Stylistic Differentiation of the English Vocabulary

Stylistic Differentiation of the English Vocabulary
The word-stock of any language may be presented as a system, the elements of which are interconnected, interrelated and yet independent. Then the word-stock of the English language may be divided into three main layers (strata): the literary layer (stratum), the neutral layer, and the colloquial layer. The literary and the colloquial layers contain a number of subgroups. Each subgroup has a property it shares with all the subgroups within the layer. This common property which unites the different groups within the layer is called its aspect.