Additional Notes for the Lesson on Varieties and Registers of Spoken and Written Language

I. Characteristics of the New Varieties of English

• Structural variation is influenced by the local languages.

1. Grammar- rules of a language governing the sounds, words, sentences and other elements, as
well as their combination and interpretation (The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009)-

- a system of rules which allows the users of the language in question to create meaning, by
building both meaningful words and larger constructions of sentences (Wilcox, 2014)

2. Phonology- the sound patterns of language. Phonology tells us what sounds are found in a
certain speech community.

- All the languages in the world sound so different because the way the languages use speech
sounds to form patterns differs from language to language (Szczegielniak, n.d.)

- In learning languages, speakers try to accommodate sounds of his native language and with
that of a target language. As a result of this phenomenon, mastery or control of “mother tongue”
and “other tongue” constitutes the linguistic repertoire of the speaker; however, the features of
the “mother tongue” are still inherent in the language choice of multilingual communities (Lado,
1988 in Haloc, 2018).

3. Lexicon- the vocabulary of a language, people or culture.

Lexical Decomposition/Componential or Structural Analysis- word meaning is

complex, it can be broken down into smaller components which can be studied independently from
each other.

Lexical field-representation of paradigmatic relations between words, which are analyzed

and compared along a set of dimensions.

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Take a look at this example:

4. Syntax- the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.
- the study of arrangements of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences or syntactical
constructions (Muin, 2019).

5. Discourse- a unit of language longer than a single sentence.

- Discourse is the way in which language is used socially to convey broad historical
meanings. It is language identified by the social conditions of its use, by who is using it and under
what conditions. Language can never be 'neutral' because it bridges our personal and social
worlds," (Henry and Tator 2002).

1.1 On Phonological Features:

• In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of breath that accompanies the

production of sound.

i.e. paper, tank, kite

• Plosives, also known as stops, are consonant sounds produced by blocking a part
of the mouth so that no air can pass through. Usually the upper lip articulates with
the lower lip. p, t and k are voiceless plosives, while, b, d, g are voiced.

• For the members of the Inner Circle b, d, and g are not aspirated.

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 • Stress is not used for focusing

For General American English (GAE) norms, word stress is used for emphasis/focusing.

For example:

a. She is my friend. (Emphasis on she means that the speaker is emphasizing that a specific
woman, not the one beside or in front of her, is her friend)

b. . She is my friend. (Emphasis on the word is means that as of speaking time, the speaker
and the woman are friends)

c. She is my friend. (Emphasis on the pronoun my indicates possessiveness)

d. She is my friend. (Emphasis on the word friend means that the speaker directs the
listener to the kind of relationship he/she shares with the woman).

• As regards use of cleft sentence pattern

A cleft sentence is a sentence in which some part is moved from its normal position into a
different place to give it more emphasis.

i.e. Jamie ate the cake (normal order).

It was Jamie who ate the cake. (cleft sentence)

• Fricatives are sounds produced by initial partial blocking of the articulators, then, releasing
a gush or air.

Examples of fricatives are ƒ (favor, before), ν (violin, convene), θ (thought, faith), δ

(they, gather), š (sharp, cash), ž (azure, pleasure), s (set, rocks) and z (zebra, zipper).

II. Grammar Features

2.1. Verbs are not inflected for tense

I have written to him yesterday. (tendency to use the past perfect tense instead of simple past for
African and Asian English varieties)

Corrected Form: I wrote him yesterday. (time indicator “yesterday” indicates a past action
completed at a specific time, thus, requiring the simple past tense of the verb).

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2. 2. The sequence-of-tense phenomenon is almost always absent

Also, the use of phrasal verbs such as brought over, come over, stand up, sit down, keep away,
and move on is common among new varieties.

2.3. On Tag questions-

A. tag question is a question converted from a preceding statement by an appended interrogative

formula.

Example:

“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” or “She isn’t beautiful, is she?” (The question tag is the negated
form of the declarative sentence).

2. 4. There is difficulty in the use of prepositions across varieties.

GAE forms: Call ON some students to answer.

What could have happened TO him?
Combat poverty
To discuss ON

Based ON not based FROM

I have to share my talent WITH not TO

III. On Philippine English

• As defined by Bautista in 2000, Philippine English is a nativized variety of English that

has features which differentiate it from Standard American English because of the
influence of the first language.

• ENGLISH IS DYNAMIC. It does not exist in a vacuum as it undergoes constant changes,

adapting to the need of its users.

IV. Language Registers/Registers of English

• The style of language we use when communicating with our group of friends is different
from the style we use when communicating with our teachers or bosses.
• Hence we put into account the different degrees of formality,

1. The Familiar Style- this style is used when we write to or talk with friends, family and
people we know very well.

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 2. Casual Tone: used when we speak with or write to people who are not really close to
us but we see them as our equals.

3. Semi Formal- when we talk to someone we don’t know or someone who is our superior.

4. Formal style is used in technical, academic, scientific and business writing. We don’t
share personal connections with our target readers or audience.

• A literary piece may not only reveal the personal points of view of an author but also the
historical or cultural context where it was produced.

• Writing of food recipes or recipe manuals - food is an indicator of culture.

• “Food brings the memory of the soil into our very contemporary life”(Williams, 2016).

• A written text or an oral speech may be analyzed using the FIELD-TENOR-MODE

FRAMEWORK.

• PREAMBLE (introduction to the Philippine Constitution)

• When strangers meet, we use common gambits How do you do?, Nice meeting you, it’s a
pleasure meeting you, or It’s lovely meeting you.

• Colloquial language is used in ordinary or familiar conversations not formal nor literary.

• For casual register, you don’t usually tell your best friend, My deepest gratitude for your
help. In writing we begin by saying hi or hello or wazzup and not I hope this message
finds you well or greetings of love and peace

• Intimate register is non-public and may also have its own style and vocabulary

• Legalese language is the technical form of writing used by lawyers and members of the
legal community. It is also known as legal jargon and is often hard to understand.

• Archaic expressions are rarely used in present day English; thereby, hereby, in loco
parentis (assumption of parental rights), jurisprudence, habeas corpus, caveat emptor
and many others.

• Embedded structures -clauses and phrases are embedded, nestled within other clauses.

Example of embedded language in a DEED OF DONATION:

That FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION of the DONEE'S trust, devotion and affection shown to
the DONOR, and as an act of gratitude and liberality on his part, the DONOR hereby voluntarily
GIVES, TRANSFERS, and CONVEYS by way of donation, unto the said DONEE, his heirs and

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assigns, the above described property, together with all the improvements found thereon, free
from all liens and encumbrances.

• Nominalizations are nouns that are created from adjectives or verbs, hence, making legal
documents long and wordy. Examples of nominalizations;

interference is a nominalization of interfere, decision from the verb decide and argument
from the verb argue.

• Legalese language use the Passive Voice of verb.

• In the active voice, the subject does the action while in passive, the subject is being acted
upon.

The sentence The court held Juan dela Cruz guilty of treason is in active voice, while
It was held that Juan dela Cruz was guilty of treason by this court follows the passive
voice.

• Textese language is the form of written language used in short text messages and other
communications such as emails and short text messages (SMS).