Registers of

Language
What is
Language
Register?
 What is Language
Register?
 (Halliday 1989, 44) -refers to
specific lexical and grammatical
choices as made by speakers
depending on the situational
context, the participants of a
conversation and the function of
the language in the discourse.
 What is Language
Register?
the perceived attitude and
level of formality associated
with a variety of language.

“situationallydefined
varieties” (Douglas Biber)
 What is Language
Register?
describes the various styles of
language available for writing
or speaking.

a variety of a language used in

a particular social setting, using
certain words, phrases and
contractions that are not
normally used in other settings.
Register can vary
according to:
 Medium,
Domain
Tenor
Medium (MODE)
-Language changes according to the
medium used (c.f. 'the language of speech',
'the language of writing').

Domain (FIELD) Language changes according

to the domain that the language is related to.

 (a) the subject matter being spoken or

written about (cf. 'the language of science',
'the language of law') and
 (b) the function that the language is being
used for (cf. 'the language of advertising',
'the language of government')
Tenor: The tenor of your language
(e.g. how politely or formally you
speak) changes according to:

(a) who you are talking or writing

to (ex: the language we use
when talking to close friends
compared with that used when
talking to strangers or people
who are socially distant from us)
Tenor: The tenor of your language
(e.g. how politely or formally you
speak) changes according to:
(b) the social situation you
find yourself in (ex: a child
whose mother is a teacher will
talk to her in different ways,
depending on whether they
are at home or at school).
Types of
Registers
1. Frozen/Static
♠ This
style of register rarely or
never changes. It is “frozen” in
time and content.

The Pledge of Allegiance

The Lord’s Prayer
The Preamble to the U.S.
Constitution
laws
2. Formal
♠One-way participation
and impersonal.
♠Used in formal settings.
♠Follows a commonly
accepted format.
Examples:
speeches, sermons,
business meetings, essays,
rhetorical statements and
questions, pronouncements
made by judges, wedding
vows and announcements
and the like.
3. Professional/Academic
Language or Consultative
♠Standard form of
communication
♠Users engage in a mutually-
accepted structure of
speech.
♠ formal conversation focused
on providing information.
Examples:
 Professional discourse, such
as when strangers meet, or
communications between a
superior and a subordinate,
doctor and patient, teacher
and student, job interviews
(interviewee and interviewer)
and the like.
4. Casual
♠Thisis informal language
used by peers and friends.
♠Slang, vulgarities, and
colloquialisms are normal.
♠Considered as group
language.
Examples:
 Conversation with
buddies, teammates,
chats and emails, and
blogs, and letters to
friends.
5. Intimate
♠Non-public. Intonation is
more important than wording
or grammar. Private
vocabulary.
♠This is for private
conversations in a close
relationship.
Examples:
 A parent-child, sibling-
siblings, boyfriend-girlfriend,
husband-wife conversations.
♠Allvisitors are invited to
proceed upstairs immediately.
♠Would everyone please
proceed upstairs at once?
♠Would you all please go
upstairs right away?
♠Com’n upstairs now!
♠Babe, can you go upstairs?
Greetings in deifferent registers
Partings in different registers
♠Allvisitors are invited to
proceed upstairs immediately.
♠Would everyone please
proceed upstairs at once?
♠Would you all please go
upstairs right away?
♠Com’n upstairs now!
♠Babe, can you go upstairs?
Dialect vs.
Register?
• Halliday (1990, 41)
defines…

 Dialect a “variety of
language according to the user”.

 Register focuses on the

“variety according to use”.
ACTIVITY!
Compose and
present a
conversational
dialogue using
any types of
registers discussed.