Speech Communities

A speech community is a group of people who share a set of linguistic norms and expectations regarding
the use of language. The study of speech communities is central to the understanding of human language
and meaning. Speech communities are group of people that share values and attitude about language use,
verities and practices. The term can be applied to a neighborhood, a city, a region or a nation. We all
belong to at least one speech community. The earliest speech community we belong to is the one we share
with our primary caregivers (usually our parents) and is the basis for some of the most intimate and long-
term relationships we form across our life. The rules and norms of this speech community show up in a
dialect referred to as the vernacular, the most basic variety or dialect of language we command. Our
vernacular speech is least susceptible to monitoring and least likely to change across our lifetime. These
communities developed through prolonged interaction among these operate within and recognized beliefs
and value system regarding from and style of communication and in community. People that interact
together have a different language to use, that's why we have the so-called lingua franca.
Lingua Franca
Refers to a language that is used by groups to communicate with one another when their native tongues
are not the same. Example, in our country the Philippines. Filipino is the primary language that we use in
formal settings like school and media etc., but also it serves as our lingua franca. Lingua franca helps the
nation to have unity when it comes to linguistic communities. On the other hand, almost half a billion
people are using English as their second language. It is considered to be the world’s lingua franca since
English being used as the major language in many countries worldwide. English is also known to be the
native language of many countries around the world and is being used in dealing with economic and
political trades.
Diglossia
This is the kind of situation when there is a separation between two languages or two variants of a
language such that one version, the so-called "high" or H variety, is used in public life, such as in
addresses, the media, schools and universities, and so on. – and another variety, the so-called ‘low’
variety or L variety, is used in domestic life – with family and friends. For an instance the Filipino
Language as a low variety for some reason that it is what we heard and learned as a spoken language in an
informal way because dialect is useful only in our normal conversation to friend and family. While
English language is the medium language use in formal/professional settings, such as in education,
politics, and the mass media. Alongside standard diglossia, there is another type called bilingual diglossia.
This occurs when one language variety is used for writing, and the other is used for speaking. Another
example is in Arabic-speaking communities, many people use both Classical Arabic and Egyptian Arabic.
Classical Arabic is the high variety so it is seen as the standard language. It is not used in everyday
conversation - instead, it is reserved for official and academic purposes. Egyptian Arabic is the most
widely used Arabic dialect. It is regarded as the low variety, so is used in daily life.
Bilingualism
A linguistic circumstance in which two languages coexist in a nation or language community without
clearly showing distributions by function or social class. So, we are already aware of what we called
bilingualism, like for an instance the existence of English and Filipino language in the Philippines and
being use by the people living in Philippines is considered as bilingualism. Bilingualism is a product of
extensive language contact (i.e., contacts between people who speak different languages). There are many
reasons for speakers of different languages to get into contact with one another. Some do so out of their
own choosing, whereas others are forced by circumstances. Among the frequently cited factors that
contribute to language contact are education, modern technology, economy, religion and culture, political
or military acts, and natural disasters.

Minority language
This refers to languages that have a tiny minority of speakers within the boundaries of a nation where the
majority of people speak a different language. For an instance, in United State of America it is considered
Filipino language as one of the minor languages of the state because it has just a small number of people
who speak that language, while English language of course as their majority language. In such situation,
the emergence of a minority language will not be determined based on the country as a whole; rather, the
minority language will be based on a smaller-scale. People who speak minority languages often have to
learn the majority language in order to function in their society.
Language Split
This phrase describes the type of situation that arises when, for political purposes, two barely discernible
linguistic variations are forcibly differentiated in order to increase the distinctions between two nations.
Due to political conflict people experience separated for enough time, either by space social status or
means of communication, sooner or later their language will split. Most of the time this happen naturally
as a new acquires the language in a slightly different form, but some time an artificial split is achieved.
References;
https://edtechbooks.org/language_acquisition/speech_communities
https://www.englishexplorer.com.sg/why-the-english-language-became-the-worlds-lingua-franca/
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/international-english/diglossia/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/bilingualism
https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-a-minority-language.htm
https://www.uni-due.de/ELE/LanguageAndSociety.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0BM2ZNWUDur-
V_igqZEhnClH4V0wEoZK-qX5rkhnlIpUcvYsiDPRmwqs0