Speech Community

ABSTRACT 

The concept of speech community has attracted a lot of discussions for decades. Different scholars with divergent views have presented their opinions in order to elucidate the matter. In the light of this, this work does not only look into various definitions by these scholars, but also explains the concept of speech community.
Moreso, it seeks to differentiate language use between a typical Nigeria village and a city.  

TABLE OF CONTENT 

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. The concept of speech community
4. The concept of language use
5. Differences: Language use in a typical Nigerian village and a city
6. Research Report: A village and a city (A case study: Abaa-gbooro and Lagos).
7. Significance of language use in Nigerian society
8. Conclusion
 9. Reference.

INTRODUCTION 

The adoption of the concept speech community as a focus of linguistic analysis emerged in the 1960’s. This was due to the pioneering work by William Labov, whose studies of language variation in New York City and Martha’s vineyard laid the groundwork for sociolinguistics as a social science. In his studies, it was revealed that class and profession were not only clearly related to language variation with a speech community, but socio-economic aspirations and mobility were also of great importance.
Prior to Labov’s studies, dialectology was the closest linguistic field that studies linguistic variations between different dialects. The application of dialectology is in rural communities. Therefore, there was no framework for describing language variation in cities until the emergence of socio-linguistics and speech community that applies to both rural and urban communities. Since then, a number of studies have been done which further our knowledge about how speech communities work and extended its use. Prominent sociolinguists who have worked on speech communities include William Labov, John J. Gumperz, Lesley Milroy and Robin Lakoff.  

THE CONCEPT OF SPEECH COMMUNITY 

Speech can be simply defined as the oral presentation of feelings, thoughts and expression. A community can be seen as a group of people living together who share the same norms and values for mutual interaction. The concept of speech community is relatively important when talking about language. Speech community, as it is defined so far by different sociolinguists, can be regarded as a group of people living in the same location or scattered, who recognize a dialect or language as a medium of interaction. According to Halliday (1978) “A speech community is one which is built and held together by people. The inhabitants of a particular community spend much of their energy, communicating with one another and sharing common ideas about a peaceful and productive co-existence.” All the people speaking a particular language or dialect, whether in a single geographical area or dispersed throughout various regions. John Gumperz (1982) defines linguistic community as a social group which may be either monolingual or bilingual held together by frequency of social interaction patterns and set off from the surrounding areas by weaknesses in the line of communication. However, Gumperz later introduces the requirement that there should be some specially linguistic differences between the members of the speech community and those outside. Hence, the criterion of communication is added, if two communities both speak the same language but had no contact with each other at all, they are regarded as different speech communities. On the other side of the coin, a speech community could be a group of people who are scattered in many locations but maintain contact in abstraction by adopting one language. For instance, Nigeria, a large region is a speech community having a large population of people speaking different dialects in several geographical areas having English language as the major string binding their general communicative understanding. Nevertheless, large region does not necessarily connote total abstraction. There are some factors that serve as agent of contact. For instance, kolanut, pepper and tomatoes trading facilitates contact between Northern and Western Nigeria. Webster New World College (2010) defines speech community as the people speaking particular language or dialect whether in a single geographical area or dispersed throughout various regions. According to Romaine (1994:22) “A speech community is a group of people who do not necessarily share the same language, but share a set of norms and rules for the use of language. The boundaries between speech communities are essentially social rather than linguistic. A speech community is not necessarily co-extensive with a language community.” Cordere (1973:53) “A speech community is made up of individuals who regard themselves as speaking the same language; it need have no other defining attributes.” Hence, in the view points of the above scholars, a speech community can be related to people, a social organisation, a group of people, a linguistic community or simply speakers, members of the same speech community who share linguistics norms i.e they share understanding, values and attitudes about language varieties present in their community. They share some norms, either linguistically or paralinguistic features which make them mutually intelligible to each other. Spoken forms may differ but the written form is the same. For example, in China, Mandarin and Cantonese have the same graphology but speak differently. (topinsn) stopped Moreover, when discussing about speech community, a lot of factors come into play such as language choice, language shift, language maintenance, language and identity, language and ethnicity etc. and of course, while the exact definition of speech community is debatable, there is a broad consensus that the concept is immensely useful, if not crucial for the study of language variation and change. This confirms the opinion of Dwight Bolinge that it has no limits to the ways in which human beings league themselves for self-identification, security, amusement, worship or any other purposes that are held in common. Consequently, there is no limit to the number and variety of speech communities that are to be found in society.

However, we have two types of speech community - the primary and secondary speech communities. Primary speech community is composed of people who have always live in the same neighbourhood and who usually speak the same language. Rural communities fall under this category, e.g. Tonkere and Abagbooro in Ife. Secondary speech community composed of people that come together from different regions for a number of reasons. It could be for social economic, political, religious, educational reasons. These groups of people adopt one language for social and linguistic interaction because they are heterogeneous in nature. Cities like Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Lagos fall under this category.

THE CONCEPT OF LANGUAGE USE 

Language is an indispensable tool in a speech community. Hence, language is a crucial factor that binds the people together in a speech community. The indispensability of language in a speech community is more or less like culture. As culture is a mode to identify a particular speech community; so is language, it could be seen as the trade mark of a particular speech community.

   DIFFERENCES: LANGUAGE USE IN A TYPICAL NIGERIAN VILLAGE AND A CITY Language variation is a major factor that features in the language use between typical Nigerian village and cities. There are some factors that are responsible for this, the group’s socio-economic status, common interest and the level of formality expected within the group and by its larger society. For instance, village inhabitants adopt a variety of a standard language not only for free flow of communication, but also to foster integration among themselves thus, building unity in the community. For example, the residents of Abaagbooro village in Ile-Ife speak the Ife dialect of Yoruba language. Meanwhile, standard languages and varieties of languages that are spoken in cities are employed for several purposes ranging from families to government parastatals. It could be for political, economic, religious reasons. Standard language is used in offices because of the formality that is attached to various professions. For example, in city like Lagos, employees at bank or a factory would likely use formal language than a group of teenage workers at Tonkere village in Ife. This is because formality and professionalism is expected of bankers than from an informal circle of adolescent friends. Educationally, in an urban setting, English is the medium of instruction, therefore, English language is not only the country’s official language but also the language of education. English still enjoys the sole language of instruction even at this lower level. The teachers are therefore forced to disseminate information via a common language (English). The more reason why the use of pidgin English is discouraged in a school environment but in the village setting which is homogenous like Abagbooro, Ile-Ife mode of instruction in schools are traced to the dialect of that particular town. The children in such setting are taught in the common language i.e. Ife dialect used by the community of Abagbooro. In religious circle, Lagos is a city identified with three major religion: Christianity, Islam and traditional religion. The first two, are however becoming more pronounced especially with socialization and education. In this respect, language use in religious beliefs and practices are some of the factors that determine language use. Some assemblies like Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Oke-Iyanu, Ikotun, Lagos do have a need for interpretation of discussion from English to other languages while some assemblies see no need for interpretation. Interpretation can either be from English to Yoruba, Igbo or Arabic. For instance, Assemblies of God Church Isolo, Lagos. The reason for this differences is traceable to the fact that Yoruba, Igbo, Arabic is the language of immediate environment. The programmes of event in the churches/mosques are printed in English, and it could also be printed in Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo or Arabic as the case may be.
 While in a village setting, the adopted language of religion is their mother tongue which is accepted as standard language. For instance, in Abagbooro, the language of religion is Yoruba according to our respondent (Oba Olowa of Elefon Palace Ile-Ife). In Abagbooro, their programmes of events are majorly printed in Yoruba. In addition, language use in a rural setting by its dwellers tends to be raw i.e. the original form of a language. For instance, in Oyo land the expression “booin” which is the original Yoruba word is used. But Yoruba speakers in Lagos use the expression “bo si bi bai.” In cities, they are more refined in language use. In a Yoruba speaking village, if an important figure or individual dies it is said “erin wo” while in an urban setting, the announcement of the individual’s death is announced “O ku.” Due to the homogeneity of typical Nigeria villages, the level of improvement on language from raw to refined is very low. Urban centres harbour so many people with different ideologies as well as availability of industries, higher institutes of learning, recreational centres and other various organisations; the use of language is often standard. While a dialect/ethic language is spoken in our villages, english or pidgin is preferred in our metropolitan cities. Furthermore, the use of language in a typical Nigeria village is used to show respect especially among the Yorubas’. For instance, a typical Yoruba wife will tell her husband “Your food is ready” meaning “Ounje yin ti de le” or “I have placed your food on the table” meaning “mo ti gbe ounje yin sori tabili.” With this, there is level of respect in her language usage. This also features between young and old folks. But in cities, housewives may call their husbands by name or pet name. Thus, language use between the speaker and the addressee to show respect in typical Nigeria village is different from the urban centres where there is little or none. Also, language use in Nigeria villages promotes interpersonal relationships. For instance, in a typical Igbo village, there is no distinction between a brother, nephew, uncle and cousin they are all addressed as brother, more because of the extended family system that operates in the Igbo society. Even when they reside in the same area or community, they call themselves brothers and sisters, there is no clear- cut distinction. In contrast, urban dwellers sees themselves distant i.e. cousin will be a cousin, even if they are dwellers of the same street; face to face contact is rare, this creates a lot of gap between individuals not to talk of mutual relationship. Nonetheless, language use in conversation between two individuals in cities most times lead to code mixing or code switching since most cities dweller are bilingual. They will not want to stick to one language thereby switching from one language to another, while some prefer to mix one language with another. Conversely, code mixing and code switching are rare in villages as they may not enhance communication flow more because of the existence of the homogeneity in villages, the dwellers are more of monolinguals. Few people that engage in code making are the few young educated ones who feel comfortable in mixing languages when conversing. Similarly, the topic of discussion is another crucial thing that distinguishes a typical village from cities in language use. Villages are seeing as the seats or sources of cultural practices. Hence, cultural values are better discussed in rural expressions as the speaker will exhaust everything in details. Then, the topic will be easily understood. On the other side, the issues of politics, education, sports etc are often handled in English/pidgin in urban centres in order to carry people along. The issue of public opinion can be best discussed in pidgin or a low variety of English so as to let people to contribute meaningfully. Most importantly, the use of proverbs is very common among rural dwellers. This shows that the inhabitants of villages are highly proficient in their dialect compare to those in cities. In the city, there is a use of situational code switching or mixing among the people. Most situations require informants to use Yoruba language for example, the informants need to speak to their landlords/landladies who are Yorubas to the security man or neighbour who are also Yoruba speakers. (UNDER CODE MIXING). Not only that, city dwellers tend to discuss issues on sports and political issues at their leisure whereas, village dwellers spend time telling moonlight tales, folklores etc due to their primitive way of life. Hence, the registers used in the cities are in sharp contrast with the ones used in the villages. Furthermore, in our metropolitan cities, language use in fashion is more colourful and attractive e.g. jergens, tanktop, pencil skirt, swagger skirt, alter neck, pencil jeans, boot-cut, gladiators, etc. In contrast, fashion in villages is attached to the culture of that particular village. For instance in Yoruba culture they have wears like Agbada, Kembe, Abeti-Aja, Buba and Iro, etc. Finally, social variation is another factor that distinguishes a typical Nigerian village from a city. By this, we mean that some city dwellers belong to the highest class who use social accent i.e a high variety of a standard language of that society. Whereas rural dwellers, which are mostly of the lowest class predominantly use localized accents. A stereotypical dialect speaker who is an elderly rural person is all but unintelligible to modern city dwellers. Meanwhile dialects are simply linguistic varieties which are distinguishable by their vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation; the speech of people from different social, cum regional groups may differ in these ways. Received Pronunciation is a social accent, so any standard language is a social dialect.   RESEARCH REPORT Questions (1) What is the major language spoken? (2) What is the variety of language spoken? (3) What is the rough estimated population of the residents? (4) Is the community monolingual, bilingual or multilingual? (5) How many schools are located in the area and the language used? (6) What is their colloquial language? (7) Which language is used in gatherings (formal meetings, social gathering etc)? (8) What is their major occupation? (9) What is their language of occupation? (10) What is their language of worship?   Name of place Major language spoken Variety of language spoken Population Monolingual or bilingual Number of schools Language used in schools Colloquial language Language use in meeting Occupation Occupational language Language use in religion Abagbooro Yoruba Ife dialect 1,000 plus Monolingual One (primary) Mother Tongue/ English Mother Tongue Ife dialect Farming, palm wine tapping, small scale trading Ife dialect Yoruba Lagos English pidgin or Mother Tongue English/pidgin Over 7,000,000 Bilingual & trilingual Many (all levels) English Pidgin/Mother Tongue Pidgin/ English/ Mother Tongue Teaching, Trading Driving, civil service English/ pidgin/ Mother Tongue Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, pidgin, English and other MT.

SIGNIFICANCE OF LANGUAGE USED IN NIGERIAN SOCIETY 

 Basically, language in every linguistic community is for communication. Communication itself varies in form. Language use could be for educational purposes. Pedagogically, in most Nigerian schools, Mother Tongue and English are used in primary schools while English is used in secondary and tertiary institutions. Meanwhile, the significance of language used in all human endeavour cannot be overstated as it leads to mutual understanding among Nigerians. It goes a long way in uniting people of the same speech community. Moreover, language is an essential tool for trading and commerce, in other words, language is needful in the quest of exchanging goods and business transactions from one town, community, city or country to another. The buyers and sellers of commodities need a common language of business for easy transaction to enhance the sales or transactions which could be international or national. In the same vein, language use is pertinent to the activities of international organisation such as United Nation (UN), Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), Commonwealth of Nations , European Union (EU), African Union (AU) etc. in this view, such organisations have a uniform language code they all interact with in manipulating or executing their projects amongst member states of each organization. e.g. Nigeria as a member state of the UN. Consequently, language use is needed for securities purposes. As security operatives engage in the use of encoded terminologies for easy flow of information without the comprehension of a “third party” especially during tribal wars, civil wars, military wars etc. terms like Alpha, Delta, Bravo, Charlie, etc, are used.  

CONCLUSION 

 With everything that has been discussed above, it can be deduced that language use between a typical Nigerian village and a city results to language variation. However, due to the homogenous nature of Nigerian villages, each of the speech communities is often monolingual, while cities are always heterogeneous; they are either bilingual or multilingual. Nonetheless, the extent to which language use varies between a village and a city in Nigeria is attested to in the way some words in a particular dialect are used. Language choice between one speech community and another is like one man’s poison is another man’s meat. This connotes that each community has some peculiar words which another community may not cherish as such. Most importantly, the pertinence of Mother Tongue in any speech community cannot be over emphasized. This is because mother tongue is the First Language (L1) which everyone needs to comprehend before learning the Second Language (L2). Both rural and urban dwellers can speak Mother Tongue, and it is from this acquisition of L1 that helps in acquisition of L2 although, there are some cases of Mother Tongue interference in the acquisition of the second language. Hence, bilinguals and multilinguals switch from one language to another when the need arises. In a nutshell, the gap between language use in a typical Nigerian village and a city is widened every day.  

REFERENCES 
Crystal, D (1994). The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of English. England: Cambridge University Press. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/speechcommunity.html
Igboanusi, H.S. (1995). Igbo English on John Munoye, Chukwuemeka Ike and Nkem Nwankwo: A Linguistic Stylistic Analysis, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan.
Janet Holmes (2008). An Introduction to Socio-Linguistics. UK: Person Education Limited
Oyetade S.O (2003) Language Planning and Identity in Multi-ethnic States: The Majority/Minority States.Nudic Journal of African Studies (vol 2. No 1): 105-117 Style of Language used in Yoruba Speech Community : UniZik