractions are used more often, rules of negation and agreement may be altered, and slang or colloquialisms may be used. Informal register also permits certain abbreviations and deletions, but they are rule governed. For example, deleting the "you" subject and the auxiliary often shortens questions. Instead of asking, "Are you running in the marathon," a person might ask, "Running the marathon?" * Over-formal Register: A type of register that can be characterized by the use of a false high-pitched nasal voice. For example, a woman might approach another woman whom she does not really like and ask her cordially in a high-pitched voice, "How are you doing?" * Motherese: A type of register characterized by high-pitched, elongated sounds and "sing-song" intonation. It is used when people speak to infants, young children, or pets. * Reporting Register: A type of register characterized by easily observable verbal and non-verbal cues: flat intonation, rapid rate of speech, relatively low pitch, absence of marked facial expressions, and gestures.
Elena Geiko: Register as formality scale One of the most analysed areas where the use of language is determined by the situation is the formality scale. Writers (especially in language teaching) have often used the term "register" as shorthand for formal/informal style, although this is an aging definition. Linguistics textbooks may use the term "tenor" instead (Halliday 1978), but increasingly prefer the term "style" — "we characterise styles as varieties of language viewed from the point of view of formality" (Trudgill, 1992) — while defining "registers" more narrowly as specialist language use related to a particular activity, such as academic jargon. There is very little agreement as to how the spectrum of formality should be divided. Formality scale Very formal, Frozen, Rigid ← FORMAL - Neutral - INFORMAL → Very informal, Casual, Familiar In one prominent model, Joos (1961) describes five styles in spoken English: * Frozen: Printed unchanging language such as Biblical quotations; often contains archaisms. * Formal: One-way participation, no interruption. Technical vocabulary; "Fuzzy semantics" or exact definitions are important. Includes introductions between strangers. * Consultative: Two-way participation. Background information is provided — prior knowledge is not assumed. "Back-channel behaviour" such as "uh huh", "I see", etc. is common. Interruptions are allowed. * Casual: In-group friends and acquaintances. No background information provided. Ellipsis and slang common. Interruptions common. * Intimate: Non-public. Intonation more important than wording or grammar. Private vocabulary.
Elena Geiko: Exercises 1. Divide into groups and discuss one type of register that pertains to a particular group of people. For example, one group may want to discuss register of children below the age of five. 2. Give an example of a place or setting where people would change registers several times while speaking--for example, a courtroom. 3. Compare and contrast formal register and informal register. Give examples of situations where both would be used. 4. After observing your usage of registers in a variety of settings, write a short paragraph describing the different registers you used. Why would a person change registers in different domains?
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