dubbed a form of sloppy speech or even slang, especially in language classes in public schools. But on closer investigation of the investigation of the actual details of
informal language, it turns out that the informal style, far from being merely a sloppy form of language , is governed by rules every bit as precise, logical, and rigorous as
the rules governing formal language.” A well-known difference between formal and informal language styles in
English and indeed in many other languages is that the formal style has a greater amount of abbreviation, shortening, contraction, and deletion. The informal
languages are strict to the point. Let us compare the examples below: a.
Do you feel so tired b.
? Formal Tired
You tired? Informal ? Informal
The informal style is brief compared with the formal one. The two important grammatical features of the informal language are:
a. The dropping of the subject of the sentence
b. The dropping of the auxiliary verb
Below are the descriptions of the grammatical styles in informal language based on Conrad and Leech 2007:
2.3.1 Tag Controlled Deletion
In a tagged sentence, there are two important properties of a sentence: 1 the tag contains the auxiliary verb found in the sentence, or in the case of do the
auxiliary verb found in the min sentence, and 2 the pronoun in the tag agrees with the subject of the sentence. The tag question thus contains, in part, a repetition of
some of the information found in the main sentence. Tag controlled deletion is the
Universitas Sumatera Utara
rule of the abbreviated style in informal language. Even though the subjects and the auxiliaries are missing from the main clauses, the information can easily be
recovered from the tag. Examples: Been waiting for so long time again, haven’t you
?
2.3.2 Deletion of Be
Another informal style of English involves abbreviated questions. Want some coffee? is an example of one type of abbreviated question; another type, the one we
will be examining here, involves the deletion of the verb be. Examples: Gonna leave soon
?
2.3.3 Deletion and Recovery of Information
We have seen that the abbreviated questions are formed by deleting elements. It is important to realize that apparent abbreviations also occur in the informal style in
English example, in a situation where we might use the abbreviated question Want some coffee? We might also be able to ask simply, Coffee?. To take another
example, suppose you see a friend wearing shoes you haven’t seen before. You might point them and ask, New? These single word utterances are quite common in
casual styles and are perfectly appropriate and comprehensible. The deletion of subjects and contractible verbs in, for example, abbreviated
questions is governed by a systematic rule, with strict conditions. Not just any kind of deletion of subject and verb is possible, even if the context would make the
abbreviation perfectly clear. Example: Sick?
Universitas Sumatera Utara
Besides by looking at the forms of the language, we can also caracterize the informal language based on its vocabularies.
Universitas Sumatera Utara
2.4 RELEVANT STUDIES
