Re: "Register" a grammatical term

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:28:36 +0200, Benct Philip Jonsson
<bpj@...> wrote:

>I just wondered if "register" was ever used to
>refer to the familiar/honorific axis of grammar.
>I seem to remember so but it might be that I
>came up with it myself.
Without consulting a dictionary, but just remembering the many papers I've
read, I'd say the "formal vs informal" axis is frequently referred to as "register"
(not that that's the only thing often called "register"), while the "honorific vs
familiar vs humilific" axis is rarely referred to as "register".

Many people often get "formal" and "honorific" confused with each other, and
get "informal" and "familiar" confused with each other, at least at first;
especially if their native languages don't make such a distinction.

But they do differ.

Example: You're in court or in church and you speak to your wife or your
brother (assuming you're the same rank as them).  You'd use a formal register
but speak to them familiarly.

Other example: You're at a company picnic playing volleyball.  You're the team
captain and your boss is on your team.  You'd use an informal register but
might use honorifics.

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Not everybody agrees on what "register" means.
I like to consider "register" and "genre" and "dialect" together, even though I
don't think they're synonyms; it's just that their effects on language deserve
to be considered consecutively IMO.

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I'm not sure what the standard linguistic term is for the "honorific vs humilific
vs equal" axis.
Also note that even among equals, there may be a difference between familiar,
stranger, and something in-between. And I don't know what that's called
either.

Does anyone?  If so, I'd love for you to tell us.
If your source isn't one of the standard glossaries/dictionaries of "linguistic
terms", it could be a paper or a chapter or a book; you would do us a favor if
you're able to tell us what the source is, as I haven't been able to, but don't
hold  back what you know just because you have trouble remembering the
source exactly (if you do).

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Thanks,
eldin

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