definition of speech community

A Definition of Speech Community in Sociolinguistics

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Speech community is a term in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology used to describe a group of people who share the same language,  speech  characteristics, and ways of interpreting communication. Speech communities may be large regions like an urban area with a common, distinct accent (think of Boston with its dropped r's) or small units like families and friends (think of a nickname for a sibling). They help people define themselves as individuals and community members and identify (or misidentify) others.

Speech and Identity

The concept of speech as a means of identifying with a community first emerged in 1960s academia alongside other new fields of research like ethnic and gender studies. Linguists like John Gumperz pioneered research in how personal interaction can influence ways of speaking and interpreting, while Noam Chomsky studied how people interpret language and derive meaning from what they see and hear.

Types of Communities

Speech communities can be large or small, although linguists don't agree on how they're defined. Some, like linguist Muriel Saville-Troike, argue that it's logical to assume that a shared language like English, which is spoken throughout the world, is a speech community. But she differentiates between "hard-shelled" communities, which tend to be insular and intimate, like a family or religious sect, and "soft-shelled" communities where there is a lot of interaction.

But other linguists say a common language is too vague to be considered a true speech community. The linguistic anthropologist Zdenek Salzmann describes it this way:

"[P]eople who speak the same language are not always members of the same speech community. On the one hand, speakers of South Asian English in India and Pakistan share a language with citizens of the U.S., but the respective varieties of English and the rules for speaking them are sufficiently distinct to assign the two populations to different speech communities..."

Instead, Salzman and others say, speech communities should be more narrowly defined based on characteristics such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and manner of speaking.

Study and Research

The concept of speech community plays a role in a number of social science, namely sociology, anthropology, linguists, even psychology. People who study issues of migration and ethnic identity use social community theory to study things like how immigrants assimilate into larger societies, for instance. Academics who focus on racial, ethnic, sexual​ or gender issues apply social community theory when they study issues of personal identity and politics. It also plays a role in data collection. By being aware of how communities are defined, researchers can adjust their subject pools in order to obtain representative sample populations.

• Morgan, Marcyliena H. "What Are Speech Communities?" Cambridge University Press, 2014.
• Salzmann, Zdenek. "Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology." Westview, 2004
• Saville-Troike, Muriel. "The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction, 3rd ed." Blackwell, 2003.
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speech community

Definition of speech community

Examples of speech community in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'speech community.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1894, in the meaning defined above

Dictionary Entries Near speech community

speechcraft

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“Speech community.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/speech%20community. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.

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Discourse Community: Examples and Definition

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A discourse community is a community of people who share basic goals or interests and ways of communicating about them.

These are groups that have common goals, purposes, or interests and use the same set of discourses to achieve and communicate about them (Borg, 2003).

Examples of discourse communities include academic communities, business groups, fitness groups, and activist organizations.

Discourse Community Definition

A discourse community is a community of people who have shared goals, purposes, or interests and use the same set of discourses to achieve them (Borg, 2003; Johns, 1997).

James Porter (1992) defined a discourse community as:

“a local and temporary constraining system, defined by a body of texts (or more generally, practices) that are unified by a common focus. A discourse community is a textual system with stated and unstated conventions, a vital history, mechanisms for wielding power, institutional hierarchies, vested interests, and so on.”

The concept is generally used in the context of academic writing, business settings (Killingsworth & Gilbertson, 2019; Olsen, 1993; Orlikowski & Yates, 1994), learner needs (Offord-Gray & Aldred, 1998), accounting, and so on.

There are, however, several issues with the definition of the concept that need to be resolved:

“how large (or small) a discourse community might be; whether speech is needed to maintain a discourse community; whether purpose is the defining characteristic of a discourse community, and how stable a discourse community, and therefore its genres, are” (Borg, 2003, p. 399).

There is also the question of whether shared goals are a necessary element of every discourse community.

The concept of a discourse community developed from the concepts of a speech community and an interpretive community. So, if we want to deeply understand what a discourse community is, we must also define speech and interpretive communities .

We can distinguish discourse communities from speech communities because membership in a discourse community is a matter of choice, while membership in a speech community is not.

Discourse communities differ from interpretive communities because of their focus on pursuing goals.

Interpretive communities don’t necessarily have shared goals, while discourse communities always have either shared goals or interests (Johns, 1997; Porter, 1986). In addition, analyses of discourse communities generally focus on written communication.

Defining Characteristics of Discourse Communities

Swales (1990) distinguished between regular discourse communities (united by written communication alone) and place discourse communities that are united by both written and spoken communication.

There are, according to Swales, six defining characteristics of discourse communities:

• A broadly agreed upon set of common public goals.
• Mechanisms of communication among the members.
• The use of participatory mechanisms for providing information and feedback.
• The use of one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.
• Acquired specific lexis.
• A threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

The production of texts within a discourse community takes place in the context of the interpretive conventions of said community. For any text to be produced within a discourse community, it must fit the standards to which that community is appealing. If one wants membership in a discourse community, one must understand the goals, standards, and interests of that community (Bizzell, 1992).

Discourse communities are intangible and vague. This is why scholars often use the term ‘forum’ to describe concrete, local manifestations of the operations of discourse communities (Porter, 1992).

Examples of Discourse Communities

• Fitness community: A community of people united by an interest in achieving physical fitness is a discourse community. It has common goals (strength, vitality, hypertrophy, longevity, etc.), common values (discipline, safety, progress, etc.), and a specialized vocabulary (concentric, eccentric, aerobic, microcycle, mesocycle, cardio, HIIT, reps, sets, etc.).
• Academic community: Academic communities often share interests, goals, genres, and specialized vocabularies. For example, the academic community of architects shares an interest in the built environment, the goal of creating more sustainable architecture, and the specialized vocabulary of architecture (masterplan, brief, tensile structure, stylobate, order, architrave, firmitas, utilitas, venustas, etc.).
• Activist organizations: Activist organizations like Amnesty International, the Global Fund for Women, the Farm Animal Rights Movement, and so on often exemplify all the common characteristics of discourse communities: they have common goals, purposes, interests, and specialized vocabularies.
• Alumni associations: An alumni association of some university is an example of a discourse community that may or may not have shared goals, but is united by shared interests. Such associations may also be interpretive communities or speech communities, but that does not change the fact that they are discourse communities.
• Professional communities: Any community of professionals whose research area is the same is a discourse community. Porter (1986) offers the example of the community of engineers whose research area is fluid mechanics. Not only is this group united by a shared interest, but also a shared purpose.
• Stamp collectors: John Swales (1990) offers the following example of a discourse community: a society of stamp collectors scattered around the world but united by a shared interest in the stamps of Hong Kong. The important part here is the fact that this discourse community is united by goals and purposes instead of the language they use (speech community) or the way they read texts (interpretive community). “The collectors never gather together physically; instead a newsletter that has a particular form of text organization, making it a genre, which they use to pursue their goals, unites them” (Borg, 2003).
• Military personnel: Military personnel share goals, purposes, ways of communicating, and interests. Communication between military personnel is especially distinctive. Not only do military members have specialized words (band-aid, bird for helicopter, dust-off, hawk for cold weather, and many more), but they also have specialized phrases, codes, and channels for communicating.
• Online political communities: Online political communities often exemplify the characteristics of discourse communities because of their shared interests, goals, and ways of communicating. It is common to see specific phrases or words used by niche online political communities alone, which makes such groups good examples of discourse communities.
• Religious communities: Religious communities may also sometimes have the characteristics of discourse communities. They may be united by shared goals, interests, and sometimes specialized vocabularies.
• Research groups: Similarly to academic communities, groups of researchers or writers who contribute to a particular academic journal are members of a discourse community. They often share a specialized vocabulary as well as goals, interests, and ways of communicating about them.

Discourse Community vs Community of Practice

The term discourse community is, however, becoming less and less popular among scholars. After the early 2000s, it has been gradually replaced by the term ‘community of practice’.

A community of practice is a group that shares “a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015).

The term discourse community fell out of favor due to the various criticisms leveled against it. These include the idea that the term is not precise enough (Wardle & Downs, 2014), and the fact that shared goals seem to not be fundamental for discourse communities (the academic community as a whole, for example, does not have shared goals).

A discourse community is a group of individuals who have shared goals, purposes, or interests, communicate through approved channels, and use regulated discourse (Borg, 2003; Johns, 1997; Porter, 1986). Whether shared goals are an essential part of every discourse community is a matter of debate. Examples of discourse communities include alumni associations, academics, stamp collectors, research groups, groups of employees, members of a family, and so on.

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What does speech community mean?

Definitions for speech community speech com·mu·ni·ty, this dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word speech community ., princeton's wordnet rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes.

• speech community noun

people sharing a given language or dialect

Wiktionary Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

A group of people sharing a language, or a particular way of using that language

Wikipedia Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

Speech community

A speech community is a group of people who share a set of linguistic norms and expectations regarding the use of language. It is a concept mostly associated with sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics.

ChatGPT Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

Speech community.

A speech community is a group of individuals who share a common language or dialect and communicate with one another through shared linguistic codes and patterns. Members of a speech community may have similar speech patterns, vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical rules. They also develop shared understandings, norms, and social practices related to language use. Speech communities can exist at various levels, ranging from small groups within a larger society to entire nations or ethnic groups.

Wikidata Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

A Speech community is a group of people who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of language. Exactly how to define speech community is debated in the literature. Definitions of speech community tend to involve varying degrees of emphasis on the following: ⁕Shared community membership ⁕Shared linguistic communication Early definitions have tended to see speech communities as bounded and localized groups of people who live together and come to share the same linguistic norms because they belong to the same local community. It has also been assumed that within a community a homogeneous set of norms should exist. These assumptions have been challenged by later scholarship that have demonstrated that individuals generally participate in various speech communities simultaneously and at different times in their lives each of which has a different norms that they tend to share only partially, communities may be de-localized and unbounded rather than local, and they often comprise different sub-communities with differing speech norms. With the recognition of the fact that speakers actively use language to construct and manipulate social identities by signalling membership in particular speech communities, the idea of the bounded speech community with homogeneous speech norms has become largely abandoned for a model based on the speech community as a fluid community of practice.

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Chaldean Numerology

The numerical value of speech community in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

Pythagorean Numerology

The numerical value of speech community in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

• ^  Princeton's WordNet http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=speech community
• ^  Wiktionary https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Speech_Community
• ^  Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_Community
• ^  ChatGPT https://chat.openai.com
• ^  Wikidata https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=speech community

Translations for speech community

From our multilingual translation dictionary.

• Sprachgemeinschaft German
• 언어공동체 Korean
• பேச்சு சமூகம் Tamil

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Definition of Language by Different Scholars and Linguists

Definition of language.

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What is the best way to communicate with yourself if you ask someone else? He will reply to you ‘definitely language’ without any hesitation or hindrance. So it’s easy to assume that language is the most influential way to communicate with each other.

But many of us want to answer the question ‘what is the definition of language’? Everybody can attempt this question and answer it somehow or another.

Nonetheless, we cannot find a single definition of language that has wholly explained the phenomenon in that particular question and given us satisfaction and stopped scholars, authors, and linguists from defining the exact answer to that question.

However, language is a complex human phenomenon, as all attempts to define it have proved inadequate. In brief, we can say, language is an ‘original noise’ used in actual social situations by human beings.

Language is a system of conventional, spoken, or written symbols utilizing which human beings are used to communicate.

Definition of Language by Different scholars

Let us now go through the definition of language delivered by different scholars, linguists, authors, and reference books.

Speech is the representation of the experience of the mind. According to Aristotle, language is a speech sound produced by human beings to express their ideas, emotions, thoughts, desires, and feelings.

Language is an arbitrary system of signs constituted of the signifier and signified. In other words, language is first a system based on no logic or reason, and Secondly, the system covers both objects and expressions used for objects.

Thirdly objects and expressions are arbitrarily linked. And finally, expressions include sounds and graphemes used by humans for generating speech and writing, respectively, for communication.

According to Sapir, language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires through a system of voluntarily produced sounds.

The definition of Sapir expresses that language is mainly concerned with only human beings and constitutes a system of sounds produced by them for communication.

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The totality of the utterances that can be made in a speech community is the language of that speech community.

Bloomfield’s definition of language focuses on the utterances produced by all the community’s people and hence overlooks writing. Besides, he stresses form, not meaning, as the basis of language.

Bloch and Trager

According to Bloch and Trager, a language is a system of arbitrary vocal sounds through a social group that cooperates.

Their definition of language points out that language is an arbitrary system, vocal sounds, a way of communication, and collectivity.

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky says that language is the inherent capability of native speakers to understand and form grammatical sentences. A language is a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each finite length constructed out of a limited set of elements.

This definition of language considers sentences as the basis of a language. Sentences may be limited or unlimited and are made up of only minor components.

Derbyshire says that language is undoubtedly a kind of communication among human beings. It consists primarily of vocal sounds, articulatory, systematic, symbolic, and arbitrary.

This definition of Derbyshire clearly utters, language is the best source of communication, and it also portrays how human language is formed and the fundamental principles of language.

According to Lyons, languages are the principal communication systems used by particular groups of human beings within the specific society of which they are members.

Especially Lyons points out that language is the best communicative system of human beings by particular social groups.

A language is a system of arbitrary vocal sounds used for human communication. This definition of language by Wardhaugh mainly insists on arbitrariness, vocal sounds, humans, and communication.

Indian linguist Patanjali utters that language is a human expression produced by different speech organs of human beings.

Through speech organs, humans produce several expressions converted to language.

Encyclopedia Britannica

According to the definition of  Encyclopedia Britannica , language is a system of conventional or written symbols through which human beings, as members of social groups and participants in their culture, communicate.

In other words, it says that language is a system of communication through which human beings express themselves.

Thus, we can say that language is a system of communication or arbitrary vocal sounds through which human beings communicate and interact with each other in their everyday lives.

There are approximately 6,500 spoken languages available in the entire world used by different social groups and cultures.

Bloomfield Leonard (1914): An introduction to the study of language. New York: Henry Holt and company. Chomsky, Noam (2000): The Architecture of Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lyons John (1981): Language and Linguistics: Cambridge University Press. Encyclopedia Britannica: Language | Definition, Characteristics & Change

Azizul Hakim is the founder & CEO of englishfinders.com . He is a passionate writer, English instructor, and content creator. He has completed his graduation and post-graduation in English language and literature.

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Mind blowing thats the thing i was wondering for

Informative

Informative. Thanks

Thank you so much❤️

Thanks a lot but, I was expecting to see the references of each definitions

For me I chose the definition of language of by Aristotle. Because I am more convince base on my own experience. Speech is the representation of the experience of the mind. When there is some thoughts in mind I can express this through words and with the help of action it is more understandable. My experienced in living Italy given me a new understanding about communicating. Because in order to communicate with them I also need to learn there language. It is more easy and comfortable when both person has the same language or they both know how to speak in another language. Thank you.

Please what are the strengths and weaknesses of these definitions by different linguistics

I was asked to write a short review of different definition of language and honestly I don’t know what to write.any help please?

Try to understand this lesson carefully.

Comprehensive and intelligible. Good work.

Perhaps could you tell me who wrote this article and when? I was hoping to cite it in my paper.

SPEECH COMMUNITY

a made of speakers from one community or one language .

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Speech community (noun) definition, meaning & examples.

• the aggregate of all the people who use a given language or dialect.
• a group of people geographically distributed so that there is no break in intelligibility from place to place.
• a community consisting of all the speakers of a particular language or dialect

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Harris Is Not Campaigning with Nazi Slogan 'Strength Through Joy'

"strength through joy" was the motto of the nazi-run german labor front., alex kasprak, published aug. 26, 2024.

About this rating

In late August 2024, several pro-Donald Trump and pro-Russia social media accounts began sharing the claim that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' campaign had adopted the campaign slogan "Strength Through Joy." If true, this would be a controversy because "Strength Through Joy" was a Nazi slogan.

However, Harris had not adopted this slogan. The video evidence shared alongside these claims did not once show the U.S. vice president, or anyone associated with her, using the motto. 

The talking point appears to have originated, at least in part, with video compilations of Harris, her running mate Tim Walz and media figures using the word "joy" in association with her campaign.

Some of Trump's supporters saw the use of the word "joy" and drew a connection to Nazi Germany. Among them was actor and pro-Trump figure Robert Davi. On Aug. 16, 2024, he shared a video on Instagram claiming that "strength through joy" was a slogan adopted by the Harris campaign.

Davi did not respond to Snopes' request for comment on Instagram about where he heard this information.  A post on X resharing Davi's video, however, garnered more than 100,000 views at the time of this reporting:

Another account on X — associated with the apocalyptic Christian conspiracy-theory website Now the End Begins — shared the same claim . In this case, just like the videos mentioned above, the purported evidence of Harris using the motto amounted to a series of headlines containing the words "joy" and "joyful":

No reasonable person disputes that "Strength Through Joy" was a Nazi Party slogan. It was the motto of the German Labor Front — a Nazi organization that replaced labor unions during the Third Reich. 

However, outside of the shared use of the common term "joy," the motto has no connection to the Harris campaign whatsoever.

Because the Nazi Party does not have any claim to the word "joy," and because neither the Democratic Party nor the Harris campaign is using the motto "Strength Through Joy," the claim is "False."

As Snopes has previously reported, two of Trump's former campaign refrains have drawn criticism for their connection to either the Ku Klux Klan or Nazi Germany .

"Conspiracy Theory." Now The End Begins, https://www.nowtheendbegins.com/about/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C-vVjPRxfoH/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

"Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Are Pushing a 'Joy' Campaign. Guess Who Also Had Something Similar? 'The Nazi Germans'   ." Twitter, 17 Aug. 2024, https://x.com/pr0ud_americans/status/1824762804932387150.

Lee, Chris. "Here Are All of the D-List Celebrities Endorsing Donald Trump." Fortune, https://fortune.com/2016/03/23/donald-trump-actors-endorsement/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Shirer, William L. Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. Simon and Schuster, 1990.  

By Alex Kasprak

Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime.

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What is a nonverbal learning disorder? Tim Walz’s son Gus’ condition, explained

Gus Walz stole the show Wednesday when his father, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, officially accepted the vice presidential nomination on the third night of the Democratic National Convention. 

The 17-year-old stood up during his father’s speech and said, “That’s my dad,” later adding, “I love you, Dad.”

The governor and his wife, Gwen Walz, revealed in a People interview that their son was diagnosed with nonverbal learning disability as a teenager.

A 2020 study estimated that as many as 2.9 million children and adolescents in North America have nonverbal learning disability, or NVLD, which affects a person’s spatial-visual skills.

The number of people who receive a diagnosis is likely much smaller than those living with the disability, said Santhosh Girirajan, the T. Ming Chu professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and professor of genomics at Penn State.

“These individuals are very intelligent and articulate well verbally, but they are typically clumsy with motor and spatial coordination,” he told NBC News. “It’s called a learning disorder because there are a lot of cues other than verbal cues that are necessary for us to keep information in our memory.”

People with NVLD often struggle with visual-spatial skills, such as reading a map, following directions, identifying mathematical patterns, remembering how to navigate spaces or fitting blocks together. Social situations can also be difficult. 

“Body language and some of the things we think about with day-to-day social norms, they may not be able to catch those,” Girirajan said. 

Unlike other learning disabilities such as dyslexia, signs of the disability typically don't become apparent until adolescence. 

Early in elementary school, learning is focused largely on memorization — learning words or performing straightforward mathematical equations, at which people with NVLD typically excel. Social skills are also more concrete, such as playing a game of tag at recess. 

“But as you get older, there’s a lot more subtlety, like sarcasm, that you have to understand in social interactions, that these kids might not understand,” said Laura Phillips, senior director and senior neuropsychologist of the Learning and Development Center at the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit organization in New York.

In her own practice, she typically sees adolescents with NVLD, who usually have an average or above average IQ, when school demands more integrated knowledge and executive functioning, such as reading comprehension or integrating learning between subjects. They also usually seek help for something else, usually anxiety or depression, which are common among people with NVLD. 

Sometimes misdiagnosed as autism

Amy Margolis, director of the Environment, Brain, and Behavior Lab at Columbia University, is part of a group of researchers that is beginning to call the disability “developmental visual-spatial disorder” in an effort to better describe how it affects people who have it.

People with NVLD are “very much verbal,” Margolis said, contrary to what the name suggests.

The learning disability is sometimes misdiagnosed as autism spectrum disorder. Margolis led a 2019 study that found that although kids with autism spectrum disorder and NVLD often have overlapping traits, the underlying neurobiology — that is, what’s happening in their brains to cause these traits — is unique between the two conditions.

Margolis is trying to get NVLD recognized by the DSM-5, the handbook health care providers use to diagnose mental health conditions. Without such official recognition, people with NVLD can struggle to get the resources they need, such as special class placements or extra support in school.

“Without an officially recognized diagnosis, it’s hard for parents to understand how to seek information, and then communicate to other people what kinds of things might be challenging for their kid,” Phillips said, adding that widespread awareness is key to helping these families navigate NVLD.

Kaitlin Sullivan is a contributor for NBCNews.com who has worked with NBC News Investigations. She reports on health, science and the environment and is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at City University of New York.

speech communities

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Speech Community (2015)

2015, The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction

The term speech community refers to a group of people who speak in a distinct, identifiable style...

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The first modern speaking societies have been founded in Scotland in the 18th century (1726, by the priest John Henley). People gathered in order to improve their language proficiency and the same time discuss about issues related to their environment. Before the 18th Century, speaking societies were founded in the antiquity, namely in Greece (Athens), Rome with speakers like Demosthenes, Platon etc…Public speaking was an exercise devoted to orators who captured the attention of the city on political matters, while gaining admiration, respect and power...

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6.3 Language, Community, and Culture

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Explain the role of culture in the acquisition of language.
• Describe how language can form the foundation of sociocultural groups in speech communities.
• Describe how people code-switch among speech communities.

While language is critical to individual human thought, its basic function is to communicate messages in human communities. That is, language is fundamentally social. Through social interaction, humans learn the language of their community. And through language, humans express community identity and coordinate their activities.

Language Acquisition and Language Socialization

Imagine that someone handed you a babbling baby and said to you, “Teach this baby the basic rules and values of our culture.” What would you do?

Likely, you’d start by teaching the baby your language. Without language, it’s pretty hard to teach rules and values (unless you are a really good mime). Luckily, babies come into the world with special cognitive abilities that make them ready to learn language. Most babies undergo a rapid process of language learning between the ages of nine months and three years. Babies proceed through a set of stages that allow them to learn language just by being exposed to surrounding talk. Many scholars study the problem of language acquisition , examining precisely how humans manage to learn language in a diversity of sociocultural contexts.

So your babbling baby would probably learn language just by being exposed to it. But what if someone wanted to hasten the process or make sure their baby was particularly excellent with language?

An American would probably interact with the baby in a particular way, sitting the baby on their lap facing them, pointing to objects and asking basic questions in a quiz-like fashion. “See the cookie? Where did the cookie go? In my tummy!” The person might say these types of things while talking in a high-pitched, sing-song voice. Linguists call this type of talk “motherese.” In many other cultures, caregivers do not interact with babies in this way. In some cultures, oversimplified “baby talk” is considered detrimental to language learning. The context of language learning might involve a whole host of characters beyond the baby and the caregiver, encompassing all household relatives, neighbors, visitors, and even strangers. Language is not always “taught” to babies, but is often witnessed and overheard. Rather than quizzing her baby American style, a mother in Kaluli society in Papua New Guinea is more likely to sit her baby on her lap facing outward, talking “for” the baby in conversations with siblings (Ochs and Schieffelin [1984] 2001). In West Africa, babies spend large parts of the day wrapped on the backs of their mothers where face-to-face interaction with her is impossible. But they overhear the talk around them all day long, and people frequently engage their attention in brief interactions. In the field of language socialization , researchers go beyond the various stages of language learning to focus on the social contexts in which language is acquired. As social contexts shape the way children learn language, language itself becomes a means of learning about sociocultural life.

Whether facing their caregivers or facing out to the social world around them, babies in all cultures learn to be proficient in their languages. And yet, in American culture, the notion persists that language proficiency relies on very precise forms of interaction between caregiver and baby, the American model of motherese. Every culture has specific ideas about language, how it is acquired, how it varies across social groups, how it changes over time, etc. These ideas are termed language ideologies . Some of these ideas, like the notion that babies have a special “window” of opportunity for learning language, are supported by linguistic research. Others, however, are challenged by ethnographic and cross-cultural research.

Speech Communities and Code Switching

A ten-year-old girl described one of her stuffed animals as “derpy.” Here is a snippet of her conversation with her mother:

Thisbe: Look at his face. He’s so derpy. Jennifer: Derpy? I don’t know that word. What does it mean? Thisbe: Like, kind of stupid. Kind of dumb. Jennifer: Oh, ok. Like Clover [our dog], when she fell off the couch. Was that derpy? Thisbe: No, that’s not derpy! It’s like ... Mom, I just can’t explain it to you. You just have to know.

All speakers of a particular language form a hypothetical community, sharing a common grammar and vocabulary, as well as a set of understandings about how language is used in different situations. Within this large group are smaller groups of speakers who use the common language in special ways unique to that group. Anthropologists use the term speech community to describe such a group (Muehlmann 2014). Speech communities often have distinctive vocabularies, grammatical forms, and intonation patterns. Using these features appropriately, members of the speech community demonstrate their membership in the group.

The concept of speech community was originally used to describe the distribution of dialects in a language. A dialect is a form of language specific to a particular region. For instance, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, it’s common for local people to pronounce the word “water” as “woohder,” as if it nearly rhymes with the word “order.” It’s also common to use the phrase “yooz” for the second-person plural (as in, “Yooz better drink some woohder!”). Linguists William Labov , Sharon Ash , and Charles Boberg famously mapped out these dialectical differences in different regions of the United States (2006). Over time, a dialect can accumulate such unique linguistic features that it develops into a separate language. Indeed, the distinction between a well-developed dialect and a language is largely political. Nation-states may downplay regional differences as mere dialects in order to maintain linguistic unity, while separatist political movements may champion their way of speaking as an entirely different language in order to justify their demands for independence.

Other researchers have focused on the speech communities of ethnic groups and immigrants. Researchers use the term vernacular to describe dialects that are not necessarily regional but associated with specific social categories, such as groups based on ethnicity, age, or gender. Anthropological research on African American Vernacular English (AAE), Chicano English, and Native American English have all shown how these vernaculars shape distinctive forms of storytelling, arguing, and criticism (Chun and Lo 2015). Rather than seeing ethnic vernaculars as “incorrect” forms of English, researchers demonstrate how vernaculars like AAE are highly structured linguistic systems with regular grammatical patterns and innovative vocabularies (Labov 1972a). In formal settings like American classrooms and courtrooms, these alternative ways of using English are too often stigmatized as lazy, unintelligent, or just plain wrong. Believing their own English to be the “correct” form, authority figures often forbid the use of alternative vernaculars of English and refuse to engage in any effort to understand those forms.

More recent research on vernaculars has explored how speakers maneuver among the styles of language they encounter in their daily lives, engaging in various languages, dialects, vernaculars, and other elements of style. We all use a variety of linguistic styles, and many speak more than one language. Addressing different audiences, U.S. President Barack Obama used linguistic strategies to “Whiten,” “Blacken,” “Americanize,” and “Christianize” his public identity, thus subverting racial stereotypes and indicating his membership in a diversity of communities (Alim and Smitherman 2012). In parts of the world that were previously colonized by Europeans, European languages have been maintained as the formal language of government and education even as most people speak local languages in their everyday interactions with kin, neighbors, merchants, and other community members. In these postcolonial contexts, people tack back and forth between various styles of their local languages as well as shifting between the local language and the European one. Such strategic maneuvering among linguistic styles, called code-switching , is done by people in many difference contexts.

For many people, the style of language spoken in elite settings such as schools and government institutions has the effect of disempowering and marginalizing them. Linguistic anthropologists examine how vernaculars associated with elite and professional groups become a means of in-group solidarity and out-group exclusion. Anthropologist and lawyer Elizabeth Mertz (2007) conducted participant observation in first-year classes at several American law schools, looking at how law students are taught to “think like a lawyer.” Using a version of the Socratic method, law professors teach their students to set aside the moral and emotional elements of cases to view them purely as texts subject to abstract, professional analysis. The ability to master the linguistic maneuvering and arcane vocabulary of this form of analysis becomes a prerequisite for becoming a lawyer. The American justice system is thus dominated by people who are trained to set aside humanistic concerns in favor of textual authority and manipulation. Mertz’s study shows how people are socialized by language throughout their lives, not just in childhood. And it alerts us to the way that language can be used to elevate the learned perspectives of elites, dismissing the moral and emotional perspectives of others.

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The Difference Between a Speech and Discourse Community

Shared Language Usage Practices in Speech and Writing

Ezra Bailey / Getty Images

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

The term discourse community is used in composition studies and sociolinguistics for a group of people who share certain language-using practices. It posits that discourse operates within community-defined conventions.

These communities can include anything from groups of academic scholars with expertise on one particular study to readers of popular teen magazines, wherein the jargon, vocabulary, and style are unique to that group. The term can also be used to refer to either the reader, the intended audience or people who read and write in the same particular discourse practice.

In "A Geopolitics of Academic Writing," Suresh Canagarajah makes the point that the " discourse community cuts across  speech communities ," using the fact that "physicists from France, Korea, and Sri Lanka could belong to the same discourse community, though they may belong to three different speech communities."

The Difference Between Speech and Discourse Communities

Although the line between discourse and speech communities has narrowed in recent years thanks to the advent and spread of the internet, linguists, and grammar scholars alike maintain that the primary difference between the two hinges upon the distance between people in these linguistic communities. Discourse communities require a network of communication where the members of it can be any amount of distance apart as long as they operate with the same language, but speech communities require proximity to convey the culture of their language.

However, they also differ in that speech communities establish objectives of socialization and solidarity as prerequisites but discourse communities do not. Pedro Martín-Martín posits in "The Rhetoric of the Abstract in English and Spanish Scientific Discourse" that discourse communities are socio-rhetorical units that consist of groups "of people who link up in order to pursue objectives that are established prior to those of socialization and solidarity." This means that, as opposed to speech communities, discourse communities focus on the shared language and jargon of an occupation or special interest group.

This language presents the final way in which these two discourses differ: the way in which people join the communities of speech and discourse differ in that discourse often pertains to occupations and special-interest groups while speech communities often assimilate new members into the "fabric of society." Martín-Martín calls discourse communities centrifugal and speech communities centripetal for this reason.

The Language of Occupations and Special Interests

Discourse communities form because of a shared need for rules regarding their use of language, so it stands to reason that these communities occur the most in workplaces.

Take for instance the AP Stylebook, which dictates how most journalists write using proper and commonly accepted grammar, though some publications prefer the Chicago Manual Of Style. Both of these style books provide a set of rules which govern how their discourse community operates.

Special interest groups operate in a similar manner, wherein they rely on a set of terms and catchphrases to convey their message to the general population as efficiently and precisely as possible. The pro-choice movement, for instance, would never say they are "pro-abortion" because the group's ethos centers on the necessity of giving the choice to the mother to make the best decision for the baby and herself.

Speech communities, on the other hand, would be the individual dialects that develop as a culture in response to things like the ​ AP Stylebook or the Pro-Choice movement. A newspaper in Texas, though using the AP Stylebook , might develop a shared language that developed colloquially but is still commonly accepted, thus forming a speech community within its local area.

• Discourse Domain
• Descriptivism in Language
• What Is Language Standardization?
• Gender (Sociolinguistics)
• What Is Linguistic Anthropology?
• Constructed Dialogue in Storytelling and Conversation
• Understanding Dialectology
• Communicative Competence Definition, Examples, and Glossary
• Politeness Strategies in English Grammar
• Language and Gender Studies
• Diglossia in Sociolinguistics
• The Meaning of Linguistic Imperialism and How It Can Affect Society
• A Definition of Speech Community in Sociolinguistics
• The Definition of Sociolinguistics
• Definition and Examples of Linguistic Prestige
• Context in Language

Professor Receives NIH Grant to Study Biofeedback Technologies for Speech Therapy

One of the most common speech errors in English is making a “w” sound instead of the “r” sound. Although most children grow out of these and other errors, 2%-to-5% exhibit residual speech sound disorder through adolescence.

A child using visual acoustic biofeedback software. (Photo by Jonathan Preston)

Research has shown that biofeedback technologies can help benefit children struggling with the “r” sound by making the sound visible. Jonathan Preston , a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the College of Arts and Sciences , is part of a team of scientists awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore the effectiveness of technologies that use visual targets to help people adjust their speech.

Biofeedback speech therapies use electronics to display a real-time representation of speech that the child ordinarily can’t perceive on their own. In this instance, the technologies allow the child to see what an “r” sound looks like on a screen. The child hears their “r” sound and views a visual display of their speech on the screen, along with a model representing the correct pronunciation of the sound. The model provides a visual target for the child to use to adjust their speech.

Preston and scientists at New York University and Montclair State University will compare the effectiveness of these technologies for speech therapy under different conditions. The researchers will also evaluate AI-based tools that could guide home-based practice in tandem with human oversight.

Jonathan Preston

“If we want kids to improve quickly, we’d want them to practice at home,” Preston says. “But they don’t have a skilled speech pathologist available at home to help them practice.”

Many children also lack access to clinicians who use biofeedback methods. AI could help change that. Through the research team’s efforts, an AI-powered speech therapy algorithm was trained on the voices of over 400 children.

Then comes individualized practice. “At home, kids will talk into a microphone, and based on the algorithm, the child will receive feedback about whether they spoke the word clearly or not,” says Preston.

Learn more about the grant on the College of Arts and Sciences’ website .

Story by John H. Tibbetts

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U.S. colleges revise rules on free speech in hopes of containing anti-war demonstrations

As students return to colleges across the United States, administrators are bracing for a resurgence in activism against the war in Gaza, and some schools are adopting rules to limit the kind of protests that swept campuses last spring.

While the summer break provided a respite in student demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war, it also gave both student protesters and higher education officials a chance to regroup and strategize for the fall semester.

The stakes remain high. At Columbia University, President  Minouche Shafik  resigned Wednesday after coming under heavy scrutiny for her handling of the demonstrations at the campus in New York City, where the  wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments  began last spring.

Some of the new rules imposed by universities include banning encampments, limiting the duration of demonstrations, allowing protests only in designated spaces and restricting campus access to those with university identification. Critics say some of the measures will curtail free speech.

The American Association of University Professors issued a statement Wednesday condemning “overly restrictive policies” that could discourage free expression. Many of the new policies require protesters to register well in advance and strictly limit the locations where gatherings can be held, as well as setting new limits on the use of amplified sound and signage.

“Our colleges and universities should encourage, not suppress, open and vigorous dialogue and debate even on the most deeply held beliefs,” said the statement, adding that many policies were imposed without faculty input.

The University of Pennsylvania has outlined new “temporary guidelines” for student protests that include bans on encampments, overnight demonstrations, and the use of bullhorns and speakers until after 5 p.m. on class days. Penn also requires that posters and banners be removed within two weeks of going up. The university says it remains committed to freedom of speech and lawful assembly.

At Indiana University, protests after 11 p.m. are forbidden under a new “expressive activities policy” that took effect Aug 1. The policy says “camping” and erecting any type of shelter are prohibited on campus, and signs cannot be displayed on university property without prior approval.

The University of South Florida now requires approval for tents, canopies, banners, signs and amplifiers. The school’s “speech, expression and assembly” rules stipulate that no “activity,” including protests or demonstrations, is allowed after 5 p.m. on weekdays or during weekends and not allowed at all during the last two weeks of a semester.

A draft document obtained over the summer by the student newspaper at Harvard University showed the college was considering prohibitions on overnight camping, chalk messages and unapproved signs.

“I think right now we are seeing a resurgence of repression on campuses that we haven’t seen since the late 1960s,” said Risa Lieberwitz, a Cornell University professor of labor and employment law who serves as general counsel for the AAUP.

Universities say they encourage free speech as long as it doesn’t interfere with learning, and they insist they are simply updating existing rules for demonstrations to protect campus safety.

Tensions have run high on college campuses since Oct. 7, when  Hamas militants  assaulted southern Israel and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages.

Many student protesters in the U.S. vow to continue their activism, which has been fueled by Gaza’s rising death toll, which  surpassed 40,000  on Thursday, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

About 50 Columbia students still face discipline over last spring’s demonstrations after a mediation process that began earlier in the summer stalled, according to Mahmoud Khalil, a lead negotiator working on behalf of Columbia student protesters. He blamed the impasse on Columbia administrators.

“The university loves to appear that they’re in dialogue with the students. But these are all fake steps meant to assure the donor community and their political class,” said Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The Ivy League school in upper Manhattan was roiled earlier this year by student demonstrations,  culminating in  scenes of police officers with zip ties and riot shields storming a building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Similar protests swept college campuses nationwide, with many leading to violent clashes with police and more than 3,000 arrests. Many of the students who were arrested during police crackdowns have  had their charges dismissed , but some are still waiting to learn what prosecutors decide. Many have faced fallout in their academic careers, including suspensions, withheld diplomas and other forms of discipline.

Shafik was among the university leaders who were  called for questioning  before Congress. She was heavily criticized by Republicans who accused her of not doing enough to combat concerns about antisemitism on the Columbia campus.

She announced her resignation in an emailed letter to the university community just weeks before the start of classes on Sept. 3. The university on Monday began restricting campus access to people with Columbia IDs and registered guests, saying it wanted to curb “potential disruptions” as the new semester draws near.

“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in the community,” Shafik wrote in her letter. “Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters  first set up  tent encampments on Columbia’s campus during Shafik’s congressional testimony in mid-April, when she denounced antisemitism but faced criticism for how she responded to faculty and students accused of bias.

The school sent in police to  clear the tents  the following day, only for the students to return and inspire  a wave of similar protests  at campuses across the country as students called for schools to cut financial ties with Israel and companies supporting the war.

The campus was mostly quiet this summer, but a conservative news outlet in June published images of what it said were text messages exchanged by administrators while attending a May 31 panel discussion titled “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future.”

The officials  were removed from their posts , with Shafik saying in a July 8 letter to the school community that the messages were unprofessional and “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes.”

Other prominent Ivy League leaders  have stepped down in recent months , in large part due to their response to the volatile protests on campus.

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned in December after less than two years on the job. She faced  pressure from donors and criticism  over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.

And in January, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned amid plagiarism accusations and  similar criticism  over her testimony before Congress.

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Rental prices, insulin and grocery costs: Harris outlines her economic plans in NC

At a speech in north carolina, the vice president released her first clear policy directives since becoming the presumptive democratic presidential nominee..

Vice President Kamala Harris visited the battleground state of North Carolina Friday to outline her economic policy plan with an emphasis on cost-of-living concerns.

She said the American economy is the strongest in the world to a modest crowd inside a Wake Technical Community College automotive building just 20 minutes north of the state's capitol building, but not all Americans are feeling that in their everyday life.

That's why she's unveiling an "opportunity economy" as she calls it. The main foundation to this plan, she said, is "building up our middle class."

"The middle class is one of America's greatest strengths," she said.

The proposal includes a ban on price gouging , funding to build affordable housing and tax cuts for young families and lowering grocery costs, among other things.

This was her first visit to the state and first time speaking in detail about her policy plans since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and she received enough delegate endorsements to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Harris nomination NC Democratic delegates unanimously endorse Kamala Harris after Biden drops out

The economy, despite inflation cooling down, is still a top concern for many Americans, as USA TODAY reports. Both Harris and Donald Trump have been focusing on the topic, with Trump rallying in Western North Carolina on Wednesday focusing on the economy, and Harris taking a page from Trump's book saying she wants to stop taxing tips at a Las Vegas rally on Saturday.

Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, who is running for the governorship, spoke before Harris took the stage. Cooper poked fun at how much attention North Carolina has gotten from the Vice President, saying "We had lots of practice at this. This is her 16th trip to North Carolina while being your vice president."

WTK: Harris' economic policy key points

Cost of renting, owning a home : Harris' plan includes building three million more housing units, tax incentives for builders who create starter homes and a $40 billion federal fund for innovative housing methods for use in local government.

Saving to buy a home is an issue close to her heart, Harris said, recollecting her adolescence.

"For most of my childhood, we were renters," she said, until her mother finally saved enough to buy a home.

"It just made us excited that she was so excited," she continued.

She also wants to work with Congress to pass the Stop Predatory Investing Act which would "curtail these practices by removing key tax benefits for major investors who acquire large numbers of single-family rental homes," according to the campaign's news release.

Additionally, she hopes to work with Congress on passing the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act which would "crack down on these companies that contribute to surging rent prices," according to the campaign.

Notably, the Vice President also suggested a policy that would award families up to $25,000 for a first home down payment.

Prescription drug costs and medical debt: Harris wants to put a $35 cap on insulin for everyone, hasten Medicare negotiations and hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for blocking competition.

Grocery costs: She proposed a federal ban on grocery price-gouging, which would have to go through Congress. Harris also wants to give the Federal Trade Commission and states attorney generals more power to investigate companies that break the rules. Along with these plans, she wants to hone in on company mergers that lead to a lack of competition and higher prices for customers.

"I believe competition is the lifeblood of our economy," Harris said about the importance of her policy recommendations.

Cutting taxes: She said she wants middle class Americans to "keep more of your hard-earned money," through tax cuts that will impact more than 100 million Americans.

To do so, she would impose a Child Tax Credit that would give $6,000 in tax cuts to families with newborn children and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Trump attacked Harris' economic track record at his rally in Asheville to a full crowd, blaming rent price increases on the Biden Administration and proposing a 10% to 20% tariff on foreign countries.

"Does anyone here feel richer under Kamala Harris than crooked Joe than you were during the Trump Administration? Is anything less expensive under Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe?" the former president said in Asheville.

And in a news release Friday in response to Harris' announcement, the Trump Rapid Response team said her plans emulate that of a "communist" and that price controls lead to "food lines, shortages, and skyrocketing inequality among citizens."

The state of the race in North Carolina

North Carolina remains in play for both candidates as Election Day draws nearer. In recent years, races have been won by razor thin margins and the state has a storied history of voting red in big elections. Despite the Republican voting streak, Democratic county party chairs have said Harris has ignited a new sense of excitement in voters.

Harris' visit comes days after a Cook Political Report poll showed her leading over Trump by 2 percentage points, which is a shift from months of Trump leading over Biden. That same poll, however, showed respondents were less confident in Harris' ability to handle the economy over Trump, USA TODAY reports.

Harris, and her running mate Tim Walz , will be in Chicago next week for the Democratic National Convention where they are expected to formally accept their nominations.

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Harris to announce 4-year plan to lower housing costs.

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to announce Friday what her campaign is describing as a four-year plan to lower housing costs, including $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homeowners and actions aimed at spurring the construction of new housing, including tax incentives for building starter homes.

Harris intends to announce this plan as a part of a broader economic policy speech in North Carolina. As CNN has previously reported, the vice president is also announcing a proposal for a federal ban on price gouging aimed at lowering grocery costs.

Campaign officials had also said that she plans to address on Friday prescription drug prices in her policy rollout. That had been the focus of a Thursday event in Maryland, where Harris and President Joe Biden appeared together on stage for the first time since the president dropped out of the 2024 race.

Related article What voters need to know about Harris’ and Trump’s economic policy proposals

High costs of housing and food have been some of the most stubborn economic challenges for the Biden-Harris administration, as Biden has received low marks on his handling of the economy more broadly. White House officials in recent days have touted falling inflation but also acknowledged that prices for many goods remain too high, creating a disconnect between bright spots in the economy and public sentiment.

“We hear you. The president hears you. The vice president hears you,” Council of Economic Advisers chairman Jared Bernstein said Wednesday in a White House news briefing when asked about Americans who do not believe the economy is in better shape now than when Biden first took office.

Harris’ plan

Parts of Harris’ three-section plan build on proposals that Biden has already unveiled.

The plan promises to provide up to $25,000 in down-payment support for first-time home buyers. The down-payment support would apply to working families who have paid rent on time for two years, with more generous support for first-time home buyers. The plan, which would be implemented during Harris’ first term, according to the campaign, would also provide a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, something Biden proposed earlier this year.

According to the Harris campaign, the plan would allow for over 1 million first-time buyers per year, including first-generation home buyers, to access the funds.

“Many Americans work hard at their jobs, save, and pay their rent on time month after month,” the campaign said. “But they can’t save enough after paying their rent and other bills to save for a down payment—denying them a shot at owning a home and building wealth.”

The vice president is also calling for the building of 3 million new housing units. To spur construction, she would provide a first-ever tax incentive for builders who build starter homes sold to first-time buyers. She also would expand an existing tax incentive for building affordable rental housing.

“There’s a serious housing shortage across America and it’s driving prices up,” the campaign said.

In addition, Harris wants to create a new $40 billion innovation fund to spur innovative housing construction – twice the size of a proposed fund previously announced by the Biden administration. The fund would look to empower local governments, developers and builders to construct more housing that’s affordable and to support new methods of construction financing.

Harris would also seek to repurpose some federal land for affordable housing, similar to proposals floated by Biden and former President Donald Trump.

The plan also highlights two main proposals that aim to lower rent costs in the US. The first would block landlords from using algorithm-driven price-setting tools to set rents. The second would discourage wealthy investors from buying up properties and marking up rents in bulk by removing tax benefits for investors who buy large numbers of single-family rental homes.

Biden’s proposals

Addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis has also been on Biden’s radar, with the president  unveiling new proposals  to tackle it in his State of the Union address in March.

He announced two new tax credits aimed at improving affordability and increasing the availability of homes on the market for purchase or rent. One $10,000 refundable tax credit is designed to help middle class homebuyers close a deal on their first home. The other $10,000 tax credit is aimed at pushing middle class people to put their starter homes on the market.

Additionally, the president called on Congress to pass legislation that he says could result in the building and renovation of more than 2 million homes to close the housing supply gap and lower housing costs.

Last month, Biden called for  withdrawing tax credits  from landlords who raise rent by more than 5% per year.

The Biden administration has also urged federal agencies to review whether surplus federally owned land could be used to build affordable homes.

Trump touted a similar proposal in two campaign events this week.

“We’re going to open up tracts of federal land for housing construction,” he said in a news conference Thursday. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.”

In addition, the Republican National Committee platform says that the party will “promote homeownership with tax incentives and support for first-time buyers and cut unnecessary regulations that raise housing costs,” as well as “reduce mortgage rates by slashing inflation.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Bryan Mena contributed to this report.

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Kamala Harris Addresses Economy In Speech—Here’s What To Know About Her Policy Agenda

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Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled more details about her economic agenda in a speech Friday in North Carolina, proposing an “opportunity economy” as the Democratic nominee focused on lowering the price of groceries and prescription drugs and addressing the housing crisis with an eye on bolstering the middle class.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, N.C., on Aug. 16.

Grocery Prices: The candidate would work in her first 100 days to help Congress pass a national ban on “price gouging” for food and groceries, as well as give the Federal Trade Commission and prosecutors authority to go after companies they determine price gouge, support small businesses in the industry, take a closer look at mergers between big grocery companies and “aggressively” investigate price-fixing in meat supply chains specifically.

Housing Costs: Harris wants to provide $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time home buyers and is calling for the creation of three million new housing units within the next four years, proposing a tax credit for developers who build starter homes and investing $40 million in an innovation fund to tackle the housing crisis.

Rental Costs: Harris would also expand a tax credit for housing developers who build affordable housing rental units, and is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would stop predatory investors who buy up rental homes and collude with each other to raise rental prices.

Child Tax Credit: Harris proposed giving families a $6,000 tax credit for newborns in their first year of life, and restore a pandemic-era tax credit of $3,600 per child for middle and lower-class families.

Taxes: Harris also wants to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers in lower-income jobs, which would cut taxes by up to $1,250, and has previously said she would continue President Joe Biden’s promise not to raise taxes on American households earning $400,000 or less annually, and does support raising taxes for high earners and corporations, according to The New York Times.

No Tax On Tips: Harris has separately endorsed a plan to get rid of taxes on tips for hospitality and service workers, echoing a proposal by former President Donald Trump—which has been criticized by some experts—though a campaign official told CNN tips would still be subject to payroll taxes, and would include an income limit and guardrails to prevent people like hedge fund managers from taking advantage of the policy.

Prescription Drug Prices: Harris proposed a $35 cap on insulin and capping out-of-pocket expenses on prescription drugs at $2,000 per year on Friday, also saying she would speed up Medicare negotiations on the price of prescription drugs—after the Biden administration announced a deal lowering costs on 10 medications—and crack down on anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry that cause higher prices.

Healthcare: The Harris campaign also announced her intention to work with states to cancel Americans’ medical debt, and she proposed expanding subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans that would save health insurance customers an average of $700 on their health insurance premiums.

Paid Leave: Harris has not released a specific paid leave proposal, but she has previously co-sponsored 12-week paid leave legislation, Politico notes, with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., telling the outlet, “I absolutely believe that when they are in office, we will get a paid leave bill done finally.”

Minimum Wage: Harris called for raising the minimum wage in a Las Vegas speech earlier in August, but her campaign has not specified how high she believes it should be raised.

Fed Independence: Harris has vowed to maintain the Federal Reserve’s independence after Trump said he believed “the president should have at least [a] say” on the Federal Reserve’s decisions, with Harris telling reporters, “The Fed is an independent entity and as president I would never interfere in the decisions that the Fed makes.”

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Crucial Quote

Harris said Friday she’d be “laser focused on creating opportunities for the middle class” if elected president, calling for “an economy where everyone can compete and have a real chance to succeed.” “Now is the time to chart a new way forward, to build an America where everyone’s work is rewarded and talents are valued, where we work with labor and business to strengthen the American economy, and where everyone has the opportunity not only to get by, but to get ahead,” the vice president said.

What To Watch For

Harris said in her North Carolina speech that she intends to unveil more economic proposals in the weeks ahead. The vice president has still not issued a full policy platform or unveiled proposals for policy issues beyond the economy, and those are also expected in the near future.

How Do Harris’ Policies Compare With Biden’s?

Harris’ economic policy agenda is largely in line with Biden’s economic platform, with some tweaks to emphasize causes that are more important to her, like the child tax credit. “Same values, different vision,” a Harris aide told The Guardian. “She’s not moving far away from him on substance, she will highlight the ones that matter most to her.” The initial plans from Harris’ campaign also suggest the vice president plans to be more aggressive in her policy approaches than Biden, however, as polls have suggested voters hold dim views of how the president has handled the economy. While Biden has also opposed price gouging, Harris’ proposal to enable the FTC and U.S. attorneys to go after companies that hike up prices goes beyond what the president has proposed, Politico notes , and her proposed $40 million investment in the housing crisis is double the amount the Biden administration spent.

Harris’ economic agenda released Friday didn’t go fully in depth about her proposals, which The New York Times reports is by design. The Times reported prior to Harris’ speech that the Harris campaign has adopted a “strategic vagueness” for her economic proposals, believing that being more of a “blank slate” will help ward off attacks and attract more support from business groups.

How Do Harris’ Policies Compare With Trump’s?

Trump’s economic agenda is largely focused on raising tariffs on imported goods, which Harris has said she opposes. The ex-president has also called for cutting taxes and regulations in hopes of lowering inflation, including lowering the corporate tax rate, and has encouraged increasing oil production in order to lower energy prices. In addition to his “no tax on tips” proposal that Harris has also endorsed, Trump has called for ending taxes on Social Security benefits, which Harris has not yet responded to. Experts believe the ex-president’s proposal could speed up Social Security and Medicare becoming insolvent, with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projecting exempting taxes on benefits would result in Social Security and Medicare receiving $1.6 trillion less in revenue between 2026 and 2035. The Trump campaign opposed reports of Harris’ economic proposals Wednesday, with spokesperson Steven Cheung saying in a statement, “Kamala Harris can’t hide from her disastrous record of skyrocketing inflation … Americans are struggling under the Biden-Harris economy, and now she wants to gaslight them into believing her bald-faced lies.”

42%. That’s the share of voters who trust Harris more to handle the economy, according to a Financial Times/University of Michigan poll released Sunday, versus 41% who trust Trump more. That’s down from Trump holding a six-point lead over Biden in July, though the poll also showed 42% believe a Trump presidency would leave them better off financially, while only 33% said the same for Harris.

Key Background

Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in July after Biden stepped down suddenly from the presidential race, following weeks of pressure over mounting concerns about his mental fitness. While the vice president has quickly garnered Democrats’ support and risen in the polls, Harris has released few concrete policy proposals in the first few weeks of her campaign—drawing some criticism as a result—with her speech Friday expected to be the most substantive remarks she’s given on policy so far. Her focus on the economy comes as polling has repeatedly shown it’s the most important issue to voters in this election cycle, with the vice president hoping to attract support amid low approval ratings for Biden’s handling of the economy. Harris’ speech also comes days after news that inflation fell in July to its lowest point in more than three years, with federal data released Wednesday showing inflation at 2.9% in July, the first time it’s been below 3% since March 2021.

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Former prime minister John Howard defends NT Intervention after police commissioner apology speech

Former Australian prime minister John Howard has defended the 2007 NT Emergency Response, following a landmark speech from the territory's police commissioner.

Cultural leaders including Lapulung Dhamarrandji want the federal government to consult with First Nations leaders in communities about future policies targeting them.

What's next?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's office would not say whether the federal government would apologise for the NT Intervention.

It's been one fortnight since Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy apologised for "harms and injustices" caused by the force against Indigenous Territorians.

Warning: This story contains content that some readers may find distressing.

But Lapulung Dhamarrandji, a tribal man of the Djambarrpuyŋu clan nation, has his eyes set on the future.

"I think we are in a new phase. It's 2024. We want our government to respect my countrymen," Mr Dhamarrandji said.

Less than 20 years ago, the NT Emergency Response – colloquially known as the NT Intervention – saw public servants, military officers and police descend on Mr Dhamarrandji's community of Milingimbi, disrupting customary law and causing widespread fear.

"It was a shock for my people," the respected leader said.

"Most of my countrymen took up at midnight to travel by boat to other communities and remote homelands because of that [fear]."

The Intervention introduced compulsory bans on alcohol, gambling and pornography in 77 remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, abolished a community employment program and introduced welfare quarantining in the form of the BasicsCard.

To do so, the Howard government introduced legislation that overrode the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

A fortnight ago, at the Garma Festival on Gumatj country, Commissioner Murphy acknowledged the Intervention's discriminatory effects when he apologised to Indigenous Territorians for the part police have played in injustices against them.

"The Intervention … increased police presence on communities to enforce those restrictions and reduced customary laws and cultural practices," he said.

"Some Aboriginal people appreciated the police presence in their communities and the introduction of the BasicsCard that reduced 'humbugging' of vulnerable people, particularly the elderly and pensioners.

"But many other Aboriginal people viewed these measures as racist and reminiscent of the old Protection Era." 

In a statement to the ABC responding to Commissioner Murphy's speech, former prime minister John Howard has defended the Intervention's legacy

"The Intervention was totally justified because the NT Government had failed in its responsibility to indigenous children in the Territory, despite the findings of a report that that government had commissioned," he said in the statement.

"The Rudd government seriously weakened the Intervention.

"That should not have happened and I stand by every element of my government's decision to intervene."

Communities 'left in the dark'

The Intervention was one of Mr Howard's final defining actions as prime minister, coming just months before Kevin Rudd defeated him at the 2007 election.

Mr Howard enacted the policies following the release of the Little Children Are Sacred report, authored after a series of media reports – including by the ABC's Lateline Program – aired allegations of child sexual abuse in remote NT communities. 

Lateline's reporting has since been called into question.

The Intervention's key pillars continued under the Stronger Futures policy under successive Labor and Coalition governments until lapsing in 2022 . 

In his Garma address, Commissioner Murphy said the Intervention demonstrated police had been tasked with enforcing policies developed in response to media outrage, "regardless of the data, evidence and expert advice".

"While it was welcomed at first, we saw incarceration rates rise and we saw really quick deployment of police," he said.

At Garma, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC's Insiders program that "in general, it's a good idea to acknowledge history".

However he would not say whether the federal government would apologise for the NT Intervention when subsequently asked for comment by the ABC.

Mr Dhamarrandji isn't looking for further apologies.

He wants Western authorities to work side-by-side with his people to bridge the divide between community and government, just as he does as president of the East Arnhem Land Regional Council.

"My people need assurances. We need to know upfront," he said.

"Yolŋu [Indigenous person] to Yolŋu, Yolŋu to balanda [non-Indigenous person] – that's a better way than being left in the dark."

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What to Know About the Democratic National Convention

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, will be the stars in Chicago.

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By Maggie Astor

The Democratic National Convention is almost upon us, following the Republican convention last month. Once it’s over, it will be a 75-day sprint to Election Day.

Here is what to know about the convention.

When is the Democratic National Convention?

The convention will run from Monday, Aug. 19, through Thursday, Aug. 22.

Where is it?

It will be held at two venues in Chicago: The United Center, an arena on the city’s West Side, will host evening events — that is, the prime-time programming and speeches intended for public consumption. McCormick Place, which is downtown near Lake Michigan, will host daytime events, largely official party business and meetings.

speech community : Definition, Usages, News and More

Speech community.

• n   people sharing a given language or dialect

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Tim Walz’s communal patriotism is a striking contrast to Trump's individualism

“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason — we love this country,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at the beginning of his convention speech Wednesday night . He clearly means it — it turns out you can be a skilled politician carrying out a strategy to win an election and also be sincere. In his speech, Walz showed why he offers Democrats an opportunity to reclaim patriotism, and perhaps help redefine it along the way. 

It turns out you can be a skilled politician carrying out a strategy to win an election and also be sincere.

For as long as I’ve been writing about politics, I’ve argued against the idea that some of us are “real” Americans and the rest of us are something else, or that some American places are more American than others. Those are pernicious ideas in a country as large and varied as ours, and one built on its ability to constantly remake and renew itself. But let’s be honest: If we put a thousand voters in a mind-reading machine and asked them to picture a “patriotic American,” certain kinds of people would come to mind. They’d look more like Walz than Vice President Kamala Harris: rural rather than urban, from the country’s middle rather than the coasts, male rather than female, and yes, probably white. 

Problematic as it might be, the fact that Walz “codes” as the kind of person you just know has a flag flying from their porch means that when he talks about patriotism, he might be able to convince some people who haven’t been too open to Democrats to listen. Which is why Walz’s framing of patriotism as community is so important. 

The Harris campaign has put the word “freedom” at the heart of its campaign, and Walz even sometimes describes the campaign ethos as “ mind your own damn business .” But he also talks frequently about the nation as a web of commitments and obligations of care. “The family down the road — they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do, they may not love like you do, but they’re your neighbors. And you look out for them, just like they do for you,” he said in his speech. “Everybody belongs, and everybody has a responsibility to contribute.”

It’s a striking contrast with the Republican ticket, whose understanding of patriotism doesn’t have much to do with neighborliness. Walz’s counterpart, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said in his convention speech that “the source of American greatness” can be found where his family is from in Kentucky, not because it represents American ideals, but because it “is our homeland. People will not fight for abstractions, but they will fight for their home.” But Vance doesn’t have much to say about what it means to live in that home.

The contrast is even more stark when we consider what Donald Trump has to say about patriotism. He has a schtick he does in which he literally hugs and kisses an American flag, which always gets a laugh from the MAGA faithful. It’s supposed to communicate that he loves his country but his brand of patriotism is utterly hollow. America is our team, we hate all the other teams, and that’s about as deep as it goes. Trump substitutes nationalism for patriotism, insisting that love for America is found in fear and animosity toward the rest of the world.  

Think about it this way: What exactly is it about America that Donald Trump loves? Have we ever heard him speak about the extraordinary diversity of our places and people, or our amazing achievements in science and culture, or the majesty of our national parks? Of course not. If you asked him why it is that people across the world dream of coming here, his only answer would be that we have to keep them out. 

And when he isn’t in power, he can’t help but describe the country in ways that drip with contempt. As far as Trump’s concerned, this is a land of mayhem and misery, full of losers and suckers who are worthy of nothing but scorn. And he has a particular affection for those who committed treason against America so they could keep other Americans enslaved.

That Trump can say the things he does and still claim to be patriotic only reminds liberals of how long they have been targeted with accusations of insufficient patriotism.

That Trump can say the things he does and still claim to be patriotic only reminds liberals of how long they have been targeted with accusations of insufficient patriotism. It was particularly acute in the years following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and into the Iraq War, when anyone who raised questions about the unfolding disaster of American foreign policy was liable to be told they hated America and were siding with “the terrorists.” 

Which makes it all the more heartening to see an all-American guy like Tim Walz make a plea for a different kind of patriotism. At the end of his speech, Walz implored Democrats to work hard in the remaining time before the election. “That’s how we make America a place where no child is left hungry,” he said. “Where no community is left behind. Where nobody gets told they don’t belong.” If he and Harris keep emphasizing that this vision of inclusiveness, care and common fate is at the heart of patriotism, they might just convince a few people that it’s about more than whether you hug a flag.

Paul Waldman is a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in dozens of publications. He writes  The Cross Section , a newsletter about politics and culture, and co-hosts the "Boundary Issues" podcast. His latest book is "White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy."

• Speech community

speech community

Transcription.

• US Pronunciation
• UK Pronunciation
• [speech k uh - myoo -ni-tee]
• /spitʃ kəˈmyu nɪ ti/
• /spiːtʃ kəˈmjuːnəti/

Definitions of speech community words

• noun speech community the aggregate of all the people who use a given language or dialect. 1
• noun speech community a group of people geographically distributed so that there is no break in intelligibility from place to place. 1
• noun speech community a community consisting of all the speakers of a particular language or dialect 0
• noun speech community all the people speaking a particular language or dialect, whether in a single geographical area or dispersed throughout various regions 0

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Origin of speech community, first appearance:, historical comparancy, parts of speech for speech community, speech community popularity, speech community usage trend in literature.

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