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Running head: DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

Evaluation of the Definitions of Speech Community and Important Characteristics in

Describing the Concept

Hassan Basarally

806007430

LING 6307: Introductory Sociology of Language for Graduate Students

The University of the West Indies

Open Campus
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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

Interview Questionnaire

A questionnaire was selected as the data collection method as it provided the

opportunity for interviewees to record their response simultaneously after viewing the video

stimulus.. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: demographics and response to

language used. The demographic data sought pertinent to the research included:

1. Gender

2. Age

3. Whether or not the interviewee was a speaker of Trinidad English Creole (TEC)

4. Number of languages spoken beside Trinidad English Creole

5. Number of years living in Trinidad.

The questions relating to the given video are as follows (Appendix A):

1. Do you believe that the person speaking in the video is speaking like a Trinidadian?

2. Explain some reasons for your answer in Question 1?

3. What are some things that the speaker said or did that imitated Trinidadian speech?

4. Do you believe that the person speaking in the video does a good impersonation of a

Trinidadian?

5. Explain some reasons for you answer in Question 4.

6. What did the speaker say or do that made you realise that he was not Trinidadian?

7. Is the speaker in the video similar to the way you speak in any ways? Describe them.

8. From the video, can you describe two (2) ways that are unique to the way

Trinidadians speak?

9. Which areas would you consider important in determining whether someone is a

Trinidadian speaker? You may choose more than one response.

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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

10. Is there anything said or done in the video that was of interest or stood out to you?

What are they?

Interviewee Profile

All the interviewees were either academic staff or students at a seven-year secondary

school in south Trinidad. Questionnaires were randomly given to the willing participants and

a short briefing was giving to ensure interviewees understood what were the areas of focus in

the questionnaires.

Table 1

Profile of interviewees

Interviewe Sex Age Highest Level Speaker Number of Numbers of

e Range of Education of TEC Languages Spoken Years Living
beside TEC in Trinidad
SA Male 36-50 Bachelor’s Yes 1 Over 33 years
years Degree
DR Male 36-50 Bachelor’s Yes 1 Over 33 years
years Degree
DJ Male 26-35 Postgraduate Yes 1 Over 33 years
years Diploma
AS Female 17-25 CSEC Yes 1 11-21 years
years Certificate
OA Female 17-25 CSEC Yes 1 11-21 years
years Certificate
FM Female 51-65 Bachelor’s Yes 1 Over 33 years
years Degree
NR Female 36-50 Postgraduate Yes 1 Over 33 years
years Diploma
PL Female 36-50 Postgraduate Yes 1 Over 33 years
years Diploma
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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

Definitions of a Speech Community

Over time in the field of linguistics, there have been continuous attempts to refine the

definition of a Speech Community. This has been because of disagreements with the

parameters set in several definitions and criticism of the usefulness of the term itself. The

definitions proposed by Chomsky, Labov and Lyons place emphasis on linguistic factors and

uniformity. On the other hand, Hymes and Gumperz expand the definition to include

community attitudes towards and awareness of said linguistic factors. With such debate and

lack of agreement on a working definition, a Speech Community can best be identified

through the hallmarks of sustained interaction, a sense of belonging and identifiable linguistic

variation instead of attempting to create a definition that accounts for all issues and concerns.

One of the early definitions of a Speech Community is Chomsky (1965) of it being a

“homogenous speech community, who knows its language perfectly and is unaffected by

such grammatical irrelevant conditions” (p. 3). Wardhaugh (2006) points out the problem of

homogeneity being a theoretical concept that fit the specific of researchers like Labov. This

criticism has merit, as due to globalisation and migration today, no Speech Community

would be homogenous. Labov (1972) later revised the definition and replaced the restrictive

concept of homogeneity with “participation is a set of shared norms”. With the defining

characteristic of linguistic norms, the Speech Community becomes populated by individuals

who feel affinity and inclusion in the group though the use of shared linguistic features.

The participants of the interview, after looking at the video by comedian Majah Hype

(Appendix A) agree with the concept of the presence of linguistic norms in the Speech

Community imitated. All mostly agreed that the character was speaking like a Trinidadian,

while seven out of eight specifically mentioned vocabulary and accent as reasons why the

speaker would be considered part of the Trinidadian Speech Community.

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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

Following this definition is one by Lyons (in Patrick, 2008) that a Speech Community

is everyone who uses a particular dialect or language. This is more inclusive; however, it is

on the other end of the spectrum as being too simple and all encompassing. An obvious

problem that the definition actually creates is that when a language is spoken in different

places, it develops into a distinct variety and by extension its own Speech Community. In

addition, it cannot deal with the bilingual and multilingual environments of today’s societies.

A good example would be the Caribbean where English is the official language and is used in

government, the judiciary and education while people simultaneous speak one or more

Creoles in all other settings.

The interviewees do not share the opinion of Lyons as all six out of eight listed

numerous reasons why the speaker would not be considered part of the Trinidadian Speech

Community. Only DR and FM responded that they did not consider the speaker to be a non-

Trinidadian. Even though the speaker was viewed as using vocabulary and accent, to a large

degree, as a Trinidadian speaker would, several non-conforming factors were identified. OA

and NR pointed out the speed of speech was too slow for a Trinidadian. PL, SA, DJ and AS

pointed out that the accent was not sustained and even suggested the speaker was Jamaican.

The definitions provided by Chomsky (1965) and Lyons (1970), rely exclusively on linguistic

characteristics. Wardhaugh (2006) points out that since language is a “communal possession”

group identity is not limited to linguistic features but also to social factors, for example

ethnicity or culture.

Hymes (1974) also disagrees with only linguistic criteria being used for inclusion in a

Speech Community, how members of the community view the language that is spoken is also

of importance. For Hymes, the researchers “starts with a social group and considers all the

linguistic varieties present in it, rather than starting with any one variety” (1974, p. 54). In

addition, a distinction between participating in a Speech Community and belonging to one is

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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

made. In this case, a speaker may use the norms of a Speech Community accurately but still

not be considered part of it. The criteria should be the knowledge of the social functions and

norms of the language; this is only achieved by being a part of the Speech Community. The

interviewees support this notion, as even though the speaker in the video used uniquely

Trinidadian vocabulary and portrayed a Trinidadian accent, six out of eight still did not

consider him part of the Speech Community. The definition of Hymes focusses on the shared

norm over interaction between members of the community, so the focus of this definition is

on interpretation by members of the Speech Community over what linguistic features are

actually produced (Patrick, 2008).

Gumperz (1971) incorporates a concept of social cohesion in the definition of a

Speech Community. Initially, the definition of Gumperz agreed with Labov’s concept of

shared linguistic knowledge (Patrick, 2008), but later focussed more on the members of the

Speech Community itself. The definition even acknowledges the multilingual reality of the

world and changes the terminology to Linguistic Community. It is a “social group which may

be monolingual or multilingual, held together by frequency of social interaction patterns”

(Gumperz, 1971, p. 101). The interviewees’ opinions coincide with Gumperz’s focus on the

social factors that determine membership in a Speech Community. All respondents identified

linguistic features such as vocabulary/word choice and accent/pronunciation as factors that

they would use to judge an individual belonging to the speech community. Interestingly, six

out of the eight interviewees listed residency in Trinidad as another factor. It seems that

residency is a social factor that would determine membership in the Speech Community.

Gumperz is not restrictive in the size of a speech community but more so on the “frequency

of social interaction” (Patrick, 2008, p. 580). In this definition, the focus is less on the

language used but on the community that uses it, language choice and codeswitching, which

are realities in any multilingual or multidialectal Speech Community.

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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

In the later definitions of Gumperz, there is acknowledgement of the need for the

Speech Community to have common norms while still focussing on how language constitutes

social reality. This is due communication creating a more connected world resulting in “a

worldwide weakening of social boundaries and deference to group norms” (Patrick, 2008, p.

581). The work of Gumperz is particularly relevant to the understanding of the definition of a

Speech Community as over the years the initial definition posited was constantly reworked

and revisited.

Besides Hymes, the various definitions of a Speech Community discussed does not

explicitly address the fact that urbanisation and globalisation erodes the concept of the

geographical location and linguistic homogeneity. However, when the definitions are applied,

the existence of an individual in multiple Speech Communities is not sufficiently addressed,

if at all. An individual can speak in the native language and be part of one Speech

Community and then in the target language or second language and be part of another.

Therefore, this will result in what Wardhaugh (2006) describes as Intersecting Communities,

since people shift identities due to innumerable reasons it is logical that they can shift

between Speech Communities. The speaker in the video can be considered to an example of

an individual in Intersecting Communities, but based on the responses a major factor would

be acceptance in multiple Speech Communities. This is even more pertinent when an

individual makes a conscious effort to utilise the linguistic norms of a target Speech

Community.

Indeed social factors do play a role in the individual existing in different communities

as “a person may belong at any one time to many different groups depending on the particular

ends in view” (Wardhaugh, 2006, p. 127). This is apparent in the Caribbean linguistic

situation that Patrick (1998) point out “that one cannot expect all members of a Creole speech

community to consistently agree on the salient features of linguistic feature or variables-since

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they do not even agree on the evaluation of the ‘social goods’ which such linguistic displays

are intended to ‘purchase’” (p. 3).

Characteristics in Describing a Speech Community

Based on the shortfalls of several widely used definitions of a Speech Community, the

approach of identifying its characteristics will be more suitable. In addition, Speech

Communities today are so dynamic in linguistic and social factors that to confine oneself to a

particular definition, no matter how concerted the attempt to be encompassing will still be

deficient. Speech Communities therefore need to be considered abstract spaces, not defined

by geographic community or linguistic uniformity. The following characteristics is worth

consideration: significant interaction, a sense of belonging to the group, and identifiable

linguistic peculiarities.

The interaction in the Speech Community must be both frequent and exist in a shared

community context. Due to communication methods today, interaction does not have to take

place in a defined area, but can even exist virtually. However, from the responses of the

interviewees it is clear that membership in the Speech Community is determined by non-

linguistic factors as well, in this case residence in Trinidad. Members of the Speech

Community must use the variational feature with the intention of displaying distinctiveness or

reinforcing belonging to the group. In addition, it is shared by the members in a way that they

will be able to distinguish a non-member of the community through the absence of such

norms. From the data gathered, four of the interviewees mentioned certain linguistic factors

that they determined to be Trinidadian other respondents mentioned accent and word choice.

In addition, the social factor of residence was identified. The linguistic variation in a Speech

Community must be easily identifiable and distinguishes its users from other Speech

Communities. AS and OA mentioned use of hand gestures, NR and SA identified the code
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switching between Creole and Standard English. These were determined to be unique to the

Trinidadian Speech Community

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References

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Gumperz, J. (1971). Language in social groups. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Hymes, D. (1972). Models of the interaction of language and social life. In Gumperz &
Hymes (Eds.) Directions in sociolinguistics: The ethnography of communication (pp.
35-71). Oxford: Blackwell.

Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Patrick, P. (1998). Proceedings from Society for Caribbean Linguistics XII Meeting:
Caribbean creoles and the speech community. Castries: St. Lucia.

Patrick, P. (2008). The Speech Community. In J. K Chambers, P. Trudgill & N. Shilling

Estes (Eds.), Handbook of language variation and change (pp. 573-597). Oxford:
Blackwell.

Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (5th ed.). Massachusetts:

Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

Appendix A

Sociolinguistic Questionnaire

 This questionnaire is to be completed after viewing the video provided by the

researcher.

 Please complete all questions.

 All responses will remain confidential.

Date: 08/02/2018

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDOU_l0OiI4&feature=youtu.be

Section A

Demographics

Please fill in the blanks or place an X or check mark next to the word or phrase that best

matches your response.

What is your gender? What is your age?

Male Under 16
Female 17 – 25
26 – 35
36 – 50
51 – 65
Over 65
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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

What is your marital status? How would you describe your race or ethnicity
Married secondary school but did not finish
Attended African
Widowed Certificate
CSEC/GCSE East Indian
Separated
CAPE/A Level Certificate Caucasian
Divorceduniversity but did not finish
Attended Chinese
Living with Partner degree or certificate
Vocational/Technical Indigenous
Single
Associates Degree Syrian/Lebanese
Common Law
Bachelor’s Degree Portuguese
Prefer not toDiploma
Postgraduate say Mixed

Master’s Degree
Doctorate Degree

What is your highest level of education?

Do you speak Trinidad English Creole?

Yes
No

How many other languages do you speak besides Trinidad English Creole?
0
1
2
More than 2
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DEFINITIONS OF SPEECH COMMUNITY

How long have you lived Trinidad?

0-10 years
11-21 years
22-32 years
More than 33 years

Section B

Response to Language Used

Please fill in the blanks or place an X or check mark next to the word or phrase that best

matches your response.

1. Do you believe that the person speaking in the video is speaking like a Trinidadian?
Strongly Agree
Mostly Agree
Mostly Disagree
Strongly Disagree

2. Explain some reasons for your answer in Question 1?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. What are some things that the speaker said or did that imitated Trinidadian speech?
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________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

4. Do you believe that the person speaking in the video does a good impersonation of a

Trinidadian?

Strongly Agree
Mostly Agree
Mostly Disagree
Strongly Disagree

5. Explain some reasons for you answer in Question 4.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

6. What did the speaker say or do that made you realise that he was not Trinidadian?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

7. Is the speaker in the video similar to the way you speak in any ways? Describe them.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

8. From the video, can you describe two (2) ways that are unique to the way

Trinidadians speak?
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________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

9. Which areas would you consider important in determining whether someone is a

Trinidadian speaker? You may choose more than one response.

Vocabulary/Word Choice
Accent/Pronunciation
Living in Trinidad
Trinidadian Parentage/Marriage
Age
Education
Ethnicity

10. Is there anything said or done in the video that was of interest or stood out to you?

What are they?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

End of Questionnaire
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