Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The comprehensive analysis of register variation
- 3 Sociocultural description of the four language situations
- 4 The linguistic bases of cross-linguistic register comparisons: a detailed quantitative comparison of English and Somali registers
- 5 Methodology
- 6 Multi-Dimensional analyses of the four languages
- 7 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: synchronic similarities and differences
- 8 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: diachronic similarities and differences
- 9 Registers and text types in English and Somali
- 10 Towards cross-linguistic universals of register variation
- Appendix I Grammatical description of linguistic features in Korean. Yong-Jin Kim
- Appendix II Grammatical description of linguistic features in Somali. With Mohamed Hared
- Notes
- References
- Index
4 - The linguistic bases of cross-linguistic register comparisons: a detailed quantitative comparison of English and Somali registers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The comprehensive analysis of register variation
- 3 Sociocultural description of the four language situations
- 4 The linguistic bases of cross-linguistic register comparisons: a detailed quantitative comparison of English and Somali registers
- 5 Methodology
- 6 Multi-Dimensional analyses of the four languages
- 7 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: synchronic similarities and differences
- 8 Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: diachronic similarities and differences
- 9 Registers and text types in English and Somali
- 10 Towards cross-linguistic universals of register variation
- Appendix I Grammatical description of linguistic features in Korean. Yong-Jin Kim
- Appendix II Grammatical description of linguistic features in Somali. With Mohamed Hared
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Introduction
One of the key issues in cross-linguistic register analyses is choosing the units of analysis and determining to what extent they are actually comparable. This is relevant both to the registers chosen for analysis and to the linguistic characteristics considered. In the present chapter, these issues are illustrated through a detailed comparison of English and Somali registers.
Throughout the analyses in this book, a quantitative, distributional approach is adopted to describe the linguistic characteristics of registers. These distributional patterns are interpreted functionally, based on previous research which shows that the preferred linguistic forms of a register are those that are best suited functionally to the situational demands of the variety (see, e.g., Chafe 1982; Finegan 1982; Ferguson 1983; Janda 1985; Biber 1988). For example, the situational demands of conversation are very different from those of an academic paper, and therefore the characteristic linguistic forms of these registers will be markedly different. Thus, consider the relative frequencies of first-person pronouns, second-person pronouns, and nouns in these two registers, presented in table 4.1.
Both first- and second-person pronouns are tied directly to the communicative situation in their meaning: first-person pronouns are used to refer to an actively ‘involved’ addressor, while second-person pronouns require a specific addressee in order to be felicitous. In contrast, nouns generally refer to third-person entities and can refer to either concrete objects or abstract concepts; nouns are the primary bearers of referential meaning in a text (apart from deictic, pronominal references to the immediate physical context).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Dimensions of Register VariationA Cross-Linguistic Comparison, pp. 59 - 84Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995