7. Special literary vocabulary

The English literary vocabulary includes a range of specialized layers that serve not only referential but also stylistic functions. Among them are terms, poeticisms, archaisms, barbarisms, and foreignisms, all of which can enrich text, establish historical or emotional context, or elevate tone. Each group plays a unique role in shaping both the content and style of literary and other registers of English.

1. Terms in Literature

A term is a word or phrase used with precise meaning within a specific field (Wales, 2014). While primarily part of scientific discourse, terms can appear in belles-lettres where they take on stylistic function, often resulting in semantic layering. For example, Galsworthy’s humorous pseudo-scientific analysis of a Forsyte illustrates a dual meaning through medical and ironic connotations. In Cronin’s The Citadel, medical terms reflect both subject matter and authenticity, while in Dreiser’s The Financier, financial terms verge on entering common literary usage, a process sometimes called determinization.

2. Poetic and Highly Literary Words

Poetic words often convey elevated tone and emotive connotation. They tend to resist polysemy and are built through compounding (e.g., rosy-fingered, young-eyed) or contraction (drear for dreary). Their use creates vivid imagery but may limit accessibility. Writers such as Byron or E.E. Cummings experiment with poetic combinations like “the sound of shape”, pushing the boundaries of expression.

3. Archaisms

Archaic vocabulary reflects different stages of obsolescence:

• Obsolescent (e.g., thou, maketh)

• Obsolete (e.g., methinks, nay)

• Archaic proper (e.g., losel, troth)

While used to create historical atmosphere in fiction, archaisms may also appear in legal or satirical contexts. In historical novels, they serve to evoke the past; in satire or parody, they highlight absurdity, as in Byron’s anticlimactic “...desire of fame, and beer.”

4. Barbarisms and Foreignisms

Barbarisms are foreign-origin words partly assimilated into English (e.g., chic, bon mot), while foreignisms remain italicized and fully foreign. Both may add local color or social prestige, but barbarisms usually have English synonyms (stylish for chic), unlike terminological borrowings (ukase, kolkhoz) which name culturally specific concepts.

Special literary vocabulary—whether scientific terms, poeticisms, archaic expressions, or borrowed foreignisms—enhances both the expressive and referential richness of English. These linguistic layers provide authors with tools for precision, emotional resonance, historical authenticity, or stylistic color. Their selective use deepens textual interpretation and anchors style in broader literary traditions.

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In Vanity Fair, Thackeray’s use of German words like schinken, braten, and kartoffeln introduces local colour, anchoring the scene in a German environment. Byron, too, uses Italian (Cost viaggino: Ricchi!) in Don Juan to enhance authenticity and mock elite worldliness.

Foreign words may also reflect represented speech, mimicking the authentic voice of local characters, as in Aldridge’s use of Inglisi in The Sea Eagle. Galsworthy goes further by placing full French expressions in the mouths of his characters (Elle est ton rêve!), deepening emotional tone and psychological nuance.

Such foreignisms are also used for elevation, emphasis, or distortion to imitate a foreign accent (he so sympatisch). They may also perform an exactifying role—e.g., Au revoir implies a temporary farewell, contrasting with the finality of goodbye in Galsworthy’s work.

In publicistic style, foreign phrases (en passant) add authority, education, or wit, as in Dreiser’s essays.

Newly coined words (neologisms) may serve two functions:

• Terminological (e.g., laser, jeep, orbiter)—precise, scientific naming.

• Stylistic (e.g., missileer, villagize, lifemanship)—expressive, creative usage.

Writers often use affixation (e.g., moisturize, showmanship), blending (e.g., smog, rockoon), or conversion to create vivid, striking neologisms. Some coinages (backlash, accessorize, brinkmanship) enter mainstream usage, while others remain nonce-words—invented for a single occasion (e.g., masterly → mistressly, aunted).

Even adjectives can gain new stylistic force by acting as intensifiers (awful, terrible) or through ironic modification.

Foreignisms and literary coinages play vital roles in enriching English stylistics. Foreign words add realism, local colour, elevation, and authenticity, especially in fiction and publicistic texts. Coinages, whether fleeting or lasting, energize language through novelty and expressive force. Used thoughtfully, both devices blur the line between meaning and emotion, precision and creativity—making style itself a powerful literary tool.