Translation (Eng/Ar/Eng)

Register and Context of Situation

Malinowski claims that language only becomes intelligible when it is placed within its context of
situation.

1- What is Context of Situation ?

Context of situation is according to Halliday & Hassan “the environment in which meanings
are being exchanged”, Halliday suggests "that there are three aspects in any situation that have
linguistic consequences: field, mode, and tenor" :

 Field of Discourse: refers to the subject matter or topic of discourse. It answers the question:
“What is happening?”, “what is the activity?”, in other words “what is being written about”.
 Tenor of Discourse: Tenor refers to the interactants in a speech situation and the social
relation existing between the addresser and the addressee including relations of formality
(Formal/Informal), of power (Employer/Employee) and affect (Father/Son)
 Mode of Discourse: it is the symbolic organization of the text, it refers to the channel of
communication (written, spoken, written to be spoken, presence of graphics or images, and
whether there is a combination of these semiotic systems...etc), the code (language) used—
e.g., English, Korean, Spanish, sign language, or mixed codes, and also the rhetorical mode
(expository, informative, persuasive.. etc)
2- What is Language Register ?

More generally, Register is used to indicate the degrees of formality in language use. The use
of the appropriate register depends on the audience, the topic and the purpose for the
communication (Joos, 1967)

Every language has different registers; for example French has three registers (familier courant
et soutenu), English on the other hand has five language registers (often referred to as language
dictions) that exist in both oral and written expressions;

 Frozen (static) register: this style of communication rarely or never changes. The use of
language is fixed and relatively static (ex: prayers, Quran, national anthems, bibliographic
references etc)
 Formal (academic) register: used for conveying information and persuading the audience
(ex: interviews, lectures, public speaking) it is also used in textbooks and essays, it follows a
commonly accepted format (complete sentences, more complex syntax and specific word
usages)
 Consultative (professional) register: It is the formal register used in conversations (ex:
talking to a boss/supervisor/teacher, lawyer, doctor, Counselor, or asking for assistance)
interruptions and feedback fillers are allowed such as “uh-huh”, “I see”.

Formal and
consultative registers
are public registers i.e
 Casual (group) register: Language used in conversation with friends. (idiomatic and often
full of slang, used to signal belonging to a given group)
 Personal (intimate) register: Language between lovers (and twins). - "private" language full
of codewords only known to the two.

Casual and personal registers are private language registers i.e languages we use with
our friends and family (used to show emotions).
One can usually transition from one language register to an adjacent one without encountering
repercussions (casual to consultative…). However, if a person goes from one register to
another register, skipping a level or more, this is considered anti-social behavior, inappropriate
and even offensive (i.e. moving from frozen to intimate, etc.

3- How is context and register related to translation?

Halliday stresses the need for a look into the context in which a text is produced while
analyzing and/or interpreting a text. He points out that the really pressing question here is
"which kinds of situational factor determined which kinds of selection in the linguistic
system?" (Halliday, 1978:32; original emphasis). Translation in this view is a contextual thing;
a cross-cultural communication, communicative act that attempts to render the exact contextual
meaning in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable to the readership.
On the other hand, in processing a sentence to translate it, we should consider its register –
context in which the sentence happens.