53. Styles and neutral vocabulary

Style means the collective characteristic of writing diction and the way of presenting things depending on the general outlook proper to person, school, period or genre. The English language possesses the great variety of words that equally fit to be used in a lecture, poem or talking to a child. Such words are called stylistically neutral. The rest can consist of stylistically colored words. The word choice depends on the speaker and time experience, their knowledge of audience and the relationships in which they stay to the audience. The letter is treated as pragmatic aspect of communication.

Ex.: “horse”, “steed”, “gee-gee” have the same denotation meaning. They all refer to the same animal, but the stylistic color is different in each case. “Horse” is stylistically neutral and may be used in any situation. “Steed” is dignified and belongs to poetic diction. “Gee-gee” is a nursery word.

So, stylistically colored words are the words suitable only in specific spheres and suggested specific conditions of communication.

Functional style is a system of expressive means peculiar to specific spheres of communication.. These include the language of science and law, advertising, newspaper according to casual conversation, etc.

54. Colloquialisms

The adjective colloquial does not necessarily means slang or vulgar. Although slang and vulgar made part of colloquial vocabulary. The term literally colloquial is used to denote the vocabulary used by educated people in the course of ordinary conversation or in correspondence. Familiar colloquial is more emotional and much more free and careless than literal colloquial. It is also characterized by great number of jocular or ironic expressions. Low colloquial is a term used for illiterate popular speech. It is very difficult to find rules that help to establish the boundary between low colloquial and dialect. The basis distinction between low colloquial and two other types of colloquial is purely social. It contains more vulgar words and elements of dialect. Slang and argot are also the vocabulary that belongs to low colloquial. Argot serves to denote special vocabulary and idioms used by a particular gender or age group, especially by criminal circus. Its main point is to be unintelligible for outsiders. The essential difference between slang and argot results from the fact that the first has an expressive function whereas the second is primarily concerned with the secrecy. Slang words are clearly motivated.

Ex.: Cradle snatcher – and old man who married younger woman.

Argot words on the contrary don’t show their motivation. Rap – kill, shin – knife, book – a life sentence.

In all the groups of colloquial, especially in familiar, colloquial words easily acquire a new meaning and new valiancy. Colloquialisms are a persistent feature of conversation of 90 % of the population. Slang words are identified and distinguished by contrasting them. They are expressive, often ironical and soft to create fresh names for something. For the most part they sound vulgar.

Slang for money: beans (лить), dibs (фишки, бабки), dough (тесто), chink (звон монет), cof (богатство), wads.

Head: hat peg, attie, brain-pan, nut, upper stray.

They show the object of speech in the ridiculous life. The lexical meaning of slang words contains not only the denotational component but also an emotive component and all the other possible types of connotation, it is stylistically colored. After a slang word has been used in speech people get accustomed to it. The bulk of slang is ed by short lift words according to the sphere of usage there is special, general slang. General slang includes words that are not specific for any social group. Special slang is peculiar to some group (sport slang, sea slang).