speech communities

Mary Joy JagoniaMELL- 2

Speech Communities

Language is both an individual possession and social possession.

“The linguistic behavior of individuals cannot be understood without knowledge

of the communities they belong to.” - Labov

Definitions

Group- a number of people or things that are considered or classed together.- A number of people who are connected by some shared activity, interest or quality.

- Merriam Webster

GR

OU

PMust have at least two members.

People group together for one or more reasons.

Groups maybe temporary or quasi-permanent.

Importance of membership may vary among individuals.

The organization might be tight or loose.

Members may come or go.

Members may also belong to other groups.

SPEECH

► As a theoretical construct, it is thought to be ideal, completely homogeneous (Chomsky).► Real speech community- All the people who use a given language or dialect (Lyon).

Study of Speech Community

-entails knowing its members’ linguistic characteristics and other characteristics which could be cultural, social, political, and ethnic to

name a few, collectively called SPEECH MARKERS.

Labov’s definition of SPEECH COMMUNITY

The speech community is not defined by any marked agreement in the use of language

elements, so much as by participation in a set of shared norms; these norms

may be observed in overt types of evaluative behavior,

and by the uniformity of abstract patterns of which are invariant in respect to

particular levels of usage.

Single Language/ Single Variety Criterion

The single language/ single variety criterion is dubious. The requirement

that “all members of the speech community must speak the same

language” disregards the fact that in many societies bilingualism or

multilingualism exists. And this is deemed normal.

Linguistic

A social group which may be either monolingual or multilingual, held together by frequency of

social interaction patterns and set off the surrounding areas by weaknesses in the lines of

communication. Linguistic communities may consist of small groups bound together by

face-to-face contact or may cover large regions. - Gumperz

Other definitions of Speech Community

► A speech community is a group of people who interact by means of speech. A group or community should be definednot only by what it is but also what is not. - Bloomfield

► Any human aggregate characterized by regular and frequent interaction by means of a shared body of verbal signs and set off from similar aggregates by significant differences in language

usage. – Gumperz► A local unit characterized for its members by common locality and primary interaction. – Reaffirmed by Hymes

Hymes points out that speech communities cannot be defined solely through the use of

linguistic criteria. The way in which the people view the language they speak is also

important. The rules of using a languagemay be as important as feelings about the

language itself.

Morgan- “ For any speech community, the concept reflects

what people do and know when they interact with one another. It assumes that when people come together through discursive practices, they behave as though they operate within a shared set of norms, local knowledge, beliefs, and values.”

Speech

Rosen claims that cities cannot be thought of as a linguistic patchwork maps because: 1. languages and dialects

have no simple geographical distribution and

2. interaction between them blurs whatever boundaries might be drawn .

Intersecting Communities

Urbanization is a great “ERODER”of linguistic frontiers.

Bolinger

There is no limit to the ways in which human beings league themselves together for self-identification, security, gain, amusement,

worship, or any other purposes that are held in common; consequently,

there is no limit to the number and variety of speech communities that are to be found in the

society.

Community of PracticeCommunity of Practice is an aggregate of people who come together around mutual engagements

in some common endeavor. Ways of doing things, ways of talking,

beliefs, values, power relations, in short, practices-emerge in the course of their joint

activity around that endeavor.

- Eckert and McConnell-Ginet

Dense

Loose

Multiplex

Networks

A

B

CD

E

A

B

CD

E

A

B

CD

E

Network Relationships

Speech Repertoire

Platt and Platt defines speechrepertoire as, “ a range of

linguistic varieties which the speaker has at his disposal and which he may appropriately use

as a member of his speech community.”

• Linguistic varieties utilized by a speech community

Speech Repertoire

• Linguistic varieties which are at a particular speaker’s disposal

Verbal Repertoire