Speech Communities

Speech Communities presents the main concepts and critical arguments surrounding how language and communication styles distinguish and identify groups.

Marcyliena H. Morgan (Author)

9781107678149, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 February 2014

200 pages, 40 exercises
21.5 x 13.7 x 1.1 cm, 0.26 kg

'Morgan's book is a knowledgeable and informative introduction to speech communities, their formation, development, and organization, as well as a valuable analysis of the interaction between speech communities and the socio-political structures in which they are immersed.' Marco Tamburelli, Modern Language Review

What makes a speech community? How do they evolve? How are speech communities identified? Speech communities are central to our understanding of how language and interactions occur in societies around the world and in this book readers will find an overview of the main concepts and critical arguments surrounding how language and communication styles distinguish and identify groups. Speech communities are not organized around linguistic facts but around people who want to share their opinions and identities; the language we use constructs, represents and embodies meaningful participation in society. This book focuses on a range of speech communities, including those that have developed from an increasing technological world where migration and global interactions are common. Essential reading for graduate students and researchers in linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics and applied linguistics.

1. What are speech communities?
2. Representing speech communities
3. Constructing speech communities
4. The African-American speech community
5. Youth communities: the hip-hop nation
6. Voice and empowerment in gender and sexuality
7. Online speech communities
8. Language in and out of the classroom
9. Performance and play in speech communities
10. Power, ideology and prejudice.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Sociolinguistics [CFB], Linguistics [CF]