THIS STUDY OF LANGUAGE PRESENTS A SPECIFIC, SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE WAYS IN WHICH A SPEAKER ADJUSTS HIS MANNER OF SPEAKING ACCORDING TO THE CONTEXT IN WHICH HE EMPLOYS LANGUAGE. FOUR USAGE-SCALES OF "NATIVE CENTRAL ENGLISH" ARE INTRODUCED--AGE, BREADTH, RESPONSIBILITY, AND STYLE. A KNOWLEDGE OF THESE FOUR DIMENSIONS HOPEFULLY WILL OVERCOME THE NORMAL AMERICAN'S "ENGLISH USAGE GUILT-FEELINGS," AND HELP HIM REALIZE THAT DEPENDING ON DIFFERING NEEDS AND OCCASIONS THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR ACCEPTABLE WAYS IN WHICH ENGLISH CAN BE USED. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE CHOOSE FROM AMONG GRAMMATICALLY EQUIVALENT FORMS, STYLISTICS MUST BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION. A STUDY OF FIVE STYLES--FROZEN, FORMAL, CONSULTATIVE, CASUAL, AND INTIMATE--CONSTITUTES THE GREATER PORTION OF THE BOOK. ALBERT H. MARCKWARDT PROVIDES AN INTRODUCTION. THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AS HARBINGER BOOK H 058 FOR $1.45 FROM HARCOURT, BRACE, AND WORLD, INC., 757 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10022. (BN)