Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The comprehensive analysis of register variation
- 3 Sociocultural description of the four language situations
- 4 The linguistic bases of cross-linguistic register comparisons: a detailed quantitative comparison of English and Somali registers
- 5 Methodology
- 6 Multi-Dimensional analyses of the four languages
- 7 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: synchronic similarities and differences
- 8 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: diachronic similarities and differences
- 9 Registers and text types in English and Somali
- 10 Towards cross-linguistic universals of register variation
- Appendix I Grammatical description of linguistic features in Korean. Yong-Jin Kim
- Appendix II Grammatical description of linguistic features in Somali. With Mohamed Hared
- Notes
- References
- Index
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The comprehensive analysis of register variation
- 3 Sociocultural description of the four language situations
- 4 The linguistic bases of cross-linguistic register comparisons: a detailed quantitative comparison of English and Somali registers
- 5 Methodology
- 6 Multi-Dimensional analyses of the four languages
- 7 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: synchronic similarities and differences
- 8 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: diachronic similarities and differences
- 9 Registers and text types in English and Somali
- 10 Towards cross-linguistic universals of register variation
- Appendix I Grammatical description of linguistic features in Korean. Yong-Jin Kim
- Appendix II Grammatical description of linguistic features in Somali. With Mohamed Hared
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Registers, dialects, and linguistic variation
Variability is inherent in human language: a single speaker will use different linguistic forms on different occasions, and different speakers of a language will say the same thing in different ways. Most of this variation is highly systematic: speakers of a language make choices in pronunciation, morphology, word choice, and grammar depending on a number of non-linguistic factors. These factors include the speaker's purpose in communication, the relationship between speaker and hearer, the production circumstances, and various demographic affiliations that a speaker can have. Analysis of the systematic patterns of variation associated with these factors has led to the recognition of two main kinds of language varieties: registers, referring to situationally defined varieties, and dialects, referring to varieties associated with different groups of speakers.
In the present book, register is used as a cover term for any variety associated with particular situational contexts or purposes. Although register distinctions are defined in non-linguistic terms, there are usually important linguistic differences among registers as well. In many cases, registers are named varieties within a culture, such as novels, letters, editorials, sermons, and debates. Registers can be defined at any level of generality: for example, academic prose is a very general register, while methodology sections in psychology articles are a much more highly specified register.
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- Information
- Dimensions of Register VariationA Cross-Linguistic Comparison, pp. 1 - 26Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995