Very formal –formal – neutral – informal – very informal

Thus, varieties of a language are characterised in the first place by the choice of special types of words peculiar of that or other variety. These types of words represent the stylistic differentiation of the English and Ukrainian vocabulary. If we follow the stylistic differentiation of the English vocabulary suggested by I.R.Galperin (И.Р.Гальперин. Очерки по стилистике английского языка. – М.: Изд-во лит-ры на иностр. языках. – 1957), we should distinguish:

1. Stylistically neutral words.

2. Literary-bookish words with the following subdivisions:

   1. technical vocabulary,

   2. barbarisms,

The word barbarism was originally used by the Greeks for foreign terms used in their language. As such, Anglicisms in other languages, Gallicisms (such as using the verb to assist to mean to be present at (cf. the French assister)), Germanisms, Hispanisms and so forth in English can also be construed as examples of barbarisms.

3. poetical words,

4. archaisms,

In language, an archaism is the deliberate use of an older form that has fallen out of current use. Archaisms are most frequently encountered in poetry, law, and ritual writing and speech. Their deliberate use can be subdivided into literary archaisms, which seeks to evoke the style of older speech and writing; and lexical archaisms, the use of words no longer in common use. Archaisms are kept alive by these ritual and literary uses and by the study of older literature. Should they remain recognised, they can be revived, as the word anent was in this past century.

In English, one sure indicator of a deliberately archaic style is the contemporary use of the second person singular pronoun thou and its related case and verb forms. Ironically, the word thou fell out of English speech because it was thought abruptly colloquial, like French tu (see T-V distinction). Thou is now seen in current English usage only in literature that deliberately seeks to evoke an older style, though there are also some still-read older works that use thou, especially religious texts like the King James Bible. The word ye and its related forms also are indicative of archaism, however in spoken English it might be hard to tell the difference, especially if the speaker has an accent that seems strange to the listener.

5. literary neologisms.

3. Colloquial words:

   1. literary,

   2. non-literary, which include

      • slang,

Slang is the non-standard use of words in a language of a particular social group, and sometimes the creation of new words or importation of words from another language. It is a type of neologism. Slang can be described as deviating away from standard language use. Slang functions in two ways; the creation of new language and new usage by a process of creative informal use and adaptation, and the creation of a secret language understood only by those within a group intended to understand it.

As such, slang is a type of sociolect aimed at excluding certain people from the conversation. Slang initially functions as encryption, so that the non-initiate cannot understand the conversation, or as a further way to communicate with those who understand it. Slang functions as a way to recognize members of the same group, and to differentiate that group from the society at large. Slang terms are often particular to a certain subculture, such as musicians, skateboarders, and drug users. Slang generally implies playful, informal speech. Slang is distinguished from jargon, the technical vocabulary of a particular profession, as jargon is (in theory) not used to exclude non-group members from the conversation, but rather deals with technical peculiarities of a given field which require a specialized vocabulary.