Register Theory:

Tenor and Field

English Discourse Analysis

Week 3, 2010-11
Rachel Whittaker (Grp 41)
Mick O’Donnell, Laura Hidalgo (Grp 46)

2. Register Theory
2.3 Tenor

Tenor “the people involved in the communication and the

Tenor:
relationships between them”
• Includes:
– Power relations:
• Unequal: father/daughter, doctor/patient,
teacher/student
• Equal: friend/friend, student/student
– Formality: formal/informal
Informal: I handed my essay in kinda late coz my kids got sick.
Formal: The reason for the late submission of my essay was the
illness of my children.
– Closeness: distant/neutral/close
– Contact: frequent/rare

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2. Register Theory
2.3 Tenor

2. Register Theory
2.3 Tenor
• Correlations are common:
– Equal power relations tend to encourage less formality
(e.g., two doctors can relax while discussing a case)
– But not always:
• Teacher talking to other teachers in a meeting may maintain
formality.
• Two parents at a school may maintain more formal relations
– Unequal power relations often imply social
distance (but Father-Daughter?)
– Frequent interaction tends to promote less
formality and distance

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2. Register Theory
2.3 Tenor
Tenor: formality vs closeness: Close (personal) texts tend to be more
informal, so these categories tend to overlap, but do not always. Is
the following:
• Formal or informal?
• Close or distant?

2. Register Theory
2.3 Tenor

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2. Register Theory
2.3 Tenor

REALISATIONS OF TENOR:

Modalization to express possibility/opinion:

Are you going? I may.
Is this yours? It could be.

Modalization to express deference/ suggestions:

May I go?
Could I borrow it?

2. Register Theory
2.3 Tenor

REALISATIONS OF TENOR: Speech

• Power relations:
– The less powerful is less likely to interrupt, while the more powerful
may.
– The more powerful can pause longer between moves without being
interrupted.
– The more powerful may issue commands, while the less powerful
makes polite requests
• Knowledge Roles
– The less knowledgable more likely to initiate questions, while the
more knowledgable more likely to answer them.
• Closeness/Familiarity: personal closeness and familiarity lessen the
effect of power roles.

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2. Register Theory
2.4 Field
Field: what the text is about:
• Typical fields: science, education, war, medicine, sports.
• Can be more specific:
– Science: biology: microbiology: virology: plant viruses
– Education: Language education: English Language education: Secondary
level English Education
• Additionally, can be placed on a cline of:
– Technical vs. non-technical: is the vocabulary specific to the field, or
does it use vocabulary common to other fields?
– Technical vocabulary may be used in other fields but have different
meaning in the current field:
• “constituent” (politics) : member of a political unit
• “constituent” (linguistics): a syntactic unit

2. Register Theory
2.4 Field

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2. Register Theory
2.4 Field 2. Text and Text Types
Lexical Fields:
Fields Field relates very strongly to the lexis.
• Lexical fields: sets of words which are related.
• A single text may have more than one lexical field:

The first match of the highly controversial springbok tour of New

Zealand produced two victors today: the South Africans and the
police. The Springboks had the easier of the clashes annihilating a
Poverty Bay rugby side twenty-four to six. But the NZ police forces
guarding the ground at Gisbourne had to cope with dozens of angry
protesters who chanted anti-apartheid slogans, blew whistles to
disrupt the match, and made two attempts to invade the pitch. Here is
today’s special satellite report.

• Football: match, springbok, tour, rugby side, ground, pitch

• Protest: controversial, angry protesters, chant, slogans, disrupt
• War: victor, clashes, annihilating, forces, guarding, invade
• Reporting: special satellite report

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 2.5 Language and its Context: EXAMPLE
Yoghurt with walnuts and fresh coriander
Akhrote ka raita
Another cooling, nourishing dish. It may be eaten by itself or served with
Indian meals.
Serves 6
20 fl oz (570 ml) plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Put the yoghurt in a bowl. Beat lightly with a fork or whisk until smooth and
creamy. Add all the other ingredients. Stir to mix.

• Field: Cooking: indian cooking, not highly technical

• Tenor: an expert ‘cook’ to amateur readers,
neutral formality, neutral distance
• Mode: Written, prepared, intended to be read during cooking

REGISTER ANALYSIS AND DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE LINGUISTIC SYSTEM- WHAT TO

LOOK AT (= THE FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF LANGUAGE)
SITUATIONAL VARIABLE TYPE OF MEANINGS PART OF THE LINGUISTIC SYSTEM
THAT REALIZES THAT MEANING

FIELD: Activity, topic EXPERIENTIAL MEANINGS: Processes (types of verbs: actions,

“Language is used to organize, relations thinking, perceiving, liking
understand and express our etc.), -participants (semantic types in
perceptions of the world and of subject and object position etc), -
our own consciousness.”- circumstances

TENOR INTERPERSONAL MEANINGS:

Relations of power, equality
“Language is used to enable
us to participate in
communicative acts with
other people, to take on roles
and to express and
understand feelings, attitude
and judgements.”
-Clause structure: declarative,
imperative, interrogative; -
modality: certainty and
obligation;-attitude:
positive/negative lexis

MODE TEXTUAL MEANINGS: Linear organization of the

Distance between “Language is used to relate what
is said or written to the real world
communicators– written or
and to other linguistic events.
spoken This involves the use of language
to organize the text itself.”
content:
-first position vs last position;
-given information vs. new
information -clauses vs. noun
phrases;

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 DOING REGISTER ANALYSIS: THE QUESTIONS
MODE
A. What is the physical distance between the interlocutors?
What are the possibilities of contact between them?
B. What is the distance between the use of language and the
activity (social process) it realizes?
FROM A AND B: Does language make an activity in the world
possible (collaboration between speakers) = language as
action?
OR is the use of language the activity itself = language as
reflection?
Linguistic features (basically +/-spoken/written)
Monologue or not?
Appearance of I/you? (invitation to participate?)
Context dependent or not? (use of deixis: it, they, here, now)
Spontaneous or not? (corrections, non-standard forms)
Lexically dense noun phrases or lexically light clauses?

TENOR
What are the relations between the speaker/writer and
hearer/reader in terms of power (equal/unequal),
contact (frequent/infrequent), affective involvement
(high/low)?
Linguistic features (basically expressions of +/-
power/equality)
Is knowledge stated as fact or negotiated? (stated =
power, possibility opens space for other)
Attitudinal or neutral lexis? (evaluative language
=power)
Colloquial or formal lexis?
Vocatives showing roles/relations?

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FIELD
• What is the activity the participants are carrying out?
OR
• What is the topic of the text?
• How much knowledge does the speaker/writer
assume the hearer/reader has?
• Linguistic features (basically sets of nouns/verbs)
• Lexical sets show content area (activity or topic).
• Do technical terms or jargon make it difficult to
understand the language (=exclusion of outsiders)?

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Variable Context of production Linguistic features of text

Mode

Tenor

Field

variable Context of Linguistic features of text

production
Physical distance Context independent: endophoric deixis:
between producer this refers to over 600, the newsletter is
and receiver of text:the title of the text.
maximum Non-spontaneous: no corrections or non-
standard forms
Language makes a Information structured in clauses:
social activity paratactic: and, but; hypotactic: because, if
possible- requesting (reflects speech, achieves closeness to
MODE financial support, reader)
and inviting NPs not v dense: Det + N+N+N: the
communication Labrador Rescue Trust; Det + Adj + N: a
between writer- fantastic membership
reader Some + post-modification: your continued
support via subscription; kind sponsorship
from advertisers; your items for inclusion

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variable Context of Linguistic features of text
production
Power: writer as Knowledge stated as fact: supporters
editor has power, … number over 600! Editing is a
but readers are pleasure, everything is read.
recognised as + Writer evaluates: fantastic, kind,
power to pleasure
(dis)continue Formal lexis: your continued support
support via subscription (2 abstractions)
TENOR Contact: possible And informal phrases: short of space,
via letter? Small bear with me
association
Polite requests: Please + imperatives:
Affect: a certain Please let me know, please keep
amount assumed, sending
share of love for
dogs Promise: (it) will be included

variable Context of Linguistic features of text

production
Activity: request Lexis: some specialised lexis,
for support for an but not overly technical.
association
Lexical fields:
Knowledge •Publishing: Editor, publishing,
assumed: newsletter x 2, advertisers, editing,
content, newsletter items, item,
Readers are
FIELD members, so they
appear, issue, space, ...
know about the •Association: SUPPORTERS, The
work; others not Labrador Rescue Trust, membership,
excluded by support, subscription, sponsorship
jargon or •Enjoyment: pleasure, like
references

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BRIEF INTERPRETATION OF THE REGISTER FEATURES
FOUND:
Text B is a letter written by the editor of a small
charity which rescues dogs (Labradors), (probably
dogs which have been ill-treated) requesting money
from the members. The request is made indirectly,
via the magazine it publishes, informing members of
its activities, and including information from the
members themselves (participation, group
formation).

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A. Now, should I give the meat another quarter of an hour
before we put the potatoes and stuff in?
B. How long's it had?
A. Had about ..must've had about quarter of an hour
B. Oh.. The potatoes don't need to be in for more than, for much
more than an hour, do they?
A. No, so if we leave it say leave it say for another half hour,
then..oh dear
B. You've planned about two hours of cooking haven't you?
A. Yeah Umm
B. So another half hour will give the potatoes an hour and a
quarter
A. No an hour
B. To be safe uha
A. It'll give them an hour. Right.

B. And the parsnips maybe earlier cos they're harder

A. No no They won't cook they won't cook fa They certainly
won't cook faster than the potatoes even
B. No I'd've said slower
A. Sorry, what I mean is they it takes them not very long
B. uha despite their hardness
A. despite their ...??
B. Right now let's see. .. has she? has she taken the cork out?
(Laughter)
A. Taken the cork ? No no (Laughter) ... she's ..taken the top
B. No, no she's .. an on-going ...conceptual disagreement Huh
A. Oh yes? should I take this out? I don't.
B. The first instructions I ever read of Delia's said take the cork
out (laugher) so I've obediently done it ever since
A. Never having read it , I don't do it, and it tastes just as good
the same

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Variable Context of production Linguistic features of text

Mode

Tenor

Field

variable Context of Linguistic features of text

production
Physical distance Dialogue: turntaking
between producer context dependent:
and receiver of I/we, and she has she…? referring a
text is minimum: third person present but less involved
face-to –face in the activity of cooking
spontaneous: laughter, repetitions,
Language is used incomplete utterances, ellipsis,
MODE to make possible corrections: yeah, umm, uha
a social activity: everyday lexis:
cooking
potatoes etc
grammar of speech:
noun phrases: light, usually Det+H:
the meat, the potatoes vague words:
and stuff
Spoken signals of change of topic:
Right now let’s see.

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variable Context of Linguistic features of text
production
Power: equal A lot of negotiation:
(almost) • questions, tags, conditionals to
Contact: make suggestions, politeness:
probably Sorry what I mean is,
frequent • giving in: uha despite their
TENOR hardness
Distance: Some power shown: direct
close negation No, an hour.
Evaluation- tastes just as good
Informal phrases
No vocatives

variable Context of Linguistic features of text

production
Language as Lexical sets:
action: activity
of cooking-
food- meat, potatoes,
two people are parsnips, cook x 3., cork
getting a meal (wine)- take out
FIELD Time- + advs of manner
Knowledge: and taking time- faster,
of cooking, slower, (not very) long etc.
of tv cooks
(cultural ref)

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variable Context of Linguistic features of text
production
Physical distance Monologue, No I/you
between producer Context independent: endophoicic
and receiver of text- deixis “he” = the Wolves striker” =
maximum “Ndah”
No chance of
communication Non-spontaneous: no corrections
writer-reader visible, no non-standard forms.
MODE
normally (letter to Information structured in clauses,
the paper = narrating the highlights of the match,
possibility, not reflecting oral commentary.
direct)
Language as NPs not very dense: Det+Adj+N: “a
reflection on event, severe blow”,”their bitter rivals”, “a
informing and square defence”, a through ball”, “a
evaluating bad mistake”, a close-range header”,
“a narrow angle”

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variable Context of Linguistic features of text
production
Power: writer Knowledge stated as fact: writer
is expert. selects newsworthy events;
But readers past tense indicates this
could stop occurred, according to the
buying the expert.
paper to read
TENOR this section.
Writer evaluates: : “a severe
Affect: none blow”, “an emphatic victory”,
“a bad mistake”, “good saves”;
Formal lexis

variable Context of Linguistic features of text

production
Language used to Lexical sets:
reflect on an
event: a football Football: home side, Division
match = topic One, scored/ing, volleyed,
A certain amount saved, a kick, a header, shoot,
of knowledge is a shot, a pass, goal, ball,
assumed: the defence, keeper
FIELD teams are
referred to by
shortened forms; Conflict: clash, rivals, victory,
football jargon; control, threatened, attacks,
general readers
blocked, unchallenged.
not excluded
though
Wolves, West Brom, Molineux,
a short corner routine

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• COULD THIS BE A RECIPE IN A COOKERY BOOK?
• LEXIS:
• Nouns with the semantic feature + edible
• Nouns in the lexical set of utensils
• Verbs of actions of preparation of food
• GRAMMAR:
• + Quantifiers
• + Preposition phrases
• + Imperatives
• + Circumstantials of time, place, manner
• + Endophoric reference (anaphoric)

• FEATURES OF REGISTER—FEATURES OF CONTEXT

• IS IT A RECIPE IN A COOKERY BOOK?
• MODE
• Choose half a dozen of those, break them here in this, and do this here.
• Now mix them with this.
• A bit more of that
• TENOR
• Please could you beat 6 eggs, if you don’t mind.
• It would be a good idea if you could perhaps do it for about five minutes, if it’s not
too much trouble.
• Hi there you guys!! Here we’ve got a scrumptious recipe!!
• Come on everybody!! Get down to work.
• FIELD
• Title: The garden in autumn
• Lexical sets: plant, stems, golden leaves

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Interest in the use of language in society
the "linguistic turn" in many disciplines
language and the construction of knowledge
relevance of knowledge of language to the individual as a
member of a particular society
Foucault: "the orders of discourse"
Bordieu: "the linguistic market-place"
We need to function (linguistically) in different contexts
(con-text vs co-text)
How?
Experience + many text-types and situations
Or these can be made explicit

1. "Well, now I'm picking up my pen, but I haven't got

many ideas..."
2. "Don't do that."
3. "Put it there."
4. "As it says here in this book..."
5. "I agree with this..."
6. unfortunately, surprisingly
7. fantastic, shitty, unbelievable
8. would you like a chocolate?
9. how about some of these yummy chockies?

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