Stylistic classification of the english vocabulary

STYLISTIC CLASSIFICATION OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY
1. General Considerations

In order to get a clear idea of the vocabulary of any language, it must be presented as a system, the elements of which are interconnected, interrelated and yet indepen­dent.

In accordance with the division of language into lite­rary and colloquial, the vocabulary of the English langua­ge consists of three main layers: the literary layer, the neutral layer and the colloquial layer. Each of these layers has its own feature. The literary layer has a bookish character, the colloquial layer has a spoken character and the neutral layer is deprived of any colou­ring. It is of universal character: it is unrestricted in its use. It can be employed in all styles of language.

These three layers have their own classification. The literary layer has no local or dialectal character.

Within the literary layer we distinguish:

3. 
   Common literary words;
   
4. 
   Terms;
   
5. 
   Poetic words;
   
6. 
   Archaic words;
   
7. 
   Barbarisms and foreign words;
   
8. 
   Neologisms.
   

Within the colloquial vocabulary we distingu­ish:

1. 
   Common colloquial words;
   
2. 
   Slang;
   
3. 
   Jargonisms;
   
4. 
   Professional words;
   
5. 
   Dialectical words;
   
6. 
   Vulgar words.
   

The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are grouped under the term Standard English Vocabulary. Other groups in the literary layer are re­garded as special literary vocabulary and those in col­loquial are regarded as special colloquial (non-literary) vocabulary