REGISTER AND STYLE AS DIFFERENT AND ‘UTILITARIAN’ IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE VARIETIES. A SOCIOLINGUISTICS ANALYSIS

Tuyizere Gratien, Lionel Iradukunda, Leo Mutimukeye, Jean Luc Uwimana, Azela Mukashyaka, Yvette Umwali

Abstract


This paper assesses the relationship between register and style, their key characteristics, and how both contribute to the sociolinguistic context. It goes on to suggest that register and style, in connection with context, are 'functional' manifestations or variations of the English language, since they often signify changes that occur in language as a result of sociolinguistic and, based on traditional dialectal, social varieties. Year two, semester two, for students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with Education at Kibogora Polytechnic took part in this study. Data cards and recording devices were employed as research instruments. Recording and transcription techniques are used in the data collection process. English Language users are typically more aware of their 'immediate' linguistic environments (contexts) in terms of communication goals than they are of their 'remote' regional or social background, which informs a selection of 'appropriate' linguistic items to adjust to those language situations or demands.

Keywords


style, register, sociolinguistics, language

Full Text:

PDF

References


Biber, D. (1994). Sociolinguistic perspectives on register. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Sociolinguistic_Perspectives_on_Register.html?id=cTPUrGpvHs0C&redir_esc=y

Crystal, D. (2003). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. London: Blackwell Publishing. Retrieved from https://hslcorner.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/david-crystal-a-dictionary-of-linguistics-and-phonetics-1.pdf

Eckert, P & Rickford, J. (2001). Style and sociolinguistic variations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/91911/frontmatter/9780521591911_frontmatter.pdf

Halliday, M.A.K. (1978). Language as Social Semiotic: the social interpretation of language and meaning. Edward Arnold: London. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/abs/m-a-k-halliday-language-as-social-semiotic-the-social-interpretation-of-language-and-meaning-london-edward-arnold-1978-pp-256/12CEC8267EFAC14C9CAFAC76112A318F

Holmes, J. (1992). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Retrieved from https://alharbicomblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/e-book-an-introduction-to-sociolinguistics.pdf

Hudson, R. A. (1980). Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: CUP. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166843

Joos, M. (1968). The Five Clocks. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/The_Five_Clocks.html?id=usZrzy0gkOEC&redir_esc=y

Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman: Harcourt. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/A_Comprehensive_Grammar_of_the_English_L.html?id=CrhZAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

Spolsky, B. (1998). Sociolinguistics. Oxford: OUP. Retrieved from https://library.ablaikhan.kz/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Sociolinguitics-Bernard-Spolsky.pdf

Trudgill, P. (1974). Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society. Gateshead: Northumberland Press Ltd. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/sociolinguistics0000trud

Trudgill, P. (1992). An Introduction to Language and Society. London: Penguin. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Introducing_Language_and_Society.html?id=gA4jAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y

Wardhaugh, R. (1998). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. USA: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Retrieved from https://mrdowoportal.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/1/8/10183165/wardhaugh-fuller2015-an_introduction_to_sociolinguistics.pdf

Yule, G. (2006). The Study of Language. Cambridge: UP. Retrieved from https://sharifling.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/the-study-of-language-george-yule.pdf

William Labov. (2026). William Labov. In Wikipedia. Retrieved 20 October 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Labov

“What is the difference between jargon and register?” (n.d.). Quora. http://www.quora.com/Sociolinguistics/What-is-the-difference-between-jargon-and-register accessed on 20 October 2014 at 14.36 PM.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v10i1.693

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2026 Tuyizere Gratien, Lionel Iradukunda, Leo Mutimukeye, Jean Luc Uwimana, Azela Mukashyaka, Yvette Umwali

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The research works published in this journal are free to be accessed. They can be shared (copied and redistributed in any medium or format) and\or adapted (remixed, transformed, and built upon the material for any purpose, commercially and\or not commercially) under the following terms: attribution (appropriate credit must be given indicating original authors, research work name and publication name mentioning if changes were made) and without adding additional restrictions (without restricting others from doing anything the actual license permits). Authors retain the full copyright of their published research works and cannot revoke these freedoms as long as the license terms are followed.

Copyright © 2017-2026. European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies (ISSN 2559 - 7914 / ISSN-L 2559 - 7914). All rights reserved.


This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and  Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.