Registers and

dialects
BY
FARID SUDARMAN
15B01150
What is register?
What is dialect?
 REGISTERS
• According to Hudson (1996: 48) it refers to varieties
according to use.
• Holmes (2001:246) said that it refers to the language of
groups of people with common interests or jobs, or the
language used in situations associated with such groups.

• A register is a variety of a language used for a particular

purpose or in a particular social setting.
 REGISTER
Formal register
Formal register is a type of
register that incorporates
Standard American English and
it’s used by professionals or in
situations where people are
not familiar with one another.
Informal register
Informal register is defined as
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.
 Dialects
• According to Spolsky (1998:33) dialect is
something that concerns variations which are
located regionally or socially.
• Dialect : refers to a variety of a language that
can signal the speaker’s regional or social
background.
• Examples : Australian dialect, Indian dialect.
 Dialects

Regional Social Temporal

dialect dialect dialect
A variety of language spoken
In a particular area of a
country

Regional
dialect

E.g.: “American English”

“British English”
It is the variety of
language
characteristic of social
background or status

Social
Dialect
E.g.: Christian, Muslims,
Jewish in Baghdad speak
different variety of Arabic
Temporal dialect means the language
variation that is used by a certain
social group in particular time

Temporal
dialect

E.g.: Old Melayu , classic Melayu , and

modern Melayu
 Social Dialects Regional Dialects

Difference in use of language due to social Different in use of language due to

class discrepancies geographical discrepancies

Social Barriers Geographical Barriers

Distance is not an important factor Distance is an important factor

Can be easily influenced by external Not easily influenced by external factors

factors
 Conclusion
Dialect refers to a variation of a language that is characteristic
of the users of that language, register refers to a variation of a
language that is determined by use, a situation or context.
Dialects are different ways of saying the same thing; they
reflect social structure (e.g., class, gender, and origin).
Registers are ways of saying different things; they reflect
social processes (e.g., division of labor, specialty, contexts,
content areas, and specific activities). Dialects are associated
with the linguistic and cultural characteristics of the users
who belong to the same broad linguistic group; registers are
associated with the characteristics of the language.