6. Style

Literary style – is a language norm, it is the basis of learning a language of native speakers and foreigners. The examples of literary style can be found in fiction (imaginative literature). Words of literary stylistic layer (Standard English) are divided into literary-colloquial and literary-bookish. Literary-colloquial are words denoting everyday concepts (see, come, home, right, etc.). Literary-bookish words include:

1. terms, subdivided into a) popular terms of some special spheres of human knowledge known to the public at large (typhoid, pneumonia); b) terms used within a profession (phoneme, microlinguistics).

2. poetisms, which are used in poetry. Many of them are archaic or obsolete, e.g. aught (anything), ne (no, not), for ay (for ever), I ween (I suppose), etc.

3. foreign words and barbarisms. Barbarisms are considered to be part of the vocabulary of a given language, they are registered in dictionaries (a propos, vis-à-vis), while foreign words are not found in dictionaries.

Colloquial style – belonging to and suitable for ordinary conversation, not formal or literary. This word-layer includes several sub-groups:

1. colloquialisms – words used in conversational type of everyday speech (awfully sorry, a pretty little thing).

2. slangisms – words that have originated in everyday speech (go crackers = go mad, Garr = god, belt up = keep silence, etc.).

3. professionalisms – words which give the conversational variant of professional speech. Contrary to terms they are the result of metonymic and metaphoric transference of some everyday words. e.g. sparks – a radio-operator, tin-fish – submarine, block-buster – a bomb especially designed to destroy blocks of big buildings, outer – a knock-out blow.

4. vulgarisms – a word, phrase or expression used only by ignorant persons. e.g. missus – wife, son of a … - a bad person.

5. jargonisms – words used within certain social and professional groups. In Britain and the USA almost every social group of people has its own jargon. e.g. buddy – fellow, to give smb wings – to teach smb to use drugs, jerk – a stupid person, top-dog – boss, drip – uninteresting person without a character.

6. regional dialectisms – words and expressions used by peasants and others in certain regions of the country. e.g. baccy – tobacco, winder – window, etc.

Archaic style – consists of words which are not now used, except for some special purposes. The author writes in style of another period using obsolete or archaic words and constructions. e.g. troth – faith, a losel – a worthless, lazy fellow.

Scientific style – elements of this style can be used in fiction, where special and scientific terms are used. e.g. to retract – преломлять, diffusion – рассеивание.

Publicist style – is used in the essay (moral, philosophical, literary). The aim of this style is to exert a constant and deep influence on public opinion, to convince the reader that the interpretation given by the author is the only correct one and to make the readers think.