What is a speech community?

The origin of the concept of speech community dates back to the 20th century, with the rise of sociolinguistics and other related disciplines, such as communication ethnography and linguistic anthropology . It also arises from the investigations of several linguists who considered that the use of language was closely related to social interactions and its context.

Sociolinguistics, precisely, is a branch of linguistics that is dedicated to the study of the relationships between language and society. It focuses mainly on the different aspects of society that influence the use of a language and vice versa. This includes cultural norms, social rules, and the context where the speakers live.

Before World War II and following the approach of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), linguists studied language focusing exclusively on the structure of language. However, after the war, other philosophical and scientific currents arose, such as the logical empiricism of the Vienna Circle, which contributed new study approaches in various scientific disciplines.

Beginning in the 1960s, linguists such as John J. Gumperz, Dell Hymes, and William Labov began to study language from another point of view. Since then, greater importance has been attached to the sociocultural context in which a language develops .

The contributions of Gumperz and Hymes

In 1962, the American linguist Dell Hymes (1927-2009) published his work The Ethnography of Speech ; years later he changed the name to “ethnography of communication” in his collaborative work with Gumperz: Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication , published in 1972. In this way, he broadened the focus of the study of language in all its forms, including the analysis of verbal and non-verbal behavior. Hymes also described the way in which social interactions take place: speech situation (context), speech event (activities) and speech act (statement), laying the foundations for the functioning of a speech community.

Building on Hymes’s research, the German-American linguist John J. Gumperz (1922-2013) published his book The Speech Community (1968). In it, he defines the speech community as “any human group that is characterized by maintaining frequent interactions through shared verbal signs, which differ from other groups due to differences in the use of language.”

The contributions of William Labov

However, the origin of the current concept of community is mainly due to the research of the American linguist William Labov (1927-). In his different studies, such as The Social Stratification of English in New York City (1966) on the different versions of English spoken in New York City, Labov concluded that in the relationship between language and society there is a linguistic variable and a social, non-linguistic variable involved.

In his works published in 1972, such as Sociolinguistic Patterns and Language in the Inner City: Studies in Vercicular English. Philadelphia , Labov made a more specific definition of speech community. He defined it not as a group of people with a specific agreement in the use of language, but as “their participation within certain shared norms.” In addition, Labov established the way in which the speech community can be studied through behavior and patterns of language variation, something that had a great influence on the work of other linguists.

Definition of speech community

The speech community is a social group that shares the same variety of language, whose members use in their interactions following the same rules and the same patterns. However, this does not mean that all people who speak the same language are members of the same speech community. For example, English speakers in the United States and English speakers speak different variations of English, follow some different rules, and are part of a different cultural context; therefore, they cannot be considered as the same speech community.

Within a speech community, members must know the rules of language use in order to participate and communicate within the group. At the same time, they are aware of the linguistic variety they use, such as a certain dialect or jargon, and they also value and interpret its variants.

The concept of speech community is of vital importance in sociology, anthropology, psychology and linguistics and is part of studies on ethnic groups, racial or gender problems, adaptation of immigrants, and other issues. It is also important in the teaching of foreign languages.

Characteristics of the speech community

The main characteristics of speech communities are the following:

• It is made up of a set of speakers.
• The speakers share at least one language.
• They also share the same rules of use, the same criteria for evaluating linguistic facts, and the same linguistic patterns.
• Communication presents a certain structure, both in speech events and in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.
• They help people identify and develop their sense of belonging to that community.
• Speech communities can be large or small.

Types of speech community

There are several types of speech communities. Members of a speech community can also belong to other communities simultaneously:

• Nuclear: they are small groups, such as the family, groups of friends or work, religious groups, etc.
• Local: can be a town or an area of ​​the city.
• District: is a larger community that can include a neighborhood or a city.
• Regional: a group from the same geographical, cultural, etc. region.
• National: a group of speakers from the same country.

Difference Between Language Community, Linguistic Community, and Speech Community

Although at first glance these terms appear similar, they are actually different concepts. The language community defines a social group that shares the same language, without specifying the place and historical moment. For example, all Spanish speakers. On the other hand, the linguistic community is a group of people who share the same language or language that are found in a certain geographical space and historical time. An example would be the Spanish speakers in Spain in the 20th century.

Unlike the concepts of language community and linguistic community, the speech community is not limited to a geographical context and is a variation of the language spoken by a social group. Taking this into account, several speech communities can exist within a linguistic or idiomatic community.

Difference between speech community and sociolect, slang and slang

The concept of speech community is also different from the concept of sociolect.While in a speech community there may be people from different sectors of society, the sociolect describes the linguistic variety used by a given social class. Jargon or slang is the language used by a group of people who share the same trade or profession. Therefore, a speech community can use a certain sociolect or jargon.

Sources

• Various authors. The sociology book. (2016). Spain. Akal Editions.
• Moreno Fernández, F. Principles of sociolinguistics and sociology of language. (2009). Spain. Editorial Ariel.
• Vásquez Herrera, R. Girardot as a speaking community. Notebooks of Hispanic Linguistics. (2014). Colombia. Tunja: Uptc. Available here .
• Parodi, C.; Santa Ana, O. (1997). Typology of speaking communities: from rural to standard Spanish. Magazine of Hispanic Philology. Available here .
• Zhan, C. (2013) Speech Community and SLA . Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 4, No. 6. Available here .