LEVELS OF DICTION

WHAT IS DICTION:
Word choice of the author.
General character of the language
used by the author.
Plays a vey important role in
creating tone and voice
appropriate for your audience and
writing objective.
LEVELS OF DICTION

I. HIGH/FORMAL/ELEVATED
- for highly educated audience
 Usually contains language that creates an elevated tone.
It often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax,
and elegant word choice.
 Appropriate for formal occasions.
 Used when addressing a highly educated audience. This
includes sermons, scholarly journals, etc.
 Found in publications such as academic publications.
II. NUETRAL/INFORMAL
- for familiar audience
 Usedwhen addressing a well- educated
audience.
 Grammatically correct but conversational.
 Includespersonal letters, emails, and
documents with conversational or
entertaining purposes
 May also include “slang” language, which
may be used to create a specific “flavor” as
in sports casting or novels
III. Low/Non-standard
- for a specific audience
 Language deficient in some form or
manner
 Diction outside of conventional or
standard use
 Includes: vulgarity/pedestrian, slang,
colloquial, dialect, cliché, jargon
 FORMAL STANDARD INFORMAL

Edify Enlighten Let know

Opt Choose Pick-out

Beguile Mislead Dupe/deceive

TYPES OF DICTION
1. SLANG – refers to a group of recently coined
words often used in informal situations;
develops from the attempt to find fresh,
colourful, exaggerated, or humorous
expressions.
Example: Emo, frenemy, my bad, awesomity,
greycation, bromance
2. VULGARITY – is language deficient in taste
and refinement; coarse, base (any swear word).
Example: Damn you, you should rot in jail
3. COLLOQUIAL – expressions are non-standard,
often regional, ways of using language appropriate to
informal or conversational speech and writing.
Example: Anyhow, gotcha, gramps, stats, info,
guys, kid
4. JARGON – consists of words and expressions
characteristic of a particular profession or pursuit.
Example: gigabyte, logic board, CPU, LCD=
computer jargon
5. DIALECT – is a non-standard subgroup of a
language with its own vocabulary and grammatical
features.
Example: Philippine English as dialect of English
language
6. CLICHÉ – a figurative language used so often that it has
lost its freshness and originality.
Example: Beauty is useless but character is best.
Honesty is the best policy.
No man is an Island
Time is gold
7. CONCRETE – diction consists of specific words that
describe physical qualities or conditions.
Example: spoon, table, velvet eye patch, nose ring, hot,
walking
8. ABSTRACT – diction refers to language that denotes
ideas, emotions, conditions or concepts that are intangible.
Example: love, success, freedom, good, moral,
democracy, racism, feminism
CHOOSING THE LEVEL
1. Decide for whom you’re writing
Because you are writing for a
certain audience, they will have a
particular expectations about the
level of diction you will choose.
Choose the level most appropriate
for your audience (in collegiate
writing, standard level diction is
used most often).
2. Determine purpose

Some possible purposes may

be to inform, to persuade, to
illustrate, to analyse, or to
entertain. For each of these
purposes, you may choose to
use a different level of
diction.
Write an essay employing the figurative language
and use informal diction on it. Choose from the
following subjects:
 Riding a jeepney
 Going to church
 Attending a party
 Swimming on a beach
 Watching your favorite movie
 Reading your favorite novel
 Eating your favorite dish
 Listening to your favorite song
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!