Linguistic Variation: Speech Communities

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Linguistic Variation Speech Communities

• The totality of messages we exchange with one
  another while speaking a given language
  constitutes a speech community(Rossi-Landi 1973
  83)

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Overview

• Language variety
• Speech community
• Social stratification Class and Caste
• Limitations of Labovs concept of speech
  community

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Two working definitions

• Language variety refers to a set of
  communicative forms and norms for their use that
  are restricted to a particular group, community
  or activities
• Speech community a group of people who share
  something about the way in which they use
  language

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Speech and Social Stratification

• Access to economic power and language
• Marker of individual and social identities
• Absolute Caste system
• Flexible Class system

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Caste and Language Use

• Determines residence, occupation, marriage
  choice and language
• Khalapur, India
• Castes Brahmins, Ragouts and untouchables

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Class and Language

• Economic and social relations
• Language reinforcer of class differences
• Labovs New York Study (1966) postvocalic r
• Lindenfeld (1969) France syntactic complexity

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We learn that

• 1. there is a link between structures of
  economic, social and political power and the use
  of language
• That variation of the use of language is linked
  to other social systems of organization

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Limitations of present def of Speech Community

• participation in a set of shared norms for the
  use of language and for interpretation of
  linguistic behaviour

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Critique of Labovs conceptualization of Speech
Community

• Nancy Dorian (1981)
• Sutherland (Scotland)
• Semi-speakers
• Lack of ling norm does not exclude people

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A speech community is made up of people who
regard themselves as speaking the same language
it need have no other defining attribute
(Corder, 1973 53).
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The case of Vaupes (Colombia)

• Language criteria for exogamy
• Multilingualism in the community
• Lingua Franca also utilized Tukano
• They do not share norm of a single language

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Summary

• connection between social stratification and
  language use
• Anthrop critique the notion of speech community
  that is bounded by norms
• More open conceptualization of speech community
  emphasis on social communicative interaction

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Discussion Questions (Video)

• Do you think Hip Hop music can be considered a
  marker of personal or/and group identity? How?
  Why?
• Are power relations evident in the story? How is
  power related to language in this case?

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