Chapter III on stylistic register

By register itself is meant a style situation, i.e. style in a situation or style because of a situation. The dominant factor is the situation, and the dominant factor of the situation is the people in it and the relationship between them: senoir – junior, speaker/writer – audience, equals and so on, determining the basic formal and informal spoken and written registers. Inherent therefore in the situation will mostl likely be traditional or unwritten demands based on respect, authority, custom, convention or equally on lack of formality, since this too can be a convention. At its simplest a subordinate does not greet the boss first thing in the morning with “Hi, Jack!”. Nor does a parishioner address the local clergyman as “Old boy!”. Like wise, a business letter ends “Yours sincerely”, not “Cheerio!”.

Taking a very basic sentence and writing it simply, as a novelist using a simple style might write it, and then writing it as it might be written or spoken by thirteen other people in different situations, will serve as an introduction to register and its differences.

TASKS:

1.Read the following and see what differences you notice between them in form, vocabulary, structure. Then read the notes.

Novel: He walked slowly down the road, admiring the sunset.

Friend: I’ve just seen old A. He was having a walk. Couldn’t take his eyes off the sunset.

Play: (A . walks slowly across stage, admiring sunset.)

Diary: Saw A. walking slowly down road. Was admiring sunset.

Popular newspaper report: Jack A., 32-year-old father of three, walked slowly down the road known as the ‘friendly road’ by neighbours. He was just admiring the sunset when...

Poetry:

Slowly he went down the road

Eyes only for the setting sun...

Statistic: Roadwalker and sunwatcher, he...

Politician: My friends. I should like to tell you what I saw the other night. A man – a mere human being like any of us – was walking slowly down the road.

Psychiatrist: Case history: A., a married amn aged about thirty-two. He described an occasion when he walked down the road. He suddenly found himself very strongly attracted by the sunset. I asked him todescribe any other symptoms...

Film publicity: In the most sensational and dramatic stroy ever brought to the screen, you will see A. walk slowly down the road and admire the sunset. Don’t miss it. It’s the most brilliant, stupendous, magnificent performance of his entire acting career.

Police report: On May the twenty-seventh last, at nine o five (9.05) p.m., I observed A. Following the left-hand pavement for about forty yards in a south-westerly direction. As he proceeded he raised his eyes to an elevation of about 30 degrees and seemed, as far as it was possible to judge, to be gazing at the sun.

Lawyer: The defendant has been accused of walking along Redtree Road on the evening of may the twenty-seventh and at the same time admiring the sunset.

Headline: MAN WALKS DOWN ROAD: ADMIRES SUNSET

Newspaper Placard: Sensation! Man Walks Down Road

Slang: This guy was stretching his legs and getting an eyeful of the sunset.

Notes:

Speech prefers short sentences. Descriptions in a play use the Present Simple, and drop the articles. Diary writing, like note-taking, drops words such as pronouns and articles. Popular journalism tries to compress infromation, hanging it like washing on a line. A paper that deals less in ‘human interests’ and more in ‘hard news’ such as The Guardian or The Times would write the sentence more in its basic, first-given form. Poetry condenses, word order may be changed, and the shape immediately indicated the medium.

Statistical style coins words to describe whatever categories it wishes to make. Political style is often emotional, varied to suit its audience. Case histories: psychiatrists use special vocabulary, medical based ( e.g. symptoms) and shortened structures, like diarists and other note-takers. Film advertising deals in superlatives. Its main idea is to delude the public into believing that each film is something completely new and original. There is a certain nervousness and uncertainty about it.

Police accounts are always factual, very careful of their facts, heavily detailed, and usuallu spoken from a carefully prepared written statement. Lawyers also use something of this factual style and a special vocabulary is noticed. Headlines, like diaries and notes, drop many words (articles, pronouns) and because of space use many short words (aim, bid, ban, rap, wed). Newspaper placards usually manage to include one of the four favourites “surprise, sensation, drama, shock”. Even the simplest action is ‘sensational’. English slang varies from job/area to job/area (apart from dialect), and is often American influenced (usually out-of-date American).