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
2. Neutral, Common Literary and Common Colloquial Vocabulary
a) Neutral Words
Neutral words, which form the bulk of the English vocabulary, are used in both literary and colloquial layers. Neutral words are the main source of synonymy and poly­semy. Most neutral English words are of monosemanti'c character.
Unlike all other groups, the neutral group of words cannot be considered as having a special stylistic colou­ring, whereas both literary and colloquial words have a definite stylistic colouring.
b) Common Literary Words
Common literary words are chiefly used in writing and polished speech. Literary units stand in opposition to colloquial units.
The following synonyms illustrate the relations that exist between the neutral, literary and colloquial words in the English language.