REGISTER
Definition : Register is the degree of
formality in any either spoken, visual
or written text
THE REGISTER CONTINUUUM
INFORMAL
NEUTRAL
FORMAL
A text may have parts which occur at different
places on the continuum, but there will be an
overriding register
FORMAL TEXTS INCLUDE
WRITTEN:
Newspapers
Academic writing
Discursive essays
Formal letters
Text books
Reference works
Novels
Programmes
Reports
Minutes
Instructions
SPOKEN:
Speeches
Interviews
Consultations
News
Documentary
Lectures
VISUAL:
Charts
Graphs
Diagrams
Documentaries
(films)
CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL STYLE
SYNTAX
Full sentences
Simple, complex
and compound
sentences (variety)
Rhetorical devices –
climax, anti climax,
rhetorical questions
Deep strucutre
DICTION:
Jargon
Sophisticated
vocabulary
(Look at parts of
speech
Adjectives+Adverbs
(descriptive writing)
Denotations
Emotive languuage
Persuasive Language
Figures of speech
FORMAT
Follows strict
rules of format
Paragraphs
Salutations
TONE WORDS
Serious, critical,
analytical, sombre,
mocking, officious,
imperious, clinical,
neutral, exhorting,
encouraging, gentle,
judicious, sarcastic,
cynical, ironic, sceptical
INFORMAL TEXTS INCLUDE
WRITTEN:
Advertisements
Dialogues
Magazine articles
Friendly letters
SPOKEN:
Conversations
Informal interviews
VISUAL:
Cartoons
Comic strips
Films
CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL STYLE
FORMAT
Dialogue
Loose format
SYNTAX
Incomplete
sentences
Conjunctions
joining sentences
Words left out
Surface structure
DICTION:
Colloquialisms
Accents
Dialect
Contractions
Slang
Simplistic language
Connotations
Emotive language
Persuasive language
TONE WORDS
Flippant, casual,
conversational,
intimate, biased,
hollow, sincere,
insincere, sarcastic,
ironic, cheeky,
sardonic, derisive,
scornful, haughty,
proud, disbelieving,
incredulous
THINGS TO NOTE
1. The questions is whether the register is appropriate or not
2.
That will depend on the intention of the speaker or writer
and context.
SOME EXERCISES
AG MAN,
THIS IS
SOMMER A
LEKKER CUP
OF COFFEE
THE BENEFITS OF CAFFEINE
It has been established that
there is a direct link between
the intake of caffeine and
performance.