speech community
1
5.5
- noun
- /spiːtʃ kəˈmjunɪti/
- Specialized
:
comunidad lingüística
- A speech community is defined by people who share a common language, like the Spanish-speaking residents of this neighborhood.
- language of their speech community
- present-day speech community
Examples
-
Thus, sizable French speech communities were concealed within the high numbers of "English-speaking" urban Cajuns reported in the census.
Academic text (2000) -
During language acquisition, learners must learn to both perceive and produce the speech sounds in the language of their speech community.
Academic text (2012) -
Central to an understanding of discourse theory are institutions, which may be thought of as socially sanctioned speech communities.
Academic text (2009) -
Speech communities of the BuKiGo and Highlands branches inhabit this region.
Academic text (2004) -
At present, one might argue that community colleges can be more accurately defined as a speech community rather than as a discourse community because much of their discourse takes an oral form.
Academic text (2001) -
Members of the speech community often reflect its shared norms and values through their unique dialect.
-
Understanding a speech community can help linguists study how language evolves within different social groups.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a group of people who share a common language or dialect' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'speech' (patterns or use of language) with 'community' (a group of people). This noun+noun composition follows a predictable logic and has clear cross-linguistic parallels (e.g. Spanish 'comunidad de habla'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase speech community comes from the image of people who 'speak' the same way in one 'community'. Imagine neighbors using the same words and rules for talking, so speech plus community means a group who share a language or dialect.