REGISTER

In linguistics, the register is defined as the way a

speaker uses language differently in different
circumstances
“the fact that the language we speak or write varies
according to the type of situation”
Using Ockham’s razor, one might wonder why the
notion of “register” is
necessary at all, unless one defines it in a much more
specific way, for
instance in terms of the set of grammatical or
discourse properties controlled
by one or more contextual features.
FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE
TWO CATEGORIES OF LANGUAGE
FUNCTIONS:
1. MICRO FUNCTION(General) - Individual
Uses
2. MACRO FUNCTION(Meta) - Overall aims
General or Micro Functions:
1. Physiological
2. Phatic
3. Recording
4. Identifying
5. Reasoning
6. Communicating
7. Pleasure
1. PHYSIOLOGICAL
(Releasing Physical and Nervous Energy)
• Emotive or expressive function
• Releasing physical and nervous energy
• Such as our expression of fear and affection,
surprise or our involuntary verbal reactions to
beautiful things. • According to Finch instructions
allow us to release inner feelings
• A great deal of so-called 'bad language' or
swearing fulfills this function.
PHATIC
(For Sociability)
• express our willingness to be sociable • helps us
negotiate the start and end of exchanges whether in
spoken or written form
RECORDING
(For Durable Record of Things)
• denotes using language to make a durable
record of things that ought to be remembered.
• The most significant function behind the
development of language from being an oral
medium to becoming a written one.
• It might be a short-term record, as in a
shopping list or a list of things to do, or a long-
term record, as in a diary or history of some kind
IDENTIFYING
(For Labelling)
• allows us to identify an enormous array of
objects and events with considerable precision
• quick and accurate reference
• helpful in proper arrangements
• we use names to classify different types of
things, whether we call a car anautomobile, a
lorry, a van or a truck makes a big difference.
REASONING
(An Instrument of the Thought)
• A tool of thought
• Before we say something we think and to
do that we necessarily use language. •
Speaking and writing comes from thought
• Reasoning may vary in connotations e.g.,
"black" may be associated with evil and
death, and "white" with purity and goodness
COMMUNICATING
(For Conversing with each other)
• referential or prepositional function
• We use language to express ourselves to
others
• We also need language in order to understand
what they are communicating to us
• Requesting, apologizing, informing, ordering as
well as promising and refusing are all reasons for
communicating our ideas.
PLEASURE
(For Pleasing to Both the Speakers and the Listeners)
• Language allows us to derive pleasure from it.
• A large part of the pleasure we derive from language
comes from the successful exploitation of linguistic
novelty at different levels of the language
• For example language often gives pleasure both to
the speakers and listeners supported by the frequent
use of assonance, alliteration and onomatopoeia in
poetry.
META / MACRO FUNCTIONS
• The term metafunction originates in systemic
functional linguistics and is considered to be a property
of all languages.
• A function which is capable of describing one or more
other functions.
• Michael Halliday, the founder of systemic functional
linguistics, calls these three functions:
a) ideational
b) interpersonal
c) textual
IDEATIONAL
(For Conceiving and Perceiving Something)
• the content function of language and allows us to
conceptualize the world for our own benefit and that of
others
• language as a cording system which deals with the
relation between man and nature
• The ideational function is further divided into:
1) experiential
2) logical
INTERPERSONAL
(For the Social Interaction)
• It is the participatory function of language
• language servers as a medium between
individuals
• we use language to interact with others, to
establish and maintain relations with them, to
please them, to anger them, and influence their
behavior, to get their help or sympathy
POETIC
(For the Production of our Imaginations)
• The ability to manipulate language in a creative way.
• With the use of jokes and metaphors, we can play
with words and meanings simply for joy.
TEXTUAL
(For the Creation of Long Utterances)
• the relation of language to the verbal and nonverbal
situational environment
• when language is in use, playing the the previous
two metafunctions, it naturally forms a text
• language as a system organizes messages in a
unified manner so that chunks of messages fit logically
with others around them and with the wider context in
which the talking or writing takes place