Other features of language tell us something of the social relationshi between the speaker and hearer: we have a scale of status usage. for example, descending from formal and literary English at one end to colloquial, familiar, and eventually slang english at the otherOther features of language tell us something of the social relationship between the speaker and hearer; we have a scale of status usage, for example, descending from formal and literary English at one end to colloquial, familiar, and eventually s l a n g E n g l i s h a t t h e o t h e r