The document discusses definitions of speech communities from various linguists. It defines a speech community as a group of people who interact through shared use of language. While sometimes defined by a single shared language or variety, speech communities can also be multilingual. Membership is defined not just by shared language use but also participation in common norms and evaluative behaviors. Speech communities exist through regular social interaction patterns among members and are differentiated from surrounding areas by weaker lines of communication between groups.

2. Real speech Community-all people who
use a given language or dialects
(Jhon Layons ).


3. 
“The linguistic behavior of individuals cannot
be understood without knowledge of the
communities they belong to.” - Labov

4. 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

5. Must 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.
GROUP

6. 
SPEECH
►As a theoretical construct, it is thought to be ideal,
completely homogeneous (Chomsky).
►The whole set of people who communicate with
each other,either directly or indirectly via the
common language.(Charles Hocket).

7. 
Study of Speech Community
-entails knowing its members’ linguistic
characteristics and other characteristics
cultural social political ethnic
SPEECH MARKERS.

8. 
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.

9. Single Language/ Single Variety
Criterion

The single language/ single variety
 Speaking one language in the
community
 disregarding the fact that in
many societies bilingualism or
multilingualism exists.

10. 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

11. 
Other definitions of
Speech Community
►
►
► A speech community is a group of people who interact by
means of speech. Agroup or community should be defined
not 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 commonlocality
and primary interaction. – Reaffirmed by Hymes

12. 
 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
languag may be as important as feelings
about the language itself.

13.  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


14. 
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

15. 
Urbanization is a great
“ERODER”of linguistic frontiers.

16. 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.

17. ‘’ Real Communities’’ Concept
1. Mismatch between subjective and objective
reality
• Communities exist only to the extent that we
are aware of them.

18. 
Dense
Loose
Multiplex
Evidence For
Networks

19. Network Relationships

20. Speech Repertoire
Members of community are
linguistically the same in some
sense.
 people do not even know
linguistic details of people who
live in the same city; what
about others hundered miles
away.

21.  • Linguisticvarieties
utilized by a
speech community
Speech
Repertoire
•Linguistic
varieties which
are at a particular
speaker’s disposal
Verbal
Repertoire

22. -Small Size of the most
important communities
The most important linguistically influence
communities are of small size
Such as: at home,at school,at work….

23.  Where is language ?
In
Individual Community
Every human being
belongs to a communit
Unique
locate themselves through language
Language is the central of a community