Spoken vs Written

The functions of language

• Referential
  • Declarative
  • Affirmative
  • Informative
• Expressive
• To command
• Poetic
• Literary
• Ritualistic
• Phatic – a phatic expression is one whose sole function is social rather than informative – a speech act – it keeps the channels of communication open

Language can also vary according to

• The situation
  • The greater the formality of the situation, the higher the register.
  • Does register has a greater importance in French than in English?
• The medium
  • Written v. Spoken
  • Are there two French languages?
    • They seem to be diverging
    • The spoken language follows the natural order of thought, this is not always the classic order of the written language – right displacement.
    • The written language follows the rules of syntax
    • The written language and the spoken language are presented differently –
      • for example, in the spoken language interrogation can be indicated by intonation (rising tone at end of sentence), circumlocution (use of est-ce que); non-standard constructions (use of particle –ti in français populaire or working class speech)
    • The lexis can vary but this is usually a mark of register
    • Studies by Martinet during WW2 among French prisoners of war identified stylistic differences in speech according to the age and social class of the speaker
    • Many of the changes that are taking place in the written language emanate from the spoken language.
    • There are grammar differences between the written and the spoken – non-standard grammatical usages more likely to be found in the spoken language.
      • non-standard use of ‘que’

Differences between the written and spoken languages
Written	Spoken
Prepared	Spontaneous
Revised, corrected	Corrections effected by repetition
Continuous text	Hesitations
Co-ordinated	Fragmented – ‘um’ & ‘er’ to fill in while thoughts collected
Punctuation assists comprehension	Use of parataxe – the use of short, simple sentences without linking conjunctions
Adverbs & adjectives are used to describe the speaker/writer	Use of prosody (intonation, accentuation, rhythm) to indicate expression
Long, complex sentences	Short, simple sentences
More redundancies	Non-linguistic context has linguistic consequences – deixis (point of reference)
More precision
Spelling – fewer ambiguities	Homophones – more ambiguities
Language is clearly marked for gender & number	Marking for gender & number is less apparent

Language marking: Compare

Leur chien aboie / leurs chiens aboient : leur ami ouvre la porte/leur amie ouvre la porte

[lœr ʃjɛ̃ abwɑ] [lœr ʃjɛ̃ abwɑ] [lœr ami uvR la pɔrt] [lœr ami uvr la pɔrt]

Written	Spoken
Je chante	[ʒə ʃɑ̃t]
Tu chantes	[tu ʃɑ̃t]
Il chante	[il ʃɑ̃t]
Nous chantons	[nu ʃɑ̃tɔ̃]
Vous chantez	[vu ʃɑ̃te]
Ils chantent	[il ʃɑ̃t]
6 different endings	3 different endings

• Liaison might mark number but it is rare between a substantive subject and the verb.

In the spoken language markers are suppressed.