This email written by Aunty Joy to her nephew Paul has an overall informal register, mainly due to their close relationship. The semantic field of the text - household items and pets, is closely linked to its primary function, which is to inform Paul in relation to several topics. The first of which is the tending of her cat, Millie, when she is on holiday with her husband and secondly the disposal of his old furniture. In addition, Aunty Joy aims to reinforce the close social distance and intimacy she has with Paul by meeting his positive face needs and being mindful to not impose upon his negative face needs.
Despite the fact that it is a written discourse, the email, being a variation of netspeak, also features elements associated with …show more content…
The acronym ‘asap’ (line 3) is used in place of the full phrase to improve the economy of expression. Likewise, shortening ‘Melb’ (line 21) is used as Paul will be able to infer that it refers to Melbourne due to prior knowledge. The nonstandard usage of capital letter font for ‘ESPECIALLY’ (line 9) and ‘HAVE’ (line 18) serves the function of highlighting the importance of Daphne’s condition and conveying disbelief respectively in their contexts. Joy utilizes several emoticons throughout the email. The smiling emoticon (line 1) adds to the friendly opening of the email. The tribal mask (line 10) pokes fun and satirizes her own bossiness. The crying with laughter emoticon (line 13) refers to the reaction that Joy had when Cyril was talking about the trip. The angel emoticon (line 24) is used in place of the lexis to further display her gratefulness towards Paul for his help, thereby meeting his positive face need of desiring to be recognized for his actions. Moreover, the five heart emoticons (line 26) displays the love and care Joy has for Paul as a family member. On the contrary, there are also very few formal elements present in the email. The litote in line 23, ‘have not been without’ uses double negation to acknowledge the ‘problems’ (line 23) that Paul has been facing, which illustrates that Joy emphasizes with Paul, thus increasing the solidarity and understanding between
Despite the fact that it is a written discourse, the email, being a variation of netspeak, also features elements associated with …show more content…
The acronym ‘asap’ (line 3) is used in place of the full phrase to improve the economy of expression. Likewise, shortening ‘Melb’ (line 21) is used as Paul will be able to infer that it refers to Melbourne due to prior knowledge. The nonstandard usage of capital letter font for ‘ESPECIALLY’ (line 9) and ‘HAVE’ (line 18) serves the function of highlighting the importance of Daphne’s condition and conveying disbelief respectively in their contexts. Joy utilizes several emoticons throughout the email. The smiling emoticon (line 1) adds to the friendly opening of the email. The tribal mask (line 10) pokes fun and satirizes her own bossiness. The crying with laughter emoticon (line 13) refers to the reaction that Joy had when Cyril was talking about the trip. The angel emoticon (line 24) is used in place of the lexis to further display her gratefulness towards Paul for his help, thereby meeting his positive face need of desiring to be recognized for his actions. Moreover, the five heart emoticons (line 26) displays the love and care Joy has for Paul as a family member. On the contrary, there are also very few formal elements present in the email. The litote in line 23, ‘have not been without’ uses double negation to acknowledge the ‘problems’ (line 23) that Paul has been facing, which illustrates that Joy emphasizes with Paul, thus increasing the solidarity and understanding between