speech communities
Post on 18-Aug-2015
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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
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