View source for Register (sociolinguistics)

{{Short description|Form of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular communicative situation}}
{{About||the phonological term|Register (phonology)||Register (disambiguation)}}
{{Sociolinguistics}}
In [[sociolinguistics]], a '''register''' is a [[Variety (linguistics)|variety]] of [[language]] used for a particular purpose or particular communicative situation. For example, when speaking officially or in a public setting, an [[English language|English]] speaker may be more likely to follow [[Linguistic prescription|prescriptive norms]] for formal [[usage]] than in a casual setting, for example, by pronouncing words ending in ''-ing'' with a [[velar nasal]] instead of an [[alveolar nasal]] (e.g., ''walking'' rather than ''walkin{{'}}''), choosing words that are considered more formal, such as ''father'' vs. ''dad'' or ''child'' vs. ''kid'', and refraining from using words considered [[Nonstandard dialect|nonstandard]], such as ''[[ain't]]'' and ''[[y'all]]''.
As with other types of [[language variation]], there tends to be a spectrum of registers rather than a discrete set of obviously distinct varieties—numerous registers can be identified, with no clear boundaries between them. Discourse categorization is a complex problem, and even according to the general definition of language variation defined by use rather than user, there are cases where other kinds of language variation, such as regional or age [[dialect]], overlap. Due to this complexity, scholarly consensus has not been reached for the definitions of terms such as ''register'', ''field'', or ''tenor''; different scholars' definitions of these terms often contradict each other.
Additional terms such as diatype, [[genre]], [[text types]], [[style (sociolinguistics)|style]], [[acrolect]], [[mesolect]], [[basilect]], [[sociolect]], and [[ethnolect]], among many others, may be used to cover the same or similar ground. Some prefer to restrict the domain of the term ''register'' to a specific vocabulary{{Sfn|Wardhaugh|1986}} which one might commonly call [[slang]], [[jargon]], [[argot]], or [[Cant (language)|cant]], while others argue against the use of the term altogether. Crystal and Davy, for instance, have critiqued the way the term has been used "in an almost indiscriminate manner".{{Sfn|Crystal|Davy|1969}} These various approaches to the concept of register fall within the scope of disciplines such as sociolinguistics (as noted above), [[stylistics]],{{Sfn|Wardhaugh|1986}} [[pragmatics]],{{Sfn|Joos|1961}} and [[systemic functional grammar]].{{Sfn|Halliday|Hasan|1976}}
==History and use==
The term ''register'' was first used by the linguist [[T. B. W. Reid]] in 1956,{{Sfn|Agha|2008}} and brought into general currency in the 1960s by a group of linguists who wanted to distinguish among variations in language according to the ''user'' (defined by variables such as social background, geography, sex and age), and variations according to ''use'', "in the sense that each speaker has a range of varieties and choices between them at different times."{{Sfn|Halliday|McIntosh|Strevens|1964}} The focus is on the way language is used in particular situations, such as [[legalese]] or [[motherese]], the language of a biology research lab, of a news report, or of the bedroom.
[[Michael Halliday|M. A. K. Halliday]] and [[Ruqaiya Hasan|R. Hasan]]{{Sfn|Halliday|Hasan|1976}} interpret ''register'' as "the linguistic features which are typically associated with a configuration of situational features—with particular values of the field, mode and tenor." Field for them is "the total event, in which the text is functioning, together with the purposive activity of the speaker or writer; includes subject-matter as one of the elements." Mode is "the function of the text in the event, including both the channel taken by language – spoken or written, extempore or prepared – and its genre, rhetorical mode, as narrative, didactic, persuasive, '[[Phatic expression|phatic communion]]', etc." The tenor refers to "the type of role interaction, the set of relevant social relations, permanent and temporary, among the participants involved". These three values – field, mode and tenor – are thus the determining factors for the linguistic features of the text. "The register is the set of meanings, the configuration of semantic patterns, that are typically drawn upon under the specified conditions, along with the words and structures that are used in the realization of these meanings." Register, in the view of M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasan, is one of the two defining concepts of text. "A text is a passage of discourse which is coherent in these two regards: it is coherent with respect to the context of situation, and therefore consistent in register; and it is coherent with respect to itself, and therefore cohesive."
==Register as formality scale==<!-- This section is linked from [[Quebec French]] -->
One of the most analyzed areas where the use of language is determined by the situation is the formality scale. The term ''register'' is often, in [[language teaching]] especially, shorthand for formal/informal style, although this is an aging definition. Linguistics textbooks may use the term ''tenor'' instead,{{Sfn|Halliday|1978}} but increasingly prefer the term ''style—''"we characterise styles as varieties of language viewed from the point of view of formality"{{Sfn|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.
In one prominent model, [[Martin Joos]] describes five styles in spoken English:{{Sfn|Joos|1961}}
* '''Frozen:''' Also referred to as '''static''' register. Printed unchanging language, such as [[biblical]] quotations; often contains [[archaism]]s. Examples are the [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]] of the [[United States of America]] and other "static" vocalizations. The wording is exactly the same every time it is spoken.
* '''Formal:''' One-way participation; no interruption; technical vocabulary or exact definitions are important; includes presentations or introductions between strangers.
* '''Consultative:''' Two-way participation; background information is provided – prior knowledge is not assumed. "Back-channel behavior" such as "uh huh", "I see", etc. is common. Interruptions are allowed. For example teacher/student, doctor/patient, or expert/apprentice.
* '''Casual:''' In-group friends and acquaintances; no background information provided; [[elliptical construction|ellipsis]] and [[slang]] common; interruptions common. This is common among friends in a social setting.
* '''Intimate:''' Non-public; intonation more important than wording or grammar; private vocabulary. Also includes non-verbal messages. This is most common among family members and close friends.
==ISO standard==
The [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO) has defined the international standard [[ISO 12620]], ''Management of terminology resources – Data category specifications''.{{sfn|ISO|2019}} This is a registry for registering linguistic terms used in various fields of translation, computational linguistics and natural language processing and defining mappings both between different terms and the same terms used in different systems. The registers identified are:
* bench-level register
* dialect register
* facetious register
* formal register
* in-house register
* ironic register
* neutral register
* slang register
* taboo register
* technical register
* vulgar register
==Diatype==
The term ''diatype'' is sometimes used to describe language variation which is determined by its social purpose.{{Sfn|Gregory|1967}} In this formulation, language variation can be divided into two categories: [[dialect]], for variation according to ''user'', and diatype for variation according to ''use'' (e.g. the specialised language of an academic journal). This definition of diatype is very similar to those of ''register.'' The distinction between dialect and diatype is not always clear; in some cases a language variety may be understood as both a dialect and a diatype. Diatype is usually analysed in terms of ''field'', the subject matter or setting; ''tenor'', the participants and their relationships; and ''mode'', the channel of communication, such as spoken, written or signed.
==See also==
* [[Child-directed speech]]
* [[Code-switching]]
* [[Colloquialism]]
* [[Diglossia]]
* [[Elderspeak]]
* [[Etiquette]]
* [[Honorifics (linguistics)]] - politeness markers
* [[Honorific speech in Japanese]]
* [[Korean speech levels]]
* [[Literary language]]
* [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)]]
* [[Tone (literature)]]
* [[Vernacular]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* {{Cite book |last1=Crystal |first1=D |title=Investigating English Style |last2=Davy |first2=D. |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1969 |location=London |author-link=David Crystal}}
* {{cite book|last=Agha|first=Asif|editor=Alessandro Duranti|title=A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMXdopSc7BIC&pg=PA36|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-99726-0|pages=23–45|chapter=Registers of language}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gregory |first=M. |date=1967 |title=Aspects of Varieties Differentiation |journal=[[Journal of Linguistics]] |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=177–197|doi=10.1017/S0022226700016601 |s2cid=144887166 }}
* {{cite work |author=ISO |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/69550.html |title=Management of terminology resources – Data category specifications |publisher=[[International Organization for Standardization]] |date=2019 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Halliday |first1=M. A. K. |title=Cohesion in English |last2=Hasan |first2=R. |publisher=[[Longman]] |year=1976 |location=London |author-link=Michael Halliday |author-link2=Ruqaiya Hasan}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Halliday |first1=M. A. K. |title=The Linguistic Sciences and Language Teaching |last2=McIntosh |first2=M. |last3=Strevens |first3=P. |publisher=Longman |year=1964 |location=London |chapter=Comparison and translation}}
* {{Cite book |last=Halliday |first=M. A. K. |title=Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning |publisher=[[Edward Arnold (publisher)|Edward Arnold]] |year=1978 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Joos |first=M. |title=The Five Clocks |publisher=[[Harcourt, Brace and World]] |year=1961 |location=New York |author-link=Martin Joos}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Quirk |first1=R. |title=A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language |last2=Greenbaum |first2=S. |last3=Leech |first3=G. |last4=Svartvik |first4=J. |publisher=Longman, Harcourt |year=1985 |author-link=Sidney Greenbaum |author-link2=Geoffrey Leech |author-link3=Edward Arnold (publisher)}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Reid |first=T. B. W. |date=1956 |title=Linguistics, Structuralism, Philology |journal=Archivum Linguisticum |volume=8}}
* {{Cite book |last=Swales |first=J. |title=Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |author-link=John Swales}}
* {{Cite book |last=Trosborg |first=A. |title=Text Typology and Translation |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |year=1997 |editor-last=Trosborg |editor-first=Anna |pages=3–23 |contribution=Text Typology: Register, Genre and Text Type}}
* {{Cite book |last=Trudgill |first=P. |title=Introducing Language and Society |publisher=Penguin |year=1992 |location=London |author-link=Peter Trudgill}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wardhaugh |first=R. |title=Introduction to Sociolinguistics |publisher=Blackwell |year=1986 |edition=2nd |location=Cambridge}}
* {{Cite book |last=Werlich |first=E. |title=A Text Grammar of English |publisher=Quelle & Meyer |year=1982 |location=Heidelberg}}
==External links==
* [http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/formality.html L. Kip Wheeler's Spectrum of Formality and Informality]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Systemic functional linguistics]]
[[Category:Discourse analysis]]
[[Category:Grammar]]
[[Category:Language varieties and styles]]
[[Category:Diglossia]]
[[Category:Linguistics terminology]]