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CATEGORIZING categorizing mental-models prototype register stereotype typing Complete Term List

 

Dictionary Definition from Wordnet

2. (1) register -- ((music) the timbre that is characteristic of a certain range and manner of production of the human voice or of different pipe organ stops or of different musical instruments) 4. register -- ((computer science) memory device that is the part of computer memory that has a specific address and that is used to hold information of a specific kind) 6. register -- (a regulator (as a sliding plate) for regulating the flow of air into a furnace or other heating device)

 

 

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Working Definition:

register refers to the fact that the language we speak or write varies according to the type of situation

Disciplinary Definitions:

According to Michael Halliday,

"Types of linguistic situation differ from on another, broadly speaking, in three respects: first, what is actually taking place; secondly, who is taking part; and thirdly, what part the language is playing.  These three variables, taken together, determine the range within which meanings are selected and the forms which are used for the expression.  In other words, they determine the 'register.'

   The notion of register is at once very simple and very powerful.  It refers to the fact that the language we speak or write varies according to the type of situation.   This in itself is no more than stating the obvious.  What the theory of register does is to attempt to uncover the general principles which govern this variation, so that we can begin to understand what situational factors determine what linguistic features.  It is a fundamental property of all language that they display variation according to use; but surprisingly little is yet known about nature of the variation involved, largely because of the difficulty of identifying the controlling factors.  (31-32)

 

[Halliday, Michael. Language As Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. London: Edward Arnold, 1978.]

Comments:

 

Notes

(1) In organs, the full set of pipes controlled by one stop; hence, practically identical with organ stop. A register may include one or (in mixture stops, etc.) several ranks. (2) In the human voice, the different portions of the range. which are distinguished, according to their place of production and sound quality, as "head register," "chest register," etc. There is considerable disagreement among singers and voice teachers regarding vocal registers. Some say the voice has two registers, high and low; many claim three registers, high (head), middle (throat), and low (chest); others subdivide still further. Formerly, the registers played a promient part in teaching and writing about singing, but today the whole idea is generally considered of little importance. Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, Mass.: the Belknap Press of Harvard UP, 1969

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