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THE LECTURE ON REGISTER
Introduction:
Traditionally, translation teaching has tended to be based on a non- systematic approach; a text is chosen and any translation problems that emerge are dealt with in whatever order they come. This approach leads to translations which are very subjective because it is not based on a rigorous method (see Gabriella Mauriello 1992).
What is needed then is a systematic and structured approach giving translation trainees some points of reference (Ibid) from which to start and on which they can base their translations. For this purpose, the approach pursued in this course is a textlinguistic one; that is, an approach in which the various aspects of context involved during speech production and reception as well as during the act of translating are taken into consideration. These aspects consist of:
x The register membership of the text.
x The pragmatics of the communicative act or how language is used to convey various intentions.
x The semiotics of culture which Hatim (2000: 13) defines as “the way language use relies on a system of signs which signify knowledge and beliefs essential for members of a community to operate in an acceptable manner.” This system of signs is referred
to as textual practices and covers the following: genre, discourse and text types.
Before relating a text to the various aspects of context during the process of reading, (i.e. the receptive process), the text decoder has first to determine the meaning of each word on the page by linking it to its co- text. To be more specific, a word may have a set of potential meanings (top-down knowledge) which have to be tested against the co-text, the progression of an unfolding text (bottom-up knowledge); only after this operation can the meaning of this word be determined and clarified. As an example, take the word ‘act’ which consists of the following set of
potential meanings taken from Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary (1991): a) something done; b) the process of doing something; c) a law made by a government; d) a main division of a play; e) one of a series of short performances. In the sentence: ‘He played in the second act ’, the meaning of ‘act’ can only be (d) above, by virtue of the words which come before this word. This interplay between top-down and bottom-up knowledge at this micro level of text processing is necessary, as an initial operation, for making sense of the words on the page.
x Establishing the register membership (social context) of a text:
In order to grasp the meaning of a word still further, this initial operation has to be followed by another, relating the words on the page to their context of situation; in other words, the reader or translator has to establish the register membership of the text; more precisely, he/she has to indicate how the various aspects of the context of situation are realized linguistically; i.e. syntactically, lexically and textually.
So let us examine this first dimension of the text in context. For this dimension, a contextual category has been suggested, namely register. Register refers to the relationship that is found between a given situation and the language used in it; this relationship is marked by differences in grammar and vocabulary in different types of situation. Gregory and Carroll (1978: 4) also provide a definition that is insightful:
Register is a contextual category correlating groupings of linguistic with recurrent situational features.
For Hatim (1990: 46), the category of register is useful for translators and revisers who are faced with the inappropriateness of texts which result from the lack of knowledge on the part of students of the grammatical and lexical features appropriate to different situations.
Three basic aspects of register are distinguished: field, tenor and mode. Register variation results from variations in these aspects. For Baker (1992: 15), these three aspects are abstract terms. She defines each in the following terms:
x Field: This is an abstract term for «what is going on» which is relevant to the speaker’s or writer’s choice of linguistic items. Linguistic choices will vary according to whether the speaker is discussing a football match, making a political speech or discussing
politics.
x Mode: This is an abstract term which refers to the medium of transmission (spoken, written). Linguistic choices are influenced by these dimensions.
x Tenor: This is an abstract term for the relationships between the people taking part in the communication activity. The language people use varies depending on interpersonal relationships such as mother and child, doctor and patient,
The three variables are interdependent: a given level of formality (tenor) influences and is influenced by a particular level of technicality (field) in an appropriate (mode) of communication.
These variables, according to Halliday (1978:12) serve to interpret the social context of a text; that is, they identify its social context (register membership) by:
assigning a field to the text, noting what is going on,
assigning a tenor to it, recognizing the personal relationships involved,
assigning to it a mode.
Register equivalence:
To achieve register equivalence, the translator has to go through two stages:
analyzing the ST register by using a plan of work or a scheme;
i.e. the translator has to indicate how the situations of the aspects of register are realized syntactically, lexically, and textually. The aim of this analysis is to obtain a textual profile (an account of the situational- linguistic correlations). This textual profile will guide the student translator in order to find suitable matches along the three aspects of register.
More generally, the textual profile will characterize the function of the text which according to House consists of an ideational component and an interpersonal component; i.e. it will indicate how the situational-linguistic means of the ST contribute in a particular way to each of the two components of the text’s function.
matching the ST register by using equivalent situational-linguistic means to those in the textual profile; i.e. the translator has to use equivalent terminology for a given field and employ TL words, phrases, etc. in the appropriate tenor and mode.
Below, a scheme or plan of work, using aspects of register, for analyzing source texts for translation purposes is given. The aim of the scheme is to obtain a textual profile.
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