Ways of classifying varieties of English

1. Ways of classifying varieties of English Style, register, genre, …

2. Varieties of English • Already seen accent, dialect • Talked about geographic and sociological aspects of language variety • Want to focus today on aspects of “style” • In particular “register”

3. Register • Subset of language as defined by purpose and setting • Term first used by Reid (1956), but popularised by Halliday (et al.) (1964) to distinguish • Variety due to user (accent, dialect) • Variety due to use • Halliday (1964) defines register in terms of field, tenor and mode.

4. Field, tenor and mode • All of these can determine or be defined, to greater or lesser extent, in terms of • Vocabulary • Syntax • Phonology • Morphology • Pragmatics • Paralinguistic features • (Non-linguistic correlates)

5. Field • Relates to the subject matter • Idea that what you are talking about determines vocabulary in particular • Specialised meanings of words, especially if a technical field (maybe narrower or broader than the word’s meaning in another field) • Preferred interpretations of ambiguous words • Words that are not used outside the field

6. Field • Can also determine syntax • certain grammatical constructions may be favoured, or disfavoured • Some constructions may deviate from the “norm” • Less likely to have an impact on other levels • Related topics: • Sublanguage, LSP • Terminology

7. Tenor • Relates to the participants and their relationship • Speaker/writer • Intended audience • In spoken language • Speaker, hearer(s) • In written language • Author, intended readership

8. Tenor relates to … • Formality • Appropriateness of more or less formal phonology, lexis, syntax • Intimacy • Use of private, shared meanings • Including intonation, syntax, pragmatic and paralinguistic elements • Impression • Speaker’s/writer’s intention to portray themselves in a certain way: speaker can control what they say/write • Less control over how audience interpret this • Non-linguistic elements particularly relate to tenor • Dress code, stance, gestures, …

9. Tenor determines … • Vocabulary • Choice of synonyms according to level of formality • Private slang, “local” clichés, colloquialisms • Syntax / orthography • Use of contractions, ellipses • Certain constructions may be more or less formal • Phonology • Accent [is this changing?] • Pragmatics • Precision more or less tolerated • Use of pronouns and deictic reference • Paralinguistic features • Intonation • Pitch and volume

10. Formality scale • Quirk et al. (1965) suggest a scale of “Attitudes”: • Very formal, Frozen, Rigid • FORMAL • Neutral • INFORMAL • Very informal, Casual, Familiar

11. Mode • Channel of communication, broadly written vs spoken, but … • Written to be read aloud or not • Written as if it were spoken • Transcripts of genuine dialogues • Dialogue in plays • Spoken from written • Speeches, announcements • Spoken spontaneously

12. Mode relates to … • Lexis and grammar • There are things that you say but you wouldn’t write down and vice versa • Phonology • Euphony, alliteration are aspects of mode • Written representation of dialect

13. Some other terms • Several concepts found which cut across Halliday’s definition of register: • Text type • Genre • Style

14. Modes Detailed report Brief report Summary Abstract tenor Lay reader Child Humorous or not Revealing author’s opinion or neutral Text type • Mainly modes, but also incorporating some aspects of tenor • Distinctions such as

15. Genre • Term used in many other fields (eg literary, musical, painting) • In stylistics, term used to capture all of mode, tenor and field, so possibly a synonym of register • Possible distinction????? • Register = the set of linguistic features • Genre = the set of determinants

16. Register is a fuzzy concept • No discrete boundaries in registers • We cannot easily define and name specific registers • Rather “register” refers to a set of tendencies determining language at all levels • The tendencies being related principally to field, mode and tenor

17. Joos (1961) styles • Frozen: Printed unchanging language such as bible quotations; often contains archaisms. • Formal: One-way participation, no interruption. Technical vocabulary; "Fussy semantics" or exact definitions are important. Includes introductions between strangers. • Consultative: Two-way participation. Background information is provided — prior knowledge is not assumed. "Backchannel behaviour" such as "uh huh", "I see", etc. is common. Interruptions 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.

18. Style and stylistics • Even if “style” is a somewhat nebulous concept, there is some interest in trying to characterise style • Next time: stylometrics • how do you measure style? • Can you characterise registers in terms of numerical measurements? (Biber)