What is Language?

A system of common spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols used by people to express
themselves as members of a social group and participants in that group's culture. Language serves a
variety of purposes, including communication, identity expression, play, creative expression, and
emotional release.

Spoken Language

In spoken language, recognized sounds are produced with the mouth to facilitate communication.
These sounds are drawn from a huge library of sound patterns with predetermined meanings. Words
are these collections of sounds, and each one of them denotes one or more concepts or objects. The
speaker can turn these words into assertions that the listeners will comprehend thanks to shared
grammar and syntax.

Written Language

A language that is written down and utilized to record events, ideas, and feelings is referred to as a
written language. Speak language is the antithesis of written language, and the two differ in a variety
of ways. Writing and reading are two essential language abilities needed for accessing and utilizing
the written word. Even if the bulk of words will be understood aurally, without these two, especially
reading, it becomes extremely impossible to understand what has been written.

VARIETY OF SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE

WHAT IS A LANGUAGE VARIETY?

Language variety relates to the numerous types of language created by social variables. Variety is a
general term for an articulate coherent form of language. Variety is a particular collection of
"linguistic items," which are any fundamental linguistic building block, and "human speech patterns,"
which refer to a person's accent and voice. According to Nordquist (2020), the word "language
variety"—also known as "lect"—in sociolinguistics refers to any unique form of a language or
linguistic expression. Language variety (or just variety) is a general phrase used by linguists to refer to
any of the overlapping subdivisions of a language, such as dialect, register, jargon, and idiolect.

DIFFERENT LANGUAGE VARIETIES

1. Pidgin. Pidgin is a shortened form of speech used to communicate among speakers of many
languages. It is a language that forms in circumstances where speakers are required to communicate
but do not speak the same language. Pidgins have no native speakers since the populations that utilize
them for intragroup communication during sporadic trade connections retain their own vernaculars. It
is a language that typically emerged via intermittent and infrequent interactions between Europeans
and non-Europeans outside of Europe between the 16th and the early 19th century, frequently in
connection with trade, plantation agriculture, and mining. They frequently lack complicated
sentences, true articles, verb and noun inflections, and other function words (such as conjunctions).
As a result, they have occasionally been described as "broken" languages, even "chaotic," or
seemingly devoid of social norms. However, a number of pidgins have persisted for generations, a
trait that suggests a generally stable system. Some speakers of the pidgins that have persisted for
multiple generations, such as Nigerian Pidgin, Cameroon Pidgin, Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea), and
Bislama (Vanuatu), all of which are based on a predominately English vocabulary, also speak them as
vernaculars. During the 17th century, Nigerians and Portuguese merchants used the Nigerian Pidgin
English (NPE) as a common language for trade. As with Creole, it is broken English that is spoken
along West Africa's coast and has spread to the diaspora as a result of migration from Nigeria. This
lingua franca stayed in Nigeria after the missionaries left and is now the language spoken more than
English.

2. Creole. Historically derived from pidgin, creole is a sort of natural language that emerged at a very
specific time. Some people in Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and portions of Georgia and South
Carolina speak English creoles. Creole languages are colloquial languages that formed as a result of
communication between populations that spoke foreign languages to one another in colonial European
plantation colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. The colonies that were close to the Atlantic or
Indian Ocean coasts are where creole languages most frequently developed. The Lesser Antilles and
Cape Verde are exceptions, where creoles originated in slave depots rather than on plantations, and
Brazil, where no creole formed. Some creoles are based on French, such as Louisiana Creole, and
Mauritian Creole; English, such as Gullah (on the Sea Islands of the southeastern United States),
Jamaican Creole, Guyanese Creole, and Hawaiian Creole; and Portuguese, such as Papiamentu (in
Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) and Cape Verdean; and Spanish, such as Chavacano in the Philippines.
Today, French creoles are primarily spoken in the Caribbean, the United States, and on a few islands
in the Indian Ocean. Portuguese-based creoles, which were once widely spoken, are now spoken by
more than a million people in So Tomé e Principe, the Cape Verde Islands, and Guinea-Bissau. Fewer
than 7,000–10,000 persons, according to estimates, still speak Louisiana Creole. Many Louisiana
Creole speakers are elderly, prefer their original dialect, and are conserving their culture, as is typical
of endangered languages.

3. Dialect. A dialect is a social or geographic variety of a language varied by pronunciation, grammar,

and/or vocabulary. The word dialect—which has "lect" inside the term—derives from the Greek terms
dia- meaning "across, between" and legein "speak." Dialect is a variety that indicates a person's
origins. Differences in grammar, morphology, vocab, syntax, and pronunciation are all part of this.
Although the idea is typically viewed in terms of geography (regional dialect), it might also have
some relevance in terms of a person's socioeconomic background or line of work.

A social dialect in a society is a style of speech that is specific to a given social class or job function.
A social dialect is a type of language (or register) that is used by a specific socioeconomic
background, occupation, age bracket, or other social circle. For instance, the common form of a
certain language, such as the upper-class sociolect of a certain regional or core area is often British
English. Thus, Standard British English used to be the dialect used by the upper classes in the South,
most specifically in the London region (also known as the Queen's English or Public School English).

Minority dialect refers to a specific minority ethnic group's own variety that they employ as a marker
of identity, typically in conjunction with a standard variety. Sometimes, along with a conventional
variation, members of a certain minority ethnic group have their own variety that they utilize as a sign
of identification. Examples include Aboriginal English in Australia, London Jamaican in Britain, and
African American Vernacular English in the United States. The widely known African-American
Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variant of English spoken mostly by African-Americans in
working-class urban communities in the United States. It is also known as Black English, Black
English Vernacular, or sporadically Ebonics.
The dialect of a single person at a given moment is known as an idiolect. Through using this term, one
is implying that they are aware that no two people talk exactly the same manner and that each person's
dialect is continually evolving, for example by the addition of recently learned terms. A person's
distinctive speech is known as their idiolect, which is a linguistic pattern that is thought to be
exclusive to speakers of that person's native language or dialect. However, it is much more specific,
narrower than just including all of a certain dialect's speakers. Linguist Bernard Bloch came up with
the term "idiolect," which is a combination of the Greek words idio (personal, private) and (dia)lect.
Idiolects are studied in linguistics along with other language variations like dialects and accents.

A regional dialect, sometimes referred to as a regiolect or topolect, is a unique variety of a language

used in a specific geographic location. It is a variant of a language spoken in a specific region of a
country, not a separate language. Having a specific traditional appellation that distinguishes them as
being notably distinct from the local standard types of speech Regional dialects are the result of a
variety of causes, such as migratory patterns, isolation, and patterns of settlement. Regional dialects
differ from one another. Each regional dialect area contains a large number of sub-dialects. Examples
include "Hillbilly English" (originating in the Appalachians of the United States) and "Geordie" (from
Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK). Hillbilly English, a mountain language as distinctive as the
individuals who use it, combines terminology and dialects from both English and Scotland. When
settlers crossed the Appalachian Mountains, they brought parts of the ancient Scottish and English
languages with them to the mountains. It developed over time into the most distinctive language in the
world.

4. Indigenous Varieties. In ex-colonies with multilingual populations, indigenous varieties are

primarily spoken as second languages. The variations from the norm may reflect one's level of
English proficiency or they may be one of many kinds utilized to represent one's identity. For
instance, "Singlish" (spoken in Singapore) is a dialect that deviates greatly from standard English, and
India also uses a wide range of English. Singlish combines components of other languages with
unusual aspects of the English language. It has a particular pronunciation as well as its own special
grammatical constructions. The main Chinese dialects spoken in Singapore, such as Hokkien,
Cantonese, and Teochew, have an influence on the intonation and sentence construction of Singlish.
The Malay and Indian languages have also had an impact on the use of several lexical items in
Singlish. In Singlish, standard English grammar hardly follows. Grammatical endings, tenses, plurals,
the definite article, and connecting verbs (such "is" and "am"), for instance, are frequently
disregarded. Singlish speakers typically say "You walk so slow" rather than "You walk so slowly."
Singlish has been referred to as "ungrammatical," "poor," "bad," or "broken" English because it
deviates from the accepted rules of the English language. However, some linguists and scholars prefer
to see Singlish as a variant of English that emerged from Singapore's distinctive multiethnic social
environment. Linguists assert that Singlish has its own rules and grammar, while deviating from the
norms of English.

REGISTER OF SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE

WHAT IS REGISTER LANGUAGE?

A speaker's use of language varies depending on the situation, and this is known as their
"register." Take into account your verbal choices, voice tone, and even body language. You probably
behave very differently when talking to a friend than you would at a business dinner or a job
interview. These changes in formality—also referred to as stylistic variances—are known in
linguistics as registers. They are influenced by factors like the environment, audience, purpose, and
social context.

In "The Study of Language," linguist George Yule describes how registers are distinguished
by a variety of specialized vocabulary and turns of phrase, colloquialisms and the use of jargon, as
well as a difference in intonation and pace. Jargon serves to "create and maintain connections among
those who see themselves as "insiders" in some way and to exclude "outsiders,"" according to Yule.

All modes of communication, including spoken, written, and signed ones, require registers. The
register can be either formal or very intimate depending on the language, syntax, and tone. Even
without using words, you can communicate effectively. A frustrated huff during a discussion or a
smile when signing "hello" conveys a lot.

5 DISTINCT REGISTER

1. Frozen: Because it pertains to ancient language or communication that is meant to endure

unmodified, such as a constitution or prayer, this type is frequently referred to as the static register.

Examples: The Bible, the United States Constitution, the Bhagavad Gita, "Romeo and Juliet."

2. Formal: The formal register, which is less rigorous but still restricted, is employed in
professional, academic, or legal contexts where respectful, uninterrupted, and restrained speech is
anticipated. There is no usage of contractions or slang.

Examples: a TED talk, a business presentation, the Encyclopedia Britannica, "Gray's Anatomy," by
Henry Gray.

3. Consultative: When communicating with someone who has specialized knowledge or who is
giving advice, people frequently employ this register. Slang is occasionally used, and people may halt
or interrupt one another. The tone is frequently courteous (use of courtesy titles), although it may be
more informal if the connection is long-standing or friendly (a family doctor).

Examples: the local TV news broadcast, an annual physical, a service provider like a plumber.

4. Casual: People use this register when they are around friends, family, intimate
acquaintances, and coworkers. It's generally the one that comes to mind when you think of how you
interact with others, frequently in a group environment. Slang, contractions, and vernacular grammar
are frequently used, and in some contexts, people may also use expletives or language that is
offensive.

Examples: a birthday party, a backyard barbecue.

5. Intimate: According to linguists, this register should only be used on exceptional occasions,
usually between just two persons, and almost always in private. An inside joke between two college
buddies or a word whispered in a lover's ear can qualify as intimate language.
THREE CLASSIFICATION OF REGISTER LANGUAGE:

1. Formal Language Register

● is better suitable for business correspondence and letters sent to strangers or superiors.

● is impersonal, which means that it lacks feeling and was not written for a particular person.

Examples:

● Business letters
● Letters of complaint
● Some essays
● Reports
● Official Speeches
● Announcement
● Professional emails

Rules in Formal Writing:

A. Do not Use Contraction.

● 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 Twenty-two

● Seventy-eight Six

C. Write in third person point of view

Avoid using the following:

● I
● You
● We
● Us

F. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms.

● National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

● Department of Education (DepEd)

● Influenza (FLU)

● Philippines Pesos (Php)

G. Do not start Sentences with words like, and, so, but, also instead used this good
transition words and phrases to use in formal writing:

● Nevertheless

● Additionally

● However

● In addition

● Although

H. Always write in complete sentences.

I. Write longer, more complex sentences.

2. Informal Language Register

- Is conversational and appropriate when writing to friends and people you know very well

Examples:

● Personal emails
● Phone texts
● Short notes
● Friendly letters
● Most blogs
● Diaries and journals

There are no major rules to informal writing but you can include things such as:

● Slangs and clichés

● Figurative language
● Symbols and abbreviations
● Acronyms
● Incomplete sentences
● Short sentences
● First person, Second person POV
● Paragraph or no paragraphs
● Jokes
● Personal opinions
● Extra punctuations
● Passive and active voice

3. Neutral Language Register

● Is not necessarily formal or informal.

● It is used to deliver facts.

Examples:

A. Review
B. Articles
C. Some letters
D. Some letters
E. Technical Writing

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