This dissertation asks whether and to extent linguistic meaning is conventional. By combining Davidson's theory of meaning with Nancy's conception of community it develops a model of communication in which the meaning of words is not determined by a fixed set of norms, but is constantly negotiated through a multiplicity of concrete communicative events. By presenting linguistic norms as fluid and contested, the dissertation undercuts the idea that linguistic communities are unified in the way that the idea of convention suggests, thus exposing the extent to which the boundaries of linguistic communities are subject to constant political and cultural negotiation. Chapters 1 and 2 present Davidson's and Nancy's position that is nothing but a pattern of relations between the observable behaviors and practices of speakers and interpreters. Accordingly, the set of conventions we call language is supervenient upon actual occasions of interpretation, and is only a part of the variety of means we employ in order to interpret one another and ascribe meaning to utterances. So while shared linguistic norms are often employed in interpretation, they are not a precondition of communicative success. Chapters 3 and 4 argue that if conventions are secondary to actual interpretation, then the interpreter's first task is to determine constitutes linguistic behavior, i.e. when a pattern of behavior justifies the attribution of intentions to a creature. The question of speakerhood, of makes one take another being to be a creature whose behavior is potentially meaningful and warrants interpretation, thus emerges as a crucial issue. It is argued that speakerhood cannot be reduced to a biological or cognitive fact, but is subject to constant social negotiation, which is concealed by linguistic norms that reify meaning and make the answer to the question what and who is meaningful? seem more settled than it is. By posing the question of nonhumans' participation in communication, chapter 5 calls attention to the need to articulate and examine the various constraints that can prevent a creature (whether human or not) from being considered a speaker, and thus receiving a fair opportunity to participate in a linguistic community.