LESSON 4:

Varieties and Registers

of Spoken and Written
Language
 Register
- refers to a particular ways of using language,
whether formal or informal in particular contexts and
in social situations.
Lin (2016) presents the following nature of language
variation as prescribed by most linguists
based on the ideas of Mahboob (2014).

1. Language varies when communicating with people

within (local) and outside (global) our
Community.
2. Language varies in speaking and writing.
3. Language varies in everyday and specialized
discourses.
Mahboob (2014) identifies eight (8) different domains in
which language varies depending on the combinations of
different values on the three dimensions (field, tenor, and
mode) of the context of communication.
 Field (what) is the subject matter of the text.
 Tenor (who) is the relationship between those involved in
the communicative act, (e.g. writer and reader, speaker and
listener.)
 Mode (how) refers to text construction, looking at whether
it is based on written or spoken forms of communication.
The first four domains include language variations that reflect local
usage done in one
language or multiple local languages depending on the context. They
vary in the following ways:
1. Local everyday written
This may include instances of local everyday written usage found in the
neighborhood
posters (e.g. poster looking for transients/bed spacers).
2. Local everyday oral
This may occur in local communication among neighbors in everyday,
informal and local varieties of language.
3. Local specialized written
An example of this kind can be found in the publications and web sites
of local societies such as the Baguio Midland Courier.
(Ex. Inquirer, GMA News, etc.)

4. Local specialized oral

This involves specialized discourses. For example, in a computer shop
in the neighborhood, specialized local usage can be found (e.g.
specialized computer game-related vocabulary is used).
LOCAL EVERYDAY WRITTEN
On the other hand, the four domains involve global usage. These four domains of
language usage differ from the first four domains since they refer to contexts of
language where participants need to communicate with people not sharing their
local ways of using language. They are as follows:
5. Global everyday written avoids local colloquialisms to make the text accessible to
wider communities of readers. This can be found in international editions of
newspapers and magazines.

6. Global everyday oral may occur in interactions between people coming from
different parts of the world when they talk about everyday casual topics.

7. Global specialized written expands to as many readers internationally, hence the

non-usage of local colloquial expressions (e.g. international research journal articles)
 COLLOQUIALISMS
American
Ain’t — Same as isn’t, originally used in the American South
Rain check — Rescheduling plans for a later date

Australian
Deadset — True
Flat out — Extremely busy
What’s the John Dory? — What’s going on; what’s the gossip?

British
Bloody — Very, but in a slightly profane way
Knackered — Exhausted
Rubbish — Trash, or an exclamation meaning something is the same quality as trash

Canadian
Double-double — A coffee with double cream and double sugar