Re: "Register" a grammatical term

BP Jonsson wrote:
...The problem I have is a
>very practical one: under one interpretation of
>one of the many sketches of the Quenya pronominal
>system which Tolkien left behind the pronouns make
>the following distinctions, cutting across the
>three numbers singular, plural and dual:
>
>| Person
>| 1.    inclusive      'we and you'
>| 1.    exclusive      'we but not you'
>| 2.    familiar       'thou, you'
>| 2.    polite         'sir(s), ma'am'
>| 2.    reverent       'My Lord(s)/Lady(-ies)'
>|                       (when talking to him/her/them)
>| 3.    animate        's/he'
>| 3.    reverent       'my lord(s)/lady(-ies)'
>|                       (when talking about them)
>| 3.    inanimate      'it'
>| 3.    impersonal      '(it)'
>|       reflexive      '-self'
>
>While it may not be wholly seriously-linguistically-
>theoretically justify to subsume all the
>distinctions in column two under a single heading
>I think it might be justified to do so in a
>description aimed at those who want to acquire a
>command of the language and are not linguistically-
>theoretically inclined. For such an audience it
>seems to be a Good Thing to be able to present the
>pronouns in a table like the one above, with
>additional columns to the right containing the
>actual forms in the three numbers, and not to
>proliferate the number of named grammatical
>categories. "Register" is the best I can come up
>with.
I've been meaning to say:  I think "style(s)" and/or "level(s)" have
sometimes been used.

BTW, except for dual number, all the distinctions you mention above exist in
Malay/Indonesian (and in Kash, though most of the high-level forms are
falling into disuse), and most certainly in Javanese, which in many cases
even has distinct vocabulary depending on familiar - respectful -
ultra-respectful.  And I think some special vocab for use in the palaces of
the few remaining Sultans, and when referring to the pre-Islamic gods.

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