Speech blog

1) Describe a small speech community to which you belong: What language(s) and/or dialect(s) do you regularly use (=the code), and what are the social norms for their use? Note the kinds of interactions you all engage in over one “typical” day: What are the topics discussed, the settings, the purposes, the “key,” the types or genres of speech, etc?

My family is part French. Both my older siblings and I have taken French for at least four years. My parents and other siblings tend to use bits and pieces of French in our conversations that add a bit of meaning to our speech. C'est la vie (Thats life) , tais-toi (Shut-up) , comme si comme ca(so so) and other phrases are used just because. We normally say things like this in our home setting when around family or close friends. We do not use these saying lightly. Each one is meant passionately, it is also used more when talking to me or when I am talking to someone. It goes to the same regards to my mother and younger brother.

My older sister lived in Texas for 4 years of her life and now lives in New York City. When ever she is talking down to any of us or if she is trying to explain something to us she tends to speak with a heavy New York accent with a bit of southern drawl to it. She never speaks to either of our grandmothers with her southern drawl but with the New York accent. She uses them to convey a bolder meaning to her words.

In both circumstances, we use our bits of language to emphasize our speech. It would be out of character for any of us to veer from those speech patterns. Meanings and emphasis would be taken a different way. Our speech, which was ordered, would become chaotic. To outsiders our speech can become confusing and misleading. We tend to sound jokingly during our foreign language communication and they can take it as a simple joke instead of a passionate meaning.

images found on flickr.com made by artbymags : http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbymags/1438321943/