Linguistic Anthropology. Speech Community Essay

Introduction

Speech community could be defined to be a system wherein “The speech varieties employed within a speech community form a system because they are related to a shared set of social norms” (Patrick). It is now intended to consider a typical speech community interaction between a boss of a company and his assistant.

Identification and analysis of some of the speech communities

• Participants: Paul Roberts Marketing Manager
• Deborah Talbot: Administrative Assistant
• Scene: Corridor outside Paul Roberts’ office
• Time: 8.25 (work starts at 9.00)

PR: So how are you settling in to the new flat then, Deborah?

DT: Fine thanks, Mr. Roberts.

PR: Redecorating from top to bottom I suppose.

DT: No, not yet — it’ll take weeks to sort out the unpacking.

PR: Still living out of boxes then?

DT: Well, there always seem something more important to do.

PR: You ought to get it done, you know. The sooner it’s out of the way the better.

DT: You can talk.

PR: Pardon

DT: I mean, well, I was just thinking of the move here. You know, the boxes in your office. They took ages to move, them, didn’t they?

JR: Oh, I see.

DT: They do, though, don’t they?

PR: I think we had things pretty well under control. Which reminds me, Ms. Talbot, could you make sure the minutes of that last board meeting are out by 11 o’clock this morning? Make that a priority.

DT: Yes, Mr. Roberts” (“Analysis of spoken interaction”). Apparently this speech community is a boss and his assistant carrying on an informal conversation in a neutral place, outside office hours. A large part of this conversation is light and is devoid of an officious or pompous bearing as is characteristic of official speech.

1. Word or phrases : ‘settling into new flat’, ‘top to bottom’, ‘living out of boxes’, ‘minutes of that last board meeting are out by 11 o’clock this morning.’
2. Person who said these words/phrases: These words were uttered by the boss, Mr. Paul Roberts.
3. Larger linguistic context: It is apparent that he wished to keep his assistant in good humor which explains his condescending, yet cordial tone and speech
4. Larger speech context: The assistant had just changed her residence and was probably preoccupied with this. The boss shares his concern in these personal matters of the assistant.

Members of this speech community are the boss, Mr. Roberts, the marketing manager of the firm and his executive assistant, Ms. Deborah Talbot. The settings are informal, not in the cabin and outside office hours, which accounts for the non-formal tone addressed to, except towards the end of the conversation where the boss assumes an officious tone.

Discussions

Only two people are carrying out this conversation, Mr. Roberts and Ms. Talbot. My interpretation about these speech community deliberations is that up to a certain point, the conversation between the two was smooth and easy-going. However, there are reasons to believe that Ms.Talbot inwardly resented her boss’s overly interest in her personal life, which accounts for her commenting- “You can talk.” This proves to be a turning point in this speech community and her boss promptly becomes defensive. His change of attitude is reflected in his stating – “Oh, I see.” which means that the change in course of the conversation has now been registered. Ms.Talbot perhaps did not wish to develop a non-official conversation with her boss and perhaps resented his over anxiety in her shifting her residence. This may also have prompted her to comment that her boss could talk, meaning that it was easier said than done. This statement proves to be the turning point in this conversation, and from then only, the boss becomes circumspect and of officious bearing. While in the previous piece of conversation, he referred to Ms.Talbot by her first name, Deborah, he now becomes defensive and refers to her officially as Ms. Talbot. Thus, the conversation from this point of time deviates from informal to highly formal, with the boss asking Ms.Talbot to provide minutes of last Board meeting.

At this point in time, Ms.Talbot seems to be more at ease, and promptly agrees to do so. Perhaps, this is the kind of conversation that she expected and welcomed from her boss and which she found more comfortable to attend to. Besides, the intrusion had been forgotten and normalcy restored in the conversation between the two. There are two major aspects in this piece of community speech and they relate to unequal status and official standing between the two conversations, and, more significantly, a change in addressing his assistant from the initial, first name terms –Deborah to Ms.Talbot at a later stage which marks the reinforcement of the superior status of Mr.Roberts vis-a-vis his executive assistant.

Conclusion

This piece of conversation has been chosen as an example of speech community in order to make the necessary connections as to how the pattern and tone of verbal communication could impact attitudes and rapport. The apparent simplicity of the dialogue, however, does not fail to drive home the message that two-way communication does involve a lot more than mere dialogue and its delivery. It is also necessary to understand the psyche and mental build-up of the audience and how this could be impacted by superfluous conversations.

Works Cited

Analysis of spoken interaction, n.d. Web. 2010.

Patrick, L Peter. The speech community: Some definitions. Course Manesials, 2002. Web.