Question

What is a speech community ? Discuss the problmes in defining a apeech community?

Answer 1

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A speech community is a group that decides how language will be used.

This community may be comprised of professionals familiar with language (linguistics, etymologies, etc.) that have a developed, 
"professional jargon," but may also be made up of segments of society that influence the use of language in songs, slang, etc. Examples would include "high school students and "hip hop fans."

Microcosms of speech communities can even be as small as a close group of friends or even a family, where language evolves relative to those within that group. Words and phrases can be used in a nontraditional way, or words can be created.

The evolution of language can be seen with the advent of the Internet. We "surf" the web. The computer-user community has created new words like "blog."

In the television show NCIS, a part of the humor that the character Ziva David brings to the program is that she inaccurately uses the language, especially in terms of idioms.  Her character's unintentional misuse of the language of the speech community she is now a part of (coming from another country and speech community), provides humor when she is corrected, and she processes the new information. For example, she might use the phrase "drip on his shoulder," when it should be "chip on his shoulder."