Register-analysis社会语言学

AnThesisOnRegisterAnalysis【Abstract】Thispapercentersonthebriefintroductionofregisteranalysis.Sinceregisteranalysisisavarietyofalanguageusedforaparticularpurposeorinaparticularsocialsetting,ithasit’sownvariationsanddimensions.Alsoitishasacloserelationshipwithdialectsaswellastranslation.Fromthesepoints,registeranalysiswillbeintroducedbriefly.【KeyWords】register,variations,dimension,application.Ⅰ.DefinitionInlinguistics,aregisterisavarietyofalanguageusedforaparticularpurposeorinaparticularsocialsetting.ThetermregisterwasfirstusedbylinguistThomasBertramReidin1956,andbroughtintogeneralcurrencyinthe1960sbyagroupoflinguistswhowantedtodistinguishbetweenvariationsinlanguageaccordingtotheuser(definedyvariablessuchassocialbackground,geography,sex,andage),andvariationsaccordingtouse,”inthesensethateachspeakerhasarangeofvarietiesandchoicesbetweenthematdifferenttimes”(Hallidy,1964).Thefocusisonthewaylanguageisusedinparticularsituations,suchaslegaleseormotherese,thelanguageofabiologyresearchlab,ofanewsreport,orofthebedroom..Registerdesignatesmannerofspeakingorwritingspecifictoacertainfunction,thatis,characteristicsofacertaindomainofcommunication(Bussmann,2000:402).Thatis,context-specificvarietyoflanguage.Forinstance:(1)Inwritingoneletterapersonmightstart,’Iamwritingtoinformyouthat…’,butinanotherthesamepersonmightwrite:’Ijustwantedtoletyouknowthat…’(Hudson,2000:46).(2)InCatholicchurch,apriestiscalledFatherinareligiousceremony.Supposethefatherofthepriestpresentshimselfatthescene,hehastocallthepriestFather,justlikealltheothers.Ⅱ.RegistersanddialectsRegisterarevarietiesaccordingtouse---inthesensethateachspeakerhasarangeofvarietiesandchoosesbetweenthematdifferenttimes;whiledialectsarevarietiesaccordingtouser,definedbyvariablessuchassocialbackground,geography,sexandage(Hallidayetal,1964).‘Yourdialectshowswho(orwhat)youare,whileyouregistershowswhatyouaredoing’(Hudson,2000:45).Inotherwords,dialectsreflecthowspeakersfromdifferentregionsorpeoplewithdifferentsocialcharacteristics(class,gender,ect.)showlinguisticvariations;registersreflecthowthesamepersonmayuseverydifferentlinguisticitemstoexpressmoreorlessthesamemeaningondifferentoccasions.Ⅲ.VariationsinregisterAnyoralltheelementsoflanguagemayvaryindifferentregisters,suchasvocabulary,syntax,morphology,pragmaticrules,andevenparalinguisticfeature(pitch,volumeandintonationinspokenEnglish,orsizeandspeedofsignproductioninasignlanguage).Registeroftenhavenon-linguisticprescriptions,suchasappropriatedresscodes,bodylanguage,andproximityofspeakerstooneanother.Ⅳ.DimensionsofregistervariationsMichaelHalliday(2001)distinguishesthreegeneraltypesofdimensiontoexaminethe“dimensions’onwhichacommunicatoryact/eventmaybelocated:field,mode,andtenor(Hudson,2000:46).Thatis,registerdifferencescanbethreedimensional.FIELD---referstothemeansbywhichcommunicationtakesplace,i.e.’how’thecommunicationismade,byspeechorwriting,provisionallyorwithpreparation,withorwithoutrhetoricdevices.MODE---referstotherelations(socialstatus,rolerelationship)betweenparticipants,or,“whom”thecommunicativeactaddresses.Ⅴ.Applicationsofresearchesofregister(1)languageteachingRegisterstudyhasalotofimplicationsonlanguageteaching.Registeranalysiscanbeappliedinanalyzinglexical,syntacticfeaturesoftext.AndinshedslightontheteachingL2culturalbackgroundandcommunicativecompetence,andteachingofESP.(2)StylisticanalysisSincethecontextofdiscoursecanbeoneofthedecisivefactorsinmeaninginterpretation,analysisofthestyleofadiscoursecanstartwiththeanalysisofregisterdimensions---field,modeandtenor.(3)TranslationRegisterstudysuggestthatintranslationouraimshouldtargetatequivalenceofbothmeaningandfunctioninthelevelofdiscourseinsteadofvocabularylevel.Andequivalenceneedstobeachievednotonlyofcontextualmeaning,butalsoofinterpersonalandtextualfunction..Eventhoughthenotionofregistercannotaccountforallcontextualfactors(overandabovethecontextofsituationthereisthewidercontextofculture),registeranalysisstillemergesasapowerfulanalyticaltoolandanecessaryone,too,forcommunicativeactshingeuponthecontextofsituationinwhichtheyoccur.Intranslation-orientedtextualanalysis,registercharacterisationconstitutesagoodpointofentry,foritoffersaninitialinterpretativehypothesiswhichthenhastobesubstantiatedagainstthetextualevidenceprovidedbylinguisticstructuresandrefinedormodifiedbyreferencetothebroadercontextofculture.(4)AnalysisofpracticaluseoflanguageincertainregisterResearchesofregistercanhelppeoplerealizetheessenceofaspecificcommunicativeevent,andthuscontributeguidelinesforpeopletoperformthecommunicativeactinamorescientificandfruitfulway.Registeranalysiscanhelppeopleunderstandhowwemakeuseoflanguageinamoreskillfulandmoreeffectivewayinsomepracticalfield,suchaslegales,advertisement,medialanguage,etc..Bibliography: