Field, Medium, Register

Abstract

As stated in section 2.3, the purpose prompting a person to express her- or himself in writing or speech requires content in order to give it material form and to allow verbal interaction with another person to take place. As a response to a speaker’s or writer’s desire to communicate, subject matter of some sort is necessary. It is impossible to speak without conveying a message, whether it be as simple as establishing personal contact with someone in the form of phatic communion, or as complex as a discussion between two experts on a fine technical detail. In the former case the topics which normally occur concern the health of the interlocutors, the weather and good wishes for a successful day; rapid switching of topics is normal. In the latter case, when specialists meet and discuss a highly technical topic, the conversation is usually restricted to that single topic alone. At times it is the set of circumstances, the situation, which is the dominant feature, the feature which determines what is to be discussed — for example, an evening spent with friends, when there may be many shifts of topic and no single one predominates; what is important is the interpersonal activity, preserving friendliness and a casual atmosphere. At others it is the topic itself which is the most important feature of the conversation or text — for example, a seminar or a lecture or a learned paper on some academic or scientific subject.