are the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States of America and other "static" vocalizations. The wording is exactly the same every time it is spoken. Formal: One-way participation; no interruption; technical vocabulary or exact definitions are important; includes presentations or introductions between strangers. Consultative: Two-way participation; background information is provided – prior knowledge is not assumed. "Back-channel behavior" such as "uh huh", "I see", etc. is common. Interruptions are allowed. For example teacher/student, doctor/patient, or expert/apprentice. Casual: In-group friends and acquaintances; no background information provided; ellipsis and slang common; interruptions common. This is common among friends in a social setting. Intimate: Non-public; intonation more important than wording or grammar; private vocabulary. Also includes non-verbal messages. This is most common among family members and close friends. ISO standard The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has defined the international standard ISO 12620, Management of terminology resources – Data category specifications. This is a registry for registering linguistic terms used in various fields of translation, computational linguistics and natural language processing and defining mappings both between different terms and the same terms used in different systems. The registers identified are: bench-level register dialect register facetious register formal register in-house register ironic register neutral register slang register taboo register technical register vulgar register Diatype The term diatype is sometimes used to describe language variation which is determined by its social purpose. In this formulation, language variation can be divided into two categories: dialect, for variation according to user, and diatype for variation according to use (e.g. the specialised language of an academic journal). This definition of diatype is very similar to those of register. The distinction between dialect and diatype is not always clear; in some cases a language variety may be understood as both a dialect and a diatype. Diatype is usually analysed in terms of field, the subject matter or setting; tenor, the participants and their relationships; and mode, the channel of communication, such as spoken, written or signed. See also Child-directed speech Code-switching Colloquialism Diglossia Elderspeak Etiquette Honorifics (linguistics) - politeness markers Honorific speech in Japanese Korean speech levels Literary language Prestige (sociolinguistics) Tone (literature) Vernacular Notes References External links L. Kip Wheeler's Spectrum of Formality and Informality Systemic functional linguistics Discourse analysis Grammar Language varieties and styles Diglossia Linguistics terminology