Cover not available
Article published In:
Language, Context and Text
Vol. 2:1 (2020) ► pp.22–58

Progress and tensions in modelling register as a semantic configuration

ORCID logo | University of Wollongong

Halliday (1978: 111) defines register as “the configuration of semantic resources that the member of a culture typically associates with a situation type.” Elsewhere, however, he stresses that when we talk of “a register” this is a term of convenience: register is more properly theorised as continuous variation along many linguistic dimensions. In this paper I review progress in our capacity to describe register and context of situation and ask whether the tension between discrete and continuous models of register might hinder such progress. I then consider Hasan’s (1983, 2013) contextually-open networked model of message semantics, arguing that in conjunction with context networks it has potential to map register variation but still needs to be tested across a large and varied set of domains. Examples from healthcare interaction ground the discussion.

Keywords: register, context of situation, semantic networks, context networks, stratal alignment, registerial cartography, tenor, agentive role, surgical team interaction, healthcare communication
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Halliday’s idea of register has always been one of continuous variation
    • 2.1Register and sociolinguistics
    • 2.2Variation and clarification in Halliday’s definitions of register
  • 3.Illustrating some of the issues – from shopping to seeing the doctor
  • 4.How does recent work on register orient to the idea of continuous variation?
    • 4.1Favoured and foregrounded options
    • 4.2System re-setting and blocking
    • 4.3Registerial cartography
    • 4.4Parameters of context
    • 4.5Corpus and computational approaches
  • 5.Semantic networks and register as continuous and multidimensional variation
    • 5.1Hasan’s semantic networks
    • 5.2Demonstrating the networked approach – surgical interaction
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 29 January 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/langct.00020.moo
References
Bartlett, Tom
2017 Context in systemic functional linguistics: Towards scalar supervenience? In Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Routledge handbook of systemic functional linguistics, 375–390. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, Basil
1971 Class, codes and control volume 1: Theoretical studies towards a sociology of language. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berry, Margaret
2016 On describing contexts of situation. In Wendy L. Bowcher & Jennifer Y. Liang (eds.), Society in language, language in society: Essays in honour of Ruqaiya Hasan, 184–205. Basingstoke: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 Stratum, delicacy, realisation and rank. In Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Routledge handbook of systemic functional linguistics, 42–55. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas
1995 Dimensions of register variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bowcher, Wendy L.
1999 Investigating institutionalisation in context. In Mohsen Ghadessy (ed.), Text and context in functional linguistics, 141–176. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2007 Field and multimodal texts. In Ruqaiya Hasan, Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen & Jonathan J. Webster (eds.), Continuing discourse on language (volume 21), 619–646. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
2014 Issues in developing unified systems for contextual field and mode. Functions of Language 21(2). 176–209. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 Field, tenor and mode. In Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Routledge handbook of systemic functional linguistics, 391–404. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Butt, David G.
2000 Modelling behaviour semantically. In David G. Butt & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen (eds.), The meaning potential of language: Mapping meaning systematically, 228–240. Unpublished monograph, Macquarie University.Google Scholar
2004 Parameters of context: On establishing the similarities and differences between contexts. Unpublished monograph, Macquarie University.Google Scholar
Butt, David G., Alison R. Moore & John Cartmill
2016 Transactions between matter and meaning: Surgical contexts and symbolic action. In Sarah White & John Cartmill (eds.), Communication in surgical practice, 181–205. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Butt, David G., Alison R. Moore & Caroline Henderson-Brooks
2012 Discourse correlates of the therapeutic method and patient progress. In Russell Meares, Nick Bendit, Joan Haliburn, Anthony Korner, Dawn Mears & David G. Butt (eds.), Borderline personality disorder & the conversational model: A clinician’s manual, 267–290. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Butt, David G. & Rebekah Wegener
2007 The work of concepts: Context and metafunction in the systemic functional model. In Ruqaiya Hasan, Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen & Jonathan J. Webster (eds.), Continuing discourse on language, 589–618. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Cicourel, Aaron
1974 [1969] Generative semantics and the structure of social interaction. In Aaron Cicourel, Cognitive sociology, 74–98. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Clarke, Benjamin
2013 The differential patterned occurrence of ellipsis in texts varied for contextual mode: Some support for the ‘mode of discourse-textual metafunction’ hook-up? In Gerard O’Grady, Tom Bartlett & Lise Fontaine (eds.), Choice in language: Applications in text analysis, 269–297. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Cloran, Carmel
1994 Rhetorical units and decontextualisation: An enquiry into some relations of context, meaning and grammar. Nottingham: Department of English Studies, University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
Collins, Peter
2009 Modals and quasi-modals in World Englishes. World Englishes 281. 281–292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eggins, Suzanne, Diana Slade & Fiona Geddes
(eds.) 2016 Effective communication in clinical handover: Research and practice. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Epstein, Steven
2000 Democracy, expertise, and AIDS treatment activism. In Daniel Kleinman (ed.), Science, technology & democracy, 15–32. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Firth, John R.
1968 [1957] Ethnographic analysis and language with reference to Malinowski’s views. In Frank Palmer (ed.), Selected papers of J.R. Firth 1952–59, 137–167. Bloomington & London: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Fung, Andy
2016 Hasan’s semantic networks revisited: A Cantonese systemic functional approach. In Wendy L. Bowcher & Jennifer Y. Liang (eds.), Society in language, language in society: Essays in honour of Ruqaiya Hasan, 115–140. Basingstoke: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ghadessy, Mohsen
(ed.) 1993 Register analysis: Theory and practice. London: Pinter.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael A. K.
1970 A course in spoken English: Intonation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
1978 Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
1985 Part A. In Michael A. K. Halliday & Ruqaiya Hasan, Language, context, and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, 1–49. Geelong: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar
1999 The notion of ‘context’ in language education. In Mohsen Ghadessy (ed.), Text and context in functional linguistics, 1–24. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2002 [1977] Text as semantic choice in social contexts. In Michael A. K. Halliday, Linguistic studies of text and discourse, volume 2 in the collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, 23–81. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2002 [1990] The construction of knowledge and value in the grammar of scientific discourse: With reference to Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species . In Michael A. K. Halliday, Linguistic studies of text and discourse, volume 2 in the collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, 168–192. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2003 [1997] Linguistics as metaphor. In Michael A. K. Halliday, On language and linguistics, volume 3 in the collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, 248–270. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2003 Introduction: On the ‘architecture’ of human language. In Michael A. K. Halliday, On linguistics and language, volume 3 in collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, 1–29. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2004 The language of science, volume 5 in the collected works of M.A.K. Halliday. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2005 [1995] Computing meanings: Some reflections on past experience and present prospects. In Michael A. K. Halliday, Computational and quantitative studies, volume 6 in the collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, 239–267. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2007 [1975] Sociological aspects of semantic change. In Michael A. K. Halliday, Language and society, volume 10 in the collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, 131–168. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael A. K., Angus McIntosh & Peter Strevens
2007 [1964] The users and uses of language. In Michael A. K. Halliday, Language and society, volume 10 in the collected works of M.A.K. Halliday, 5–37. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael A. K. & Zoe James
1993 A quantitative study of polarity and primary tense in the English finite clause. In John McH. Sinclair, Michael Hoey & Gwyneth Fox (eds.), Techniques of description: Spoken and written discourse, 32–66. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael A. K. & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen
1999 Construing experience through meaning: A language based approach to cognition. London & New York: Cassell.Google Scholar
2004 Introduction to functional grammar (3rd edition). London: Hodder Arnold.Google Scholar
Hasan, Ruqaiya
1983 A semantic network for the analysis of messages in everyday talk between mothers and their children. Unpublished monograph, Macquarie University.Google Scholar
1985 Part B. In Michael A. K. Halliday & Ruqaiya Hasan, Language, context, and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective, 51–118. Geelong: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar
1995 The conception of context in text. In Peter Fries & Michael Gregory (eds.), Discourse in society: Systemic functional perspectives (Advances in Discourse Processes 50), 183–283. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1999 Speaking with reference to context. In Mohsen Ghadessy (ed.), Text and context in functional linguistics, 219–328. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2005 [1973] Code, register and social dialect. In Ruqaiya Hasan, Language, society and consciousness, volume 1 in the collected works of Ruqaiya Hasan, 160–193. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
2009a Semantic variation: Meaning in society and in sociolinguistics, volume 2 in the collected works of Ruqaiya Hasan. Edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
2009b The place of context in a systemic functional model. In Michael A. K. Halliday & Jonathan J. Webster (eds.), Continuum companion to systemic functional linguistics, 166–189. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2013 Choice, system, realisation: Describing language as meaning potential. In Lise Fontaine, Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Systemic functional linguistics: Exploring choice, 269–299. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 Towards a paradigmatic description of context: Systems, metafunctions, and semantics. Functional Linguistics 11. 9–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hasan, Ruqaiya, Carmel Cloran, Geoff Williams & Annabelle Lukin
2007 Semantic networks: The description of linguistic meaning in SFL. In Ruqaiya Hasan, Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen & Jonathan J. Webster (eds.), Continuing discourse on language, 697–738. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Kachru, Braj
1992 The other tongue: English across cultures. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Karimi, Neda
2017 Patient-centred advanced cancer care: A systemic functional linguistic analysis of oncology consultations with advanced cancer patients. Unpublished PhD thesis, Macquarie University.Google Scholar
Karimi, Neda, Alison R. Moore & Annabelle Lukin
2018 Cancer care as integrated practice: Consultations between an oncologist and patients with advanced incurable cancer. In Akila Sellami-Baklouti & Lise Fontaine (eds.), Perspectives from systemic functional linguistics, 317–339. London & New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, David
2001 Genres, registers, text types, domains and styles: Clarifying the concepts and navigating a path through the BNC jungle. Language Learning and Technology 51. 37–72.Google Scholar
Lukin, Annabelle
2019 War and its ideologies: A social-semiotic theory and description. Singapore: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lukin, Annabelle, Alison R. Moore, Maria Herke, Rebekah Wegener & Canzhong Wu
2011 Halliday’s model of register revisited and explored. Linguistics and the Human Sciences 4(2). 187–243. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maley, Yon & Rhondda Fahey
1991 Presenting the evidence: Constructions of reality in the court. International Journal for the Science of Law IV(10). 3–17.Google Scholar
Martin, James R.
1992 English text: System and structure. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M.
1993 Register in the round: Diversity in a unified theory of register analysis. In Mohsen Ghadessy (ed.), Register analysis: Theory and practice, 221–292. London: Pinter.Google Scholar
2000 The semantic system of relational expansion: Rhetorical Structure Theory revised. In David G. Butt & Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen, The meaning potential of language: Mapping meaning systematically, 242–260. Unpublished monograph, Macquarie University.Google Scholar
2013 Applying systemic functional linguistics in healthcare contexts. Text & Talk 33(4–5). 437–467.Google Scholar
2014 Registerial cartography: Context-based mapping of text types and their rhetorical-relational organisation. In Wirote Aroonmanakun, Prachya Boonkwan & Thepchai Supnithi (eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computing (PACLIC 28), 5–26. Phuket, Thailand. [URL]
2015 Register in the round: Registerial cartography. Functional Linguistics 2(9). 1–48.Google Scholar
2018 The notion of a multilingual meaning potential: A systemic exploration. In Akila Sellami-Baklouti & Lise Fontaine (eds.), Perspectives from systemic functional linguistics, 90–120. London & New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. & John Bateman
1991 Text generation and systemic-functional linguistics: Experiences from English and Japanese. London: Pinter.Google Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. & Abhishek Kashyap
2014 The construal of space in different registers: An exploratory study. Language Sciences 451. 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. & Kazuhiro Teruya
2016 Registerial hybridity: Indeterminacy among fields of activity. In Donna Miller & Paul Bayley (eds.), Permeable contexts and hybrid discourses, 205–239. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M., Kazuhiro Teruya & Canzhong Wu
2008 Multilingual studies as a multi-dimensional space of interconnected language studies. In Jonathan J. Webster (ed.), Meaning in context: Implementing intelligent applications of language studies, 146–220. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M., Annabelle Lukin, David G. Butt, Chris Clereigh & Chris Nesbitt
2005 A case study of multistratal analysis. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 191. 123–150. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McDonald, Daniel & Robin Woodward-Kron
2016 Member roles and identities in online support groups: Perspectives from corpus and systemic functional linguistics. Discourse & Communication 101. 157–175. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moore, Alison R.
2004 The discursive construction of treatment decisions in HIV medicine. Sydney: Macquarie University PhD dissertation.Google Scholar
2005 Modelling agency in HIV decision-making. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics S191. 103–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 That could be me: Identity and identification in discourses about food, meat, and animal welfare. Linguistics and the Human Sciences 9(1). 59–93. Special issue on identity. Edited by Alexanne Don. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2016a Lovers, wrestlers, surgeons: A contextually sensitive approach to modelling body alignment and interpersonal engagement in surgical teams. In Sarah White & John Cartmill (eds.), Communication in surgical practice, 257–285. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
2016b Can semantic networks capture intra- and inter-registerial variation? Palliative care discourse interrogates Hasan’s message semantics. In Wendy L. Bowcher & Jennifer Y. Liang (eds.), Society in language, language in society: Essays in honour of Ruqaiya Hasan, 83–114. London: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 Register analysis in systemic functional linguistics. In Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Routledge handbook of systemic functional linguistics, 418–437. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
2019 Language and medicine. In Geoff Thompson, Wendy L. Bowcher, Lise Fontaine & David Schönthal (eds.), Cambridge handbook of systemic functional linguistics, 651–688. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moore, Alison R., Christopher Candlin & Guenter Plum
2001 Making sense of HIV–related viral load: One expert or two? Culture Health and Sexuality 31. 229–250. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moore, Alison R. & Rebekah Wegener
2010 Functional linguistic analyses and recommendations of consumer medicines information. In Parisa Aslani, Kim Hamrosi, Eleonora Feletto, Theo Raynor, Peter Knapp, Brian Parkinson, Jeff Hughes, Lisa Nissen & Alison R. Moore (eds.), Investigating consumer medicine: The I-CMI project, 26–27. Final report to the Pharmaceutical Guild of Australia.Google Scholar
Nesbitt, Chris & Guenter Plum
1988 Probabilities in a systemic grammar: The clause complex in English. In Robin Fawcett & David Young (eds.), New developments in systemic linguistics: Theory and application, 6–38. London: Pinter.Google Scholar
Neumann, Stella
2014 Contrastive register variation: A quantitative approach to the comparison of English and German. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Niemietz, Paula, Stella Neumann & Jonas Freiwald
2017 Shifts in theme and subject realisation in English-German translation. In Stella Neumann, Rebekah Wegener, Jennifer Fest, Paula Niemietz & Nicole Hützen (eds.), Challenging boundaries in linguistics: Systemic functional perspectives, 331–357. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
O’Halloran, Kay L., Marissa E. K. Lin & Sabine Tan
2014 Multimodal analytics: Software and visualisation techniques for analysing and interpreting multimodal data. In Carey Jewitt (ed.), Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis (2nd edition), 386–396. Milton Park: Routledge.Google Scholar
Reid, Thomas
1956 Linguistics, structuralism, philology. Archivum Linguisticum 81. 28–37.Google Scholar
Santiago, Nancy, Lis Young, La-Stacey Baramy, R. Rouchelle Cabrera, Eveline May, Rebekah Wegener, David G. Butt, Michael Parr & the Clinical Analysis Group
2011 The impact of the medical emergency team on the resuscitation practice of critical care nurses. BMJ Quality and Safety 20(2). 115–120. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Slade, Diana, Eloise Chandler, Jack Pun, Marvin Lam, Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen, Geoff Williams, Elaine Espindola, Francisco Veloso, Kwok L. Tsui, Simon Tang & Kim S. Tang
2015 Effective healthcare worker-patient communication in Hong Kong accident and emergency departments. Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine 22(2). 69–83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Smith, Bradley
2008 Intonational systems and register: A multidimensional exploration. Sydney: Macquarie University PhD dissertation.Google Scholar
Spencer, John & Michael Gregory
1964 An approach to the study of style. In Nils Enkvist, John Spencer & Michael Gregory (eds.), Linguistics and style, 57–104. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Steiner, Erich & Colin Yallop
(eds.) 2001 Exploring translation and multilingual text production: Beyond content. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tann, Ken
2017 Context and meaning in the Sydney School. In Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Routledge handbook of systemic functional linguistics, 438–456. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Teich, Elke
2013 Choices in analysing choice: Methods and techniques for register analysis. In Lise Fontaine, Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Systemic functional linguistics: Exploring choice, 417–431. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thibault, Paul
1997 Re-reading Saussure. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Thompson, Geoff
1999 Acting the part: Lexico-grammatical choices and contextual factors. In Mohsen Ghadessy (ed.), Text and context in functional linguistics, 101–124. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Urbach, Claire
2013 ‘Choice’ in relation to context: A diachronic perspective on cultural valeur. In Lise Fontaine, Tom Bartlett & Gerard O’Grady (eds.), Systemic functional linguistics: Exploring choice, 300–317. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ure, Jean
1969 Practical registers. ELT Journal 23(2). 107–114. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wegener, Rebekah
2015 Studying language in society and society through language: Context and multimodal communication. In Wendy L. Bowcher & Jennifer Y. Liang (eds.), Society in language, language in society: Essays in honour of Ruqaiya Hasan, 227–248. Basingstoke: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Whorf, Benjamin L.
1956 Language, thought and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Williams, Geoff
1995 Joint book-reading and literacy pedagogy: A socio semantic examination. Sydney: Macquarie University PhD dissertation.Google Scholar
Wilson, Ross McL., William B. Runciman, Robert W. Gibberd, Bernadette T. Harrison, Liza Newby & John D. Hamilton
1995 The quality in Australian health care study. Medical Journal of Australia 1631. 458–471. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Bartlett, Tom & Wendy L. Bowcher
2021. Context in Systemic Functional Linguistics. Functions of Language 28:3 ► pp. 243 ff. DOI logo
Butt, David G., Alison Rotha Moore, Canzhong Wu & John Cartmill
2021. The pragmatism of drawing context networks. Functions of Language 28:3 ► pp. 260 ff. DOI logo
Neumann, Stella & Stefan Evert
2021. Chapter 6. A register variation perspective on varieties of English. In Corpus-based Approaches to Register Variation [Studies in Corpus Linguistics, 103], ► pp. 143 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.