STEREOTYPES AND REGISTERS OF HONORIFIC LANGUAGE

Honorific registers are formally discrete but functionally stratified systems, in the sense that an apparently bounded set of linguistic for ms allows language users to calculate many concurrent aspects of the p ragmatic context of language use. This paper argues that native stereo types about language structure and use play a critical role in formula ting the pragmatic value(s) of register systems. The linguist can neit her isolate the forms belonging to a register, nor explain their signi ficance in use, independently of appeal to native stereotypes about la nguage. The paper discusses methods for the empirical study and analys is of such stereotypes. Stereotypes that formulate the social identity of language users play a special role within register systems, ground ing the significance of pragmatic acts in the attributes of pragmatic actors. Much of the discussion focuses on how such stereotypes are for mulated and what their social consequences are.