Language & Context, Style & Register

Language & Context, Style & Register

By/ Brwa Rasul Sharif

Style:

          According to Richards , J. & Schmidt, R. (2002, p. 522)  ‘‘Style usually varies from informal to formal according to the type of situation, the person or persons addressed, the location, the topic discussed.’’

           Wardhaugh (2012) says that speakers can adopt different styles of speaking. One can speak very formally or very informally, his/her choice being governed by circumstances. For example, ceremonial occasions require very formal speech, public lectures somewhat less formal, casual conversation quite informal, and conversations between intimates on matters of little importance may be extremely informal and casual. So it depends on individuals and circumstances in which what style is needed. And we can relate the level of formality chosen to different factors: first the kind of occasion, secondly the various social, age, and other differences that exist between the participants, the particular task that is involved writing, speaking for example, the emotional involvement of one or more of the participants, and so on. For example, we should recognize the stylistic appropriateness of What do you intend to do, your majesty? And the stylistic inappropriateness of Whaddya intend doin’,Rex?.

            In the past (Labov 66; and Trudgill 74, as said by Keshavarz, 2012), style was treated as the amount of attention speakers pay to their speech in different situations. Labov observed that when speakers were talking to somebody else rather than the interviewer, or when they were particularly involved in the topic, they paid least attention to their speech. Most attention was paid in tasks such as reading a story, word lists and minimal pairs.

Examples for three different requests for information:

1-     from a friend

     Where were you last night? I rang to see if you wanted to come to the pictures

2-    In court from a lawyer

 Could you tell the court where you were on the night of Friday the sixteenth of March?

3-    From a teacher to his pupils in school on the day after Hallowe’en.

           I know some of you went ‘trick-or-treating’ last night and so I thought we might talk a bit today about how you got on. Did you go out last night Jimmy?

           In each of these utterances the speaker is trying to obtain information from the addressee, but the context dramatically influences the form of the query. The differences between these three utterances are stylistic differences.

Answering Style with Style:

             Speakers convey messages through style which can’t usually be conveyed through words per se. They do this by their choice of words, grammar, and pronunciation:

       Male stranger: Hi babe!

       Female: Were you talking to me, Sir?  

         By using a formal style, speaker B conveys to speaker A that she doesn’t want to be intimate with him, which is more effective than explicit statements, e.g. “You shouldn’t talk to me like that. I don’t know you and have no desire to make friends with you” (As said by Keshavarz, 2012).

 Through styles we can control interaction. And in superior-inferior interaction normally it is the superior who controls interaction:

A: Hi, How’s it going?

B: Did you have an appointment with me, today?

 

Addressee as an influence on the style

           The better you know someone, the more casual and relaxed the speech style you will use to them. People use considerably more standard forms to those they don’t know well and more vernacular forms to their friends.  e.g., for someone that you may not know well, or not close friend. You may say:

►   Excuse me could I have a look at your photos too, Mrs Hall?

But you may know well someone and close friend. You may say:

►   C’mon Tony , gizzalook, gizzalook.

 

Age of addressee:

          The age of the person addressed may influence a speaker’s style. People generally talk differently to children and to adults, though some adjust their speech style or accommodate more than others. e.g.

Mrs N : Oooh, he’s walking already.

Mother: Oh , yes, he’s such a clever little fellow  aren’t you?

Mrs N : Hullo coogieboo. Feeee…. Loo diddle diddle dur. Ohh eechy weech poo poo. Ohh eechy, peachy poo poo. There  look at him laughing. Oh he’s a chirpy little fellow. Yeees. Whoooo’s a chirpy little fellow eh? Yes, Ooooh, can he talk? Can he talk?  (Holmes, 2001) .

         When talking or writing to a 6 year-old most people choose simpler vocabulary and grammatical construction as opposed to 30 year-old.  Many speakers also use a different style in addressing elderly people, a simpler range of vocabulary and less complex grammar. e.g.,

It is time for your lunch now isn’t it Mary. You better wash your hands.        (Holmes, 2001)

 

Social background of addressee:

          The addressee or audience is a very important influence on a speaker’s style. e.g. This is for adult or more older:

Ø Last night the British Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher met the Australian Premier Mr Bob Hawke in Canberra… Their next meeting will not be for several months.

And now look at this example which is for children:

Ø  Las’ week British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher met Australian Premier Bob Hawke in Canberra… Their nex’ meeding won’t be for sev’ral months.

            The same person reading the news on the middle-level station reads in a very much less formal style than on the higher-brow radio station. (Holmes, 2001)

Five styles of speech

According to Keshavarz (2012) that five different styles of speech have been cited in the literature, as follows

1.      Intimate Style

        In this style, complete grammatical sentences and redundant info are avoided because of shared knowledge and experience of the interlocutors. This style includes exchanges between spouses, family members and close friends:

Quick, quick!

Hurry! So, as can be seen, many single word forms are used in this style.

2.     Casual Style

          This style is used between friends and acquaintances. Complete background information is not provided; however, utterances are normally longer. Use of slangs, ellipsis and interruptions is common in this style:

Anyone home? Come along, now! How’s it going? Saw the film last night? 

3.     Consultative Style

          This is the style of standard exchanges between strangers. It is more formal than the casual style. In this style, all necessary information is provided. Polite expressions are used, because people make value judgments on the basis of linguistic behavior. In this style, self-reference and active voice are used, and “back-channel behavior” such as “uh huh”, and “I see”, etc. is common.

Informal teacher/ student, and doctor/patient exchanges are included in this style.

Example:  Excuse me, do you know where the post office is?

4.     Formal Style

         This is a one-way speech delivery without interruptions, as in formal lectures.

In this style, normally passive voice is used and no direct reference to self is made. Oral forms resemble written language, and technical terms and exact definitions are important, e.g.

The audience is requested to kindly leave the lecture hall temporarily.

5.     Frozen Style

       This style is used mainly in unchanging written language. It is the printed style found on notice boards in formal gatherings (e.g. UN), and legal, religious and political documents, e.g. wedding ceremonies, Biblical quotations (which often contain archaisms), prayers, etc. The wording is exactly the same every time it is written or spoken, e.g.:

      The management respectfully requests the conferees to vacate the auditorium between the sessions in order to facilitate the operation of custodial staff.

 

Accommodation Theory:

             ‘‘When people talk to each other their speech often becomes more similar. In other words each person’s speech convergence towards the speech of the person they are talking to. This process is called speech accommodation.’’ (Holmes 2001, p. 230)

             More recently, style is explained in terms of accommodation theory which maintains that speakers accommodate their speech to their addressees in order to win their approval (as said by Keshavarz, 2012).

There are two common forms of accommodation:

1)    Speech convergence

As Keshavarz explained (2012) that the common form of accommodation is convergence, by which speakers shift their style to become more like that of their addressees, i.e. speakers converge with each other by means of speech rate, accent, content, and pausing.

        A theory that seeks to explain shifts in the style of speaking people make such as when a person changes their way of speaking to make it sound more like or less like the speech of the person they are talking to.  For example a teacher may use simpler words and sentence structures when he/ she is talking to a class of young children. This is called convergence (Richards, J. and Schmidt, 2002, p.5).

 

2)    Speech divergence

                       Keshavarz (2012) explained that alternatively, speakers may maintain their style of speech, or even diverge from their addressees if they want to differentiate themselves from other individuals or groups. And when a speech style is used to emphasize social distance between speakers, the process is called divergence. e.g.: in this below case the Scottish teenager shifts to a speech style with features that differ substantially from the first line.

TEENAGER: I can’t do it, sir.

TEACHER:   Oh, come on. If I can do it, you can too.

TEENAGER: Look, I cannae dae it so …

This teenager is using speech style to mark that they are not the same (Yule, 2010, pp. 258-259)

 

Register:

          According to (Wardhaugh, 2012) Registers are sets of language items associated with discrete occupational or social groups. Surgeons, airline pilots, bank managers, sales clerks, jazz fans, and pimps employ different registers. As Ferguson (1994, p. 20, as cited in Wardhaugh, 2012) says ‘people participating in recurrent communication situations tend to develop similar vocabularies, similar features of intonation, and characteristic bits of syntax and phonology that they use in these situations.’ This kind of variety is a register.

        And it can be defined as ‘‘A conventional way of using language that is appropriate in a specific situation, occupation or topic.’’ (Yule, 2010, p. 293)

           According to Bussman (1996, p. 994) register is ‘‘Manner of speaking or writing specific to a certain function, that is, characteristic of a certain domain of communication for example, the language of religious sermons, of parents with their child, or of an employee with his/her supervisor.’’

 

Register is used in two senses:

         As Keshavarz (2012) explained that in sociolinguistic literature terms style and register sometimes have been used interchangeably.

(a)          A style which is associated with a particular social occasion, e.g.: funeral, wedding, legal register, academic and religious register. This definition refers to variation according to the use of language in specific situations. 

(b)           A speech variety used by a particular group of people, usually having the same occupation: lawyers, doctors, mechanics, or sharing the same interests (e.g. stamp collectors, football fans). A particular register is often distinguished from other registers by having a number of distinctive words or by using words and phrases in a particular way. For example, 'zero' is a duck in cricket, love in tennis, and nil in soccer. Such specialized vocabulary is called Jargon, but people normally do not appreciate too much use of jargon.

         As can be seen, each style or register requires the selection of certain linguistic forms which may not be used in other styles and registers. In other words, features of different styles cannot co-occur.

 

There are five language registers

1.     Static – Frozen: printed, unchanging language, formal, almost scripted phrases that do not vary. Examples can be seen in the Holy Books, the Lord’s Prayer, laws, and preamble to the Constitution. E.g. Farewell and Godspeed.

 

2.     Formal – Regulated: it is a one way communication; no interruptions are used in impersonal and formal settings. It follows a commonly accepted format – complete sentences, more complex syntax and specific word is used. And it is often used to show respect. Examples can be seen in introductions between strangers, speeches and announcements are made by judges, and it is standard for work, school, public offices and business settings. E.g.  Goodbye. We look forward to seeing you again.

 

3.     Consultative- Professional: it is a kind of two way participation and professional setting, and background information is provided, interruptions and feedback fillers are allowed such as (“uh-huh”, “I see”). And they are more complex syntax and longer phrases. Examples can be seen among doctor- patient, lawyer-client, lawyer- judge, teacher- student, colleagues, nobleman, and noble woman. E.g. Goodbye. Have a good weekend.

4.     Casual- Group: it is a very informal language, and ellipsis and slang are common. “Group” language must be a member to use, and interruptions are common. Examples can be seen among friends, acquaintances, members of families, teammates and also in chats. E.g. Bye now – take care.

5.     Personal –Intimate: this kind is non-public, and intonation is as important as wording and grammar, and often a private vocabulary are used. Examples can be seen among husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, and twins. E.g. Later, Darlin’.

 

Formal contexts and social roles:

       The choice of appropriate form is influenced not by the personal relationship between the participants, but by the formality of the context and their relative roles and statuses within that setting. For example n classrooms where a child’s mother or father is the teacher children call their parents Mrs Grady or Mr Dave rather than Mum or Dad. A Catholic priest will be addressed as father even by his own father during a religious ceremony. People’s roles in these formal contexts determine the appropriate speech forms. (Holmes, 2001, pp. 234-235)

 

Audience Design:

          Another theory is audience design which claims that the main reason speakers shift their styles is that they are responding to their listeners. Accordingly, style is what an individual does with language in relation to other people. It is interactive and social, marking interpersonal and intergroup relations. Styles carry social meanings through their derivation from the language of particular groups. Speakers show the ability to design their style for a range of different addressees, and to a lesser degree for auditors and over hearers (Keshavarz, 2012).

 

 

 

References

Bussman, H. (1996). Routledge: Dictionary of language and linguistics. London and New York: Routledge.

Holmes, J. (2001). An introduction to sociolinguistics (2nd ed.). Pearson.

Hudson, R. A. (1996). Sociolinguistics (2nd ed.). Cambridge: CPU.

Keshavarz, M. H. 2012. Language & context style & register. [lecture] December

            26. Nicosia: Near East University.

Richards, J. C., Schmidt, R., Kindricks, H., & Kim, Y. (2002). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics (3rd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Trudgill, P. (1995). Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society. Harmonsworth: Penguin.

Wardhaugh, R. (2012). An introduction to sociolinguistics (Fith ed.). Oxford, UK: BLACKWELL PUBLISHING.

Yule, G. (2010). The study of language. Cambridge: CPU.