Language Styles and Styles of Expression: Types and Characteristics

What is language style?

A text achieves coherence when its individual elements are matched appropriately, including:

• syntax (sentence construction — from simple sentences to highly complex ones);
• vocabulary (word choice, such as technical, fashionable or colloquial terms);
• word-formation devices (such as diminutives, augmentatives and compounds);
• inflectional and phonetic devices (such as archaisms, neologisms, onomatopoeia, alliteration and rhyme).

A style of expression — that is, a particular structure — gives a text its distinctive stylistic shape. This allows it to fulfil specific, often clearly defined functions.

The choice of language style and the need to organise the text appropriately result from factors such as:

• the situation in which the author finds themselves;
• the subject of the communication;
• the target audience;
• the communication objective;
• the author’s personal preferences (aesthetic sense and language awareness);
• fashion (language characteristic of a particular period or era).

What are the different language styles?

You already know that language styles have a specific form that helps them fulfil particular functions and reach a target audience. Now let’s look at the most important ones.

Colloquial style

Most spoken communication uses a colloquial style, although there may be exceptions, such as courtroom speeches. It is also used in many written genres, including letters, diaries and emails, and often on blogs. We learn it naturally because we encounter it from the earliest days of our lives.

The vocabulary used in this style can be divided into:

• emotionally neutral language (relating to everything around you);
• expressive words (such as humorous or commonplace terms and swear words).

Colloquial style allows the use of:

• idioms (for example: I’m at the end of my tether; it’s raining cats and dogs);
• repetition (for example: it was green everywhere, just green and more green; spring is a riot of green);
• sentences that do not follow standard grammatical rules, complex sentences or so-called anacolutha — distorted or defective constructions (for example: first the dog died, and then its owner);
• ellipsis — omitting information that is obvious from the context (for example: I listen to rock music, while my husband listens to classical).

Official style

This is the style of expression characteristic of various institutions and the people who represent them. It is the second most popular style after colloquial language.

Two subtypes of official style can be distinguished:

• administrative — official documents (business letters, contracts, minutes, reminders, complaints, applications, CVs and so on);
• legal — normative acts (constitutions, statutes, regulations, instructions, decrees and so on).

These forms of expression are primarily characterised by:

• standardisation:
  • template-based construction (often using forms and applications),
  • formulaic word choice,
  • the use of set phrases (such as “Dear Sir or Madam” and “Yours faithfully”),
  • permitted borrowings and conventional bureaucratic expressions;
• precision:
  • unambiguous terms,
  • concise messages,
  • few or no adjectives,
  • avoidance of expressiveness and imagery,
  • division into paragraphs, sections and points;
• directive language:
  • instructions,
  • prohibitions,
  • permissions;
• an impersonal character:
  • the use of impersonal verb forms (such as “it is hereby notified”, “the work has been completed” and “you are requested to”),
  • actions expressed using third-person singular verbs (for example, “The court upholds the decision…”),
  • the recipient is often referred to using an indefinite pronoun (for example, “Anyone liable to imprisonment…”).

Official texts often include stamps in their headers and signatures, giving them formal authority.

Informative and journalistic style

Their purpose is to communicate information about specific events. Informative style stands out through its use of verified information only, which should be presented concisely while still providing sufficient detail. The author should write:

• impersonally;
• impartially;
• in a formulaic manner;
• with limited expressiveness.

Journalistic style allows for longer forms, such as columns, articles, essays and features. Here, interpretation, evaluation and commentary matter alongside information. The author may express their opinions and attempt to influence readers. The following are permitted:

• the use of a range of language devices;
• combining colloquial and academic styles, or even an artistic style;
• expressiveness;
• the use of emotionally charged words.

Academic style

Because academic disciplines and methodologies vary so widely, the defining feature of this style is its diversity. The most common academic texts include articles (a stated thesis followed by an argument), dissertations (a discussion of a specific issue from a particular perspective) and papers (originally written and then delivered aloud).

Two subtypes of academic style can be distinguished:

• theoretical academic style — communication between specialists is characterised by:
  • a large number of specialist words and academic terms,
  • a predominance of complex sentences,
  • objective assumptions that often require the use of impersonal sentences;
  • an absence of expressive elements,
  • phrasing that indicates the author’s distance or uncertainty (for example, “It may be assumed…”);
• popular academic style — communication between specialists and non-specialists is characterised by:
  • information presented in language that readers without a scientific background can understand,
  • the use of expressions associated with journalistic or even artistic texts,
  • the use of metaphors, comparisons and descriptions to make the subject easier to understand.

Artistic style

Authors may use a wide range of stylistic devices and rich, vivid vocabulary, as well as create entirely new words or combinations.

The following are permitted:

• language errors;
• linguistic stylisation (such as archaisms, colloquialisms and scientific stylisation);
• words belonging to other language styles.

Developing your own language style

Sometimes a person’s style of expression makes it possible to identify them as the author. This usually results from the use of particular phrases, stylistic devices or a distinctive way of constructing sentences. Such techniques are especially characteristic of literary genres, such as poetry, but also of essays and columns.

The ability to identify an author from samples of their writing is a clear advantage in artistic work. Outside that context, however, the use of a personal style is usually very limited. Creating different types of content, especially to a client’s specific brief, requires adherence to strict requirements, such as SEO guidelines, designed to achieve particular objectives. In such situations, the effectiveness of the text takes priority over the author’s individual language style.

Stylistic harmony — how can you avoid stylistic errors?

If your task is to create a text in a particular language style, you must not only understand its characteristics but also follow the principles of stylistic harmony. It makes a text coherent, consistent and suited to a particular style, increasing the likelihood that it will be understood as intended.

To avoid mistakes that could lead to communication failure, remember three rules:

1. adapt the style of the words you use to the type of communication (for example, in informative and journalistic writing, avoid an accumulation of expressive colloquial terms, euphemisms, colloquialisms, highly emotive language and swear words);
2. maintain a consistent style within each sentence; do NOT MIX words belonging to different styles (for example, using official language in direct personal communication may make a message difficult to understand);
3. use linguistic stylisation only when it is justified (for example, archaisms should evoke the style of a particular period; otherwise, introducing outdated words into everyday language is entirely unnecessary).