The Hierarchy of LanguageOne of the many ways in which scholars attempt to organize language in order to understand better how it works is to classify words and senses of words according to the social context in which they are or ought to be used. As often as not, this form of classification results in what is in effect a language "hierarchy." Words and expressions are allocated to different levels in this hierarchy depending on their degree of acceptability and usefulness in various social situations and various kinds of writing.When this form of classification is used, the bottom level of the hierarchy is usually made up of words that are considered vulgar or taboo, words that would cause shock or outrage if used in polite company or with children. In the next tier, usually, are slang words, words that people, especially young people, use within their own group and which may be unknown or incomprehensible to people outside that group. Slang words are generally colorful, frequently humorous, and sometimes racy. Their usefulness in most ordinary kinds of writing is limited.As you go further up the hierarchy, so words become more widely and generally usable. In the middle reside those words that are the mainstay of Standard English, the words that none of us can do without and that form the bulk of all communication. As you move higher still, however, so the number of words in each category decreases, as does the range of applicability of each category. Literary words, which come close to the top of the hierarchy, have restrictions on their use similar to those that apply to slang. They tend to be either old-fashioned, if not actually archaic (eventide) or long, rare, and colorful in a way that can only really be appreciated by people who know languages and have read widely (refulgent, sesquipedalian, callipygian). As their name suggests, they occur mainly in literary works, and that means not in popular novels written in standard prose but in prose or poetry that aspires to a grander style. A collection of ordinary, respectable people would not be shocked by the use of a literary word, but they might not understand it, either.The hierarchy of language, therefore, is roughly spindle shaped, with tapering ends and a very broad middle. Two points need to be made. First, the word hierarchy is not itself a technical term in language studies; it is merely a convenient way of describing this type of classification. Second, from a linguistic point of view, a word is not intrinsically a better word for being labeled formal or literary in a dictionary. As far as linguistics is concerned, all words are simply words and are equal. As far as modern lexicography is concerned, it is often the new words and vogue words, which start their lives at least in the category of slang, that excite the most interest.But the style-conscious writer usually cannot afford to be as undiscriminating as the professional linguist. What he or she writes is almost inevitably going to have to fit into a social context. His or her interest will focus on the central area of the hierarchy of words, whether that are labeled informal or formal in dictionaries or have no label at all, because they belong to the standard vocabulary.One word of warning: The boundaries between the different categories of English are fluid. Words move between categories as fashions change or as people change their view of what is and is not acceptable in ordinary discourse. Words such as OK and guy that were once thought of as daringly casual, if not a sign of definite linguistic indiscipline, are now acceptable in ordinary speech and in less formal varieties of writing. The adjective no-frills may have seemed rather slangy or frivolous when it first appeared but has since found a niche and become an almost indispensable term, particularly since budget airlines cut costs by reducing their services to passengers to a bare minimum. Writers need to try to keep up to date with what is happening to language in the wider world.
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