英语文体学课本510.docx

英语文体学课本510.docx

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英语文体学课本510

5FormalvsInformalLanguage

5.1TheInterpersonalFunctionofLanguage

Weknowlanguageperformsvariousfunctions:

theideationalorreferential,theinterpersonalorexpressive/social,andthetextual（see1.4fordetail）.

Butmanytreatmentsoflanguagetendtoemphasizeonlytheideationalorreferentialfunctionoflanguage.Languageisusedtotalkaboutobjects,personsandideas,tonameanddefinethem,toimpartandcommunicateinformation,etc.Thatlanguagecanbedoingotherthingsatthesametimeisoftenignored.Weknow,forinstance,thatgreetingslike'Hello.Howareyou?

''Justfine,thanks.Andyou?

'arenotusedtogetinformationabouthowoneisfeeling,butrathergiventopeoplethatoneknowsandwantsto（ormust）recognize.Nottogivegreetingstoone'sacquaintanceswouldbetochangetherelationshiporevenpossiblyendit.Languageshapes,definesandidentifiesrolesandrelationships.Itcanbringpeopletogetherorseparatethem.Thesefunctionsarepurelysocialinnature.Correlatedwiththisaretenorsofdiscourse.

Tenorsinvolvetherelationshipbetweenparticipantsinthesituation,theirrolesandstatus.Theparticipantrelationsthatdeterminethetenorofdiscourserangethroughvaryingdegreesofpermanence.Mosttemporaryarethosewhentheparticipantsareataparty,orhavemetonatrain.Attheoppositeendarerelationssuchasthatbetweenparentsandchildren.Varioussociallydefinedrelations,asbetweenteacherandpupil,orlaborandmanagement,liesomewhereintermediately.Thenumberandtypesofrolestobeplayedbybothaddresser（speaker/writer）andaddressee（hearer/reader）areonalargepartdeterminedbythestructureofsociety:

byeconomicstatus,byeducation,byoccupation,byethnicgroup,bygenderetc.Everyindividualwillfitinsomeofthecategoriesandfindhis/herstatusinthecommunity.Ifapersonhashadagoodtrainingandhasbeenteachingforalongtime,thenthepersonisateacher;atthesametimethepersonmaybeamanorawoman,afatheroramother,afriendofsomebodyoratotalstranger,aheareratameetingoraspeaker.Thepersonwillplaysuchrolesandaccordinglywill'act'andspeakinanappropriatemannerforeachoftheseidentities.Ateacherwilltalklikeateacherinfrontofhisstudents,amotherwilltalklikeamothertoherchildren.Theintimateandcolloquialvocabularyinalover'slettercontrastswithahighdegreeoftechnicallanguageintheresearcharticle.Aninterviewforajobisdifferentfromcasualconversation.

Whatismore,thelanguageanindividualuseswillredefineeachsituation.Whenpeopleexchange'Howdoyoudo?

',weknowthattheyaredefiningtheirrelationshipasthatofstrangertostranger.Whenlaterontheysay'Hello,gladtomeetyouagain'toeachother,weknowtheyarenolongerstrangers.InChina,ifapersonispromotedtothepositionoftheheadofadepartment,thenhe/shewillbeaddressedasZhuren（DeaninEnglish）byhis/hersubordinates.Buthis/hersuperiors（forinstancethepresidentoftheuniversity）arelikelytocallhim/herbyname.Changesinstatuswillsurelybeshowninlanguage.Whatisinvolvedhereismainlythedegreeofformality.

5.2DegreesofFormality

FORMALITYreferstothewayinwhichthestyleoflanguagewillvaryinappropriatenessaccordingtothesocialcontext:

theoccasionandtherelationshipbetweenaddresserandaddressee（s）.

Personaltenorexpressesthevariousrolesassumedbytheparticipantsandthedegreeofformalityoftheirrelationship.

Theaddressformspeopleuseareprobablythemostdirectandobviousmeanstoindicaterolesandrelationships.

TheaddressformsintheEnglishlanguagepresentthreemostfrequentlyusedpatterns:

1）thereciprocalexchangeofTitleplusLastName（TLN）;2）thereciprocalexchangeofFirstName（FN）;3）thenon-reciprocalpatterninwhichonepersonusesFNandtheotherTLN.GenerallymutualTLNindicatesanacquaintance-to-acquaintanceroleandrelationshipwhilemutualFNindicatesafriend-to-friendroleandrelationship.Thedegreeofformalityisnotthesameeither:

theformerbeingformalandthelatterintimate.Butinbothcasesthestatusoftheparticipantsisaboutthesame.Theuseofthenon-reciprocalpatternindicates,however,thattherolestobeplayedbytheparticipantsarenotthesame:

oneishigherinstatusthantheother.ChildrenaresupposedtouseTLNtoadultsandreceiveFN;thoseinsubordinatestatussuchasstudent,employee,areexpectedtouseTLNtothoseinhigherstatussuchasteacher,bossandreceiveFN.TheuseofTLNshowsdeference/respectanddistancewhiletheuseofFNshowscondescension/superiorityandintimacy.

Oftenapersonisaddressedwithtitlealonelike'YourHonor'forajudge,'Sir'foragentleman,'Madam'foralady.Thisshowsahigherdegreeofformalityandalongerdistancebetweenaddresserandaddressee.FNusetowardtitularsuperior（theboss,thedirector）exhibitsprivilegeof,forinstance,oldco-worker,fellowstudent/countryman,orprivilegeofage,position（seniorengineer,professor）.Ontheotherhand,whenapersonisaddressedwithmultiplenames,forinstance,tocallRobertWilliamsas'Williams','Robert','Bob','Willie',ortocallJamesScogginas'Scoggin','James','Jim','Scoggs',ahighdegreeofinformalitybetweenclosefriendsisconveyed.

ThereisatendencyforadultsofequalstatustobegintheiracquaintanceshipwithMutualTLNandmoveontoMutualFN（thoughyoungpeoplenowadaysuseFNevenwhentheyareintroducingeachother）.Peopleofunequalstatusarelikelytobeginwithnon-reciprocalityandkeepthestategoingwithoutnecessarilymovingtothemutualFNpatternuntilthepersoninthesuperiorstatusinitiatesthemoveandencourageshis/hersubordinatetoexchangeFNwithhim/her.Husbandandwifeoftensimplyuse'love','dear',or'honey'toaddresseachother.

Theobservanceofimpersonalityisalsointeresting.Onaformaloccasion,aspeaker,outofconsiderationofpoliteness,wouldnotmakeanyreferencetotheimmediatecontextofsituationbetweenaddresserandaddresseebytheuseofpersonalpronounsyouand/,eventheTLNoftheaddressee,nortohis/herfeelingsandopinions.Thusinsteadofsaying

Ithinkyou/DrWoodshouldairyour/hisview.

Wesay

ItisthoughtthattheDeanshouldgivehisopinion.

Andnotsaying

Howmuchdoyougetforyourteachingjob?

whichislikelytobeconsideredasnosyandimpertinentasintrudingonotherpeople'spersonalmatters,wesay

IwonderhowmuchtheaverageAmericansgetforateachingjob.

Thelanguageused,dearly,isformal.

Peoplearegenerallyawareofthedifferenceinpersonaltenorbetweenformal（relativelystiff,cold,polite,impersonal）ontheonesideandinformal（relativelyrelaxed,warm,rude,friendly）ontheother.Thecorrespondinglinguisticcontrastinvolvesgrammar,vocabularyandphonology.Comparethefollowing,forexample:

Patronsarerequestedtoascendtothenextfloor.（formal）

OK,guys!

Getuptothenextfloor!

（informal）

Ishouldmostcertainlyliketoattendyourball,SirReginald.（formal）

I'dliketocometoyourdo,Reg.（informal）

5.3FunctionalTenorandDegreesofFormality

Functionaltenortellsustheaddresser'sintentionofusingthelanguage:

forteaching?

persuading?

amusing?

explaining?

controlling?

insulting?

arguing?

satirizing?

Functionaltenorisnotdifficulttodiscern.Differentsituationaltypesoflanguageareendowedwithdifferentpredominantfunctions,asadvertisingwithpersuasion,alecturewithexposition,apoliticalspeechwithagitation,andthesermonwithexhortationandteaching.

Certainfunctionaltenorscanhitanypointonthepersonaltenorformalitycontinuum.Anexpositoryspeechcanbeformal,withmanypassiveconstructionsandatechnicalvocabulary.Itcanalsobeinformal,inanad-libmanner,withpersonalanecdotes,referencetotheaudience.Aninsultmayalsobeformalorinformal.Aformalinsultingdependsonformalstructureandvocabularyaswellascalmordeliberatedelivery.Thus

Ishallallownos.o.b,totamperwithmyaffairs!

wouldbemoreformalthan

Keepoutofmyaffairs,yous.o.b.!

And

Sir,youareaswine!

HereisaMarkTwaininformalinsult:

Why,youturnip,ifyouhadlaidlowandkeptdark,there'schancestobuyanAmericanhorseformightylittlemorethanyoupaidforthatbloodyoldforeignrelic.

Inofficialese,formallanguagecanbeoverusedandbecomewhatiscalled'gobbledygook'--meaninglessbutimportant-soundingofficiallanguage.Suchlanguageisverboseandlong-winded,fullofmulti-syllabicwordsandemptyorvaguephrases,asareoftenseeninofficialbusinessreports.Forinstance,insteadofmakingaclearstatementthat

Somewerekilled.

theofficialspokesmanwouldsaysomethinglike

Althoughtherehavebeenclashes,onlyinafewcasesweretheinjuriesfatal.

andinsteadofsaying

Oneshouldhavenoracialprejudice.

thosewhoprefergobbledygookwouldsay

Itnecessitatesaprojectionofthehumanmindoverthebarrierofrace.

Theideabehindthisiseithertoconcealtheharshtruthofamatterortoaffectakindofprofoundnessforastatement.Naturallysuchpracticehasbeenmuchridiculedandcriticized.

5.4MartinJoos'Classification

MartinJoos（1967）describestherangeofformalityashavingfivelevels:

frozen,formal,consultative,casual,andintimate,whichisbelievedthateveryspeakerhasaccessto.

InJoos'analysis,thefrozenlevelisusedforwrittenlegaldocumentsorhighlysolemnspeechwhichconsistsofmemorizedsentencesthatmustberepeatedverbatim.Thesemightincludequotationsfromproverbsorritualexpressionswhicharepartofaformalcer