Language varities and registers, Study notes of English Literature

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Varieties and

Registers of spoken

and Written

Language

Learning Outcomes

1. Determine culturally-appropriate

terms, expressions, and images

(sensitivity to gender, race, class,

etc.)

2. Adopt cultural awareness and

sensitivity in communication of

ideas 2

A.La n g u a g eVari eties

W h a t is a variety?

A variety refers to any variant of a language which

can be

sufficiently delimited from one another.

✘ Social

✘ Historical

✘ Spatial

✘ Or a combination of these

Varieties o f l a n g u a g e

2. Creole

• is a pidgin that becomes the first language of the children

and the mother tongue of a commuinity.

Examples:

✘ Gullah

✘ Patwa (Jamaican creole)

✘ Pidgin (Hawai’I Creole English)

Varieties o f l a n g u a g e

3. Regional Dialect

• is not a distinct language but a variety of a language

spoken in a particular area of a country.

Examples:

✘ Hillbilly English (from the Appalachians in the USA)

✘ Geordie (from the Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK)

Varieties o f l a n g u a g e

5. Indigenized Varieties

• are spoken mainly as second languages in ex-colonies with

multilingual populations.

Examples:

✘ Singlish (spoken in Singapore)

B. Language Registers

5 distinct r e g i s t e r s (nordquist, 2018)

1. Frozen

• it refers to historic language or communication

that is intended to remain unchanged, like a constitution or

a prayer.

Examples: The Holy Bible, The United States

Constitution, The Bhagavad Gita, and Romeo and Juliet

5 distinct r e g i s t e r s (nordquist, 2018)

2. Formal
   • is used in professional, academic, or legal settings

where communication is expected to be respectful,

uninterrupted, and restrained. Slang is never used and

contractions are rare.

Examples:

a TED talk, a business presentation, the Encyclopedia

Brittanica , and

Gray’s Anatomy by Henry Gray

5 distinct r e g i s t e r s (nordquist, 2018)

4. Casual
   • is used when they are with friends, close acquaintances

and co-workers, and family.

Examples:

a birthday party, a backyard BBQ

5 distinct r e g i s t e r s (nordquist, 2018)

5. Intimate
   • is reserved for special occasions, usually between only

two people and often in private

Examples:

an inside joke between two college friends or a word

whispered in a lover’s ear

Examples:

c. some essays

d.reports

e.official speeches

f.announcements

g.professional e-

mails

Rules in formal

writing:

A

.

Do not use contractions.

cannot instead of can’t

have not instead of

haven’t is not instead of

isn’t

B

.

Spell out numbers less than one

hundred.

nineteen

seventy-

eight

twenty-

two six