Hiberno-English
Template:Short description Template:Redirect-distinguish Template:Use Hiberno-English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox language Template:Listen Template:Listen Template:Listen Template:English language
Hiberno-EnglishTemplate:Efn or Irish English (IrE),<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish,<ref name="Christiansen"/> is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the dominant first language in everyday use and, alongside the Irish language, one of two official languages (with Ulster Scots, in Northern Ireland, being yet another local language).
Irish English's writing standards, such as its spelling, align with British English.<ref>Hickey, Raymond (ed.) (2012). Standards of English: Codified Varieties Around the World. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press. pp. 99–100.</ref> However, Irish English's diverse accents and some of its grammatical structures and vocabulary are unique, including certain notably conservative phonological features and vocabulary: those that are no longer common in the dialects of England or North America. It shows significant influences from the Irish language and, in the north, the Scots language.
Phonologists today often divide Irish English into four or five overarching dialects or accents:<ref name="de Gruyter 2004 90–93">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="books.google.com">Template:Cite book</ref> Ulster or Northern Irish accents, Western and Southern Irish accents (like Cork accents), various Dublin accents, and a non-regional standard accent (outside of Ulster) whose features have been developing since only the last quarter of the 20th century onwards. Template:TOC limit
History
[edit]
Middle English, as well as a small elite that spoke Anglo-Norman, was brought to Ireland as a result of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century. The remnants of which survived as the Yola language and Fingallian dialects, which is not mutually comprehensible with Modern English. A second wave of the English language was brought to Ireland in the 16th-century Elizabethan Early Modern period, making that variety of English spoken in Ireland the oldest outside of Great Britain. It remains more conservative today than many other dialects of English in terms of phonology and vocabulary.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Christiansen">Template:Cite web</ref>
Initially during the Anglo-Norman period in Ireland, English was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with largely the Irish language spoken throughout the rest of the country. Some small pockets of speakers remained, who predominantly continued to use the English of that time. Because of their sheer isolation, these dialects developed into later, now-extinct, English-related varieties, known as Yola in Wexford and Fingallian in Fingal, Dublin. These were no longer mutually intelligible with other English varieties. By the Tudor period, Irish culture and language had regained most of the territory lost to the invaders: even in the Pale, "all the common folk… for the most part are of Irish birth, Irish habit, and of Irish language".<ref name="multitext.ucc.ie">Template:Cite web</ref>
The Tudor conquest and colonisation of Ireland in the 16th century led to a second wave of immigration by English speakers, along with the forced suppression and decline in the status and use of the Irish language. By the mid-19th century, English had become the majority language spoken in the country.Template:Refn It has retained this status to the present day, with even those whose first language is Irish being fluent in English as well. Today, there is little more than one per cent of the population who speaks the Irish language natively,<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> though it is required to be taught in all state-funded schools. Of the 40% of the population who self-identified as speaking some Irish in 2016, 4% speak Irish daily outside the education system.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A German traveller, Ludolf von Münchhausen, visited the Pale in Dublin in 1591. He says of the pale in regards to the language spoken there: "Little Irish is spoken; there are even some people here who cannot speak Irish at all".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He may be mistaken, but if this account is true, the language of Dublin in the 1590s was English, not Irish. And yet again, Albert Jouvin travelled to Ireland in 1668; he says of the pale and the east coast, "In the inland parts of Ireland, they speak a particular language, but in the greatest part of the towns and villages on the sea coast, only English is spoken".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 'A Tour of Ireland in 1775', by Richard Twiss says of the language spoken in Dublin "as at present almost all the peasants speak the English language, they converse with as much propriety as any persons of their class in England."<ref>https://www.exclassics.com/twiss/twiss.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF</ref>
In On Early English Pronunciation, Part V, an early dialect study on English, Alexander John Ellis included some samples of Hiberno-English dialect from the Forth and Bargy baronies in County Wexford.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Writing in the late 19th century, Ellis seems to have been unaware that English had been spoken in parts of Ireland, especially in Ulster, for centuries.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Ulster English
[edit]Template:Main Ulster English, or Northern Irish English, here refers collectively to the varieties of the Ulster province, including Northern Ireland and neighbouring counties outside of Northern Ireland, which has been influenced by Ulster Irish as well as the Scots language, brought over by Scottish settlers during the Plantation of Ulster. Its main subdivisions are Mid-Ulster English, South Ulster English and Ulster Scots, the latter of which is arguably a separate language. Ulster varieties distinctly pronounce:
- An ordinarily grammatically structured (i.e. non-topicalised) declarative sentence, often, with a rising intonation at the end of the sentence (the type of intonation pattern that other English speakers usually associate with questions).<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
- Template:Sc2 as lowered, in the general vicinity of Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 as fronted and slightly rounded, more closely approaching Template:IPAblink.
- Template:Sc2 and Template:Sc2 as merged in the general vicinity of Template:IPAblink.
- Template:Sc2 with a backed on-glide and fronted off-glide, putting it in the vicinity of Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 as Template:IPA, particularly before voiceless consonants.
- Template:Sc2 as Template:IPAblink, though nowadays commonly Template:IPAblink or even Template:IPAblink when in a closed syllable.
- Template:Sc2, almost always, as a slightly raised monophthong Template:IPA.
- A lack of Happy-tensing; with the final vowel of happy, holy, money, etc. as Template:IPAblink.
- Syllable-final Template:IPA occasionally as "dark Template:IPAblink", though especially before a consonant.
Western and Southern Irish English
[edit]Western and Southern Irish English is a collection of broad varieties of Ireland's West Region and Southern Region. Accents of both regions are known for:
- The backing and slight lowering of Template:Sc2 towards Template:IPA.
- The more open starting point for Template:Sc2 and Template:Sc2 of Template:IPA and Template:IPA, respectively.
- The preservation of Template:Sc2 as monophthongal Template:IPAblink.
- Template:IPA and Template:IPA, respectively, as Template:IPA and Template:IPA.
- In the West, Template:IPA and Template:IPA may respectively be pronounced by very conservative speakers as Template:IPA and Template:IPA before a consonant, so fist sounds like fished, castle like Cashel, and arrest like "arresht".<ref>Wells, 1982, p. 433.</ref>
The subset, South-West Irish English (often known, by specific county, as Cork English, Kerry English, or Limerick English), features two additional defining characteristics of its own. One is the pin–pen merger:<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> the raising of dress to Template:IPA when before Template:IPA or Template:IPA (as in again or pen). The other is the intonation pattern of a slightly higher pitch followed by a significant drop in pitch on stressed long-vowel syllables (across multiple syllables or even within a single one),<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> which is popularly heard in rapid conversation, by speakers of other English dialects, as a noticeable kind of undulating "sing-song" pattern.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Dublin English
[edit]Template:Main Dublin English is highly internally diverse and refers collectively to the Irish English varieties immediately surrounding and within the metropolitan area of Dublin. Modern-day Dublin English largely lies on a phonological continuum, ranging from a more traditional, lower-prestige, local urban accent on the one end, to a more recently developing, higher-prestige, non-local, regional and even supra-regional accent on the other end. Most of the latter characteristics of Dublin English first emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="Dartspeak">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
The accent that most strongly uses the traditional working-class features has been labelled by the linguist Raymond Hickey as "local Dublin English". Most speakers from Dublin and its suburbs, have accent features falling variously along the entire middle, as well as the newer end of the spectrum, which together form what is called "non-local Dublin English". It is spoken by middle- and upper-class natives of Dublin and the greater eastern Irish region surrounding the city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the most general terms, all varieties of Dublin English have the following identifying sounds that are often distinct from the rest of Ireland, pronouncing:
- Template:Sc2 as fronted or raised Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 as retracted or centralised Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 as a diphthong in the range (local to non-local) of Template:IPA.
Local Dublin English
[edit]Local Dublin English (or popular Dublin English) is a traditional, broad, working-class variety spoken in the Republic of Ireland's capital city of Dublin. It is the only Irish English variety that in earlier history was non-rhotic; however, it is today weakly rhotic.<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref name="de Gruyter 2004 91">Template:Harvnb</ref> Known for diphthongisation of the Template:Sc2 and Template:Sc2 vowels, the local Dublin accent is also known for a phenomenon called "vowel breaking", in which Template:Sc2, Template:Sc2, Template:Sc2 and Template:Sc2 in closed syllables are "broken" into two syllables, approximating Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA, respectively.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Advanced Dublin English
[edit]Evolving as a fashionable outgrowth of the mainstream non-local Dublin English, advanced Dublin English, also new Dublin English or formerly fashionable Dublin English, is a youthful variety that originally began in the early 1990s among the "avant-garde" and now those aspiring to a non-local "urban sophistication".<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Advanced Dublin English itself, first associated with affluent and middle-class inhabitants of southside Dublin, is probably now spoken by a majority of Dubliners born since the 1980s.<ref name="Dartspeak"/>
Advanced Dublin English can have a fur–fair merger, horse–hoarse, and witch–which mergers, while resisting the traditionally Irish English cot–caught merger. This accent has since spread south to parts of east County Wicklow, west to parts of north County Kildare and parts of south County Meath. The accent can be heard among the middle to upper classes in most major cities in the Republic today.
Standard Irish English
[edit]Supraregional Southern Irish English, sometimes, simply Supraregional Irish English or Standard Irish English,<ref>Hickey, Raymond (ed.), 2012, pp. 99–100.</ref> refers to a variety spoken particularly by educated and middle- or higher-class Irish people, crossing regional boundaries throughout all of the Republic of Ireland, except the north. A mainstream middle-class variety of Dublin English of the early- to mid-twentieth century is the direct influence and catalyst for this variety,<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> coming about by the suppression of certain markedly Irish features, and retention of other Irish features, as well as the adoption of certain standard British (i.e., non-Irish) features.<ref>Hickey, Raymond (ed.), 2012, p. 102.</ref>
The result is a configuration of features that is still unique. In other words, this accent is not simply a wholesale shift towards British English. Most speakers born in the 1980s or later are showing fewer features of this late-twentieth-century mainstream supraregional form and more characteristics aligning to a rapidly-spreading advanced Dublin accent. See more above, under "Non-local Dublin English".<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
Ireland's supraregional dialect pronounces:
- Template:Sc2 as quite open Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 along a possible spectrum Template:IPA, with innovative Template:IPA particularly more common before voiced consonants,<ref name="de Gruyter 2004 91"/> notably including Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 as starting fronter and often more raised than other dialects: Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 may be Template:IPA, with a backer vowel than in other Irish accents, though still relatively fronted.
- Template:Sc2 as Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 as Template:IPA, almost always separate from Template:Sc2 Template:IPA, keeping words like war and wore, or horse and hoarse, pronounced distinctly.
- Template:Sc2 as Template:IPA.
- Template:Sc2 as a diphthong, approaching Template:IPA, as in the mainstream United States, or Template:IPA, as in mainstream England.
- Template:Sc2 as higher, fronter, and often rounder Template:IPA.
Overview of pronunciation and phonology
[edit]The following charts list the vowels typical of each Irish English dialect as well as the several distinctive consonants of Irish English, according to the linguist Raymond Hickey.<ref name="de Gruyter 2004 90–93"/><ref name="books.google.com"/> Phonological characteristics of overall Irish English are given as well as categorisations into five major divisions of Hiberno-English: Ulster; West and South-West Ireland; local Dublin; advanced Dublin; and supraregional (southern) Ireland. Features of mainstream non-local Dublin English fall on a range between what Hickey calls "local Dublin" and "advanced Dublin".
Monophthongs
[edit]The following monophthongs are defining characteristics of Irish English:
- Template:Sc2 is typically centralised in the mouth and often rounder than other standard English varieties, such as Received Pronunciation in England or General American in the United States.
- There is a partial trap-bath split in most Irish English varieties (cf. Variation in Australian English).
- There is inconsistency regarding the lot–cloth split and the cot–caught merger; certain Irish English dialects have these phenomena while others do not. The cot-caught merger by definition rules out the presence of the lot-cloth split.
- An epenthetic schwa is often inserted between sonorants, e.g. film Template:IPA and form Template:IPA, due to the influence of the Irish language.
- The words any and many are often exceptionally pronounced with Template:IPA, i.e. rhyme with Annie and Danny.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
Footnotes:
Template:Note In southside Dublin's once-briefly fashionable "Dublin 4" (or "Dortspeak") accent, the "Template:IPA and broad Template:IPA" set becomes rounded as Template:IPA.<ref name="Dublin">Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Note In South-West Ireland, Template:IPA before Template:IPA or Template:IPA is [[Pin-pen merger|raised to Template:IPA]].<ref name="South-West">Template:Harv</ref>
Template:Note Due to the phenomenon of "vowel breaking" in local Dublin accents, Template:IPA and Template:IPA may be realised as Template:IPA and Template:IPA in closed syllables.
Other notes:
- In some highly conservative Irish English varieties, words spelled with Template:Vr and pronounced with Template:IPA in RP are pronounced with Template:IPA, for example meat, beat, and leaf.
- In words like took where the spelling Template:Vr usually represents Template:IPA, conservative speakers may use Template:IPA. This is most common in local Dublin and the speech of north-east Leinster.
Diphthongs
[edit]The following diphthongs are defining characteristics of Irish English:
- The Template:Sc2 diphthong, as in ow or doubt, may start more forward in the mouth in the east (namely, Dublin) and supraregionally; however, it may be further backwards throughout the entire rest of the country. In Ulster, the second element is particularly forward, as in Scotland.
- The Template:Sc2 diphthong, as in boy or choice, generally starts off lower outside of Ulster.
- The Template:Sc2 diphthong, as in rain or bay, is most commonly realised as monophthongal Template:IPAblink. The words gave and came often have Template:IPA instead, i.e. rhyme with "Kev" and "them".Template:Citation needed
| Diaphoneme | Ulster | West & South-West Ireland |
Local Dublin |
Advanced Dublin |
Supraregional Ireland |
Example words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | bright, ride, try |
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | Template:IPA | now, ouch, scout | |
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA<ref>Wells, John C. 1982. Accents of English: Volume 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 425.</ref> | lame, rein, stain | ||
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | boy, choice, moist |
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | goat, oh, show | |
Footnotes: Template:Note Due to the phenomenon of "vowel breaking" local Dublin accents, Template:IPA and Template:IPA may be realised as Template:IPA and Template:IPA in closed syllables.
Consonants
[edit]The consonants of Hiberno-English mostly align with the typical English consonant sounds. However, a few Irish English consonants have distinctive, varying qualities. The following consonant features are defining characteristics of Hiberno-English:
- Th-stopping: Template:IPA and Template:IPA are pronounced as stops, Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink, making then and den as well as thin and tin homophones. Some accents realise them as dental stops Template:IPA and do not merge them with alveolar Template:IPA, making tin (Template:IPA) and thin Template:IPA a minimal pair. In Ulster they are Template:IPA and Template:IPA.<ref name="Wells1982">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Rhoticity: The pronunciation of historical Template:IPA is universal in Irish English, as in General American (but not Received Pronunciation), i.e. Template:IPA is always pronounced, even word finally and before consonants (e.g. here, cart, or surf).
- Yod-dropping after Template:IPA, Template:IPA and Template:IPA, e.g. new Template:IPA, lute Template:IPA, and sue Template:IPA, and Yod-coalescence after Template:IPA and Template:IPA, e.g. duty Template:IPA and tune Template:IPA.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref>Wells, 1982, p. 435.</ref>
- Lack of H-dropping and occurrence of Template:IPA where it is permitted in Irish but excluded in other dialects of English, such as word-mediality before an unstressed vowel (e.g. Haughey Template:IPA) and word-finally (e.g. McGrath Template:IPA). The pronunciation haitch Template:IPA for Template:Vr is standard in the Republic of Ireland and among Catholics in Northern Ireland, while Protestants in Northern Ireland use aitch Template:IPA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Syllable-final and intervocalic Template:IPA (and sometimes Template:IPA) is pronounced uniquely in most Hiberno-English (but not Ulster) as a "slit fricative". This is similar to Template:IPA but without the hissy articulation.
- The phoneme Template:IPA is almost always of a "light" or "clear" quality (i.e. not velarised), unlike Received Pronunciation, which uses both a clear and a dark "L" sound, or General American, which pronounces all "L" sounds as dark.
Footnotes:
Template:NoteIn traditional, conservative Ulster English, Template:IPA and Template:IPA are palatalised before an open front vowel.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Template:NoteLocal Dublin features consonant cluster reduction, so that plosives occurring after fricatives or sonorants may be left unpronounced, resulting, for example, in "poun(d)" and "las(t)".<ref name="South-West" />
Template:NoteIn extremely traditional and conservative accents (e.g. Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh and Jackie Healy-Rae), prevocalic Template:IPA can also be an alveolar flap, Template:IPA. Template:IPA may be guttural (uvular, Template:IPA) in north-east Leinster.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
Template:NoteTemplate:Vr is used here to represent the voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative, sometimes known as a "slit fricative",<ref name="Harvcoltxt|Hickey|1984|p=234">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> which is apico-alveolar.<ref name="de Gruyter 2004 93">Template:Harv</ref>
Template:NoteOverall, Template:IPA and Template:IPA are being increasingly merged in supraregional Irish English, for example, making wine and whine homophones, as in most varieties of English around the world.<ref name="de Gruyter 2004 93" />
Vowel + Template:Vr combinations
[edit]The following vowels + Template:Vr create combinations that are defining characteristics of Hiberno-English:
- Lack of the horse–hoarse merger: the distinction is traditionally maintained between Template:IPAc-en and Template:IPAc-en before the consonant Template:IPAc-en, so that e.g. horse and hoarse do not rhyme in most Irish accents, though this is changing among younger speakers.
- Template:Sc2 vowel realised more forward in the mouth in comparison to most varieties of English.
| Diaphoneme | Ulster | West & South-West Ireland |
Local Dublin |
Advanced Dublin |
Supraregional Ireland |
Example words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | car, guard, park | ||
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | fear, peer, tier | ||||
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | bare, bear, there | |||
| Template:IPATemplate:Ref | Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | irk, girl, earn | ||
| Template:IPATemplate:Ref | work, first, urn | |||||
| Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | doctor, martyr, pervade | ||||
| Template:IPATemplate:Ref | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | for, horse, war | ||
| Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | four, hoarse, wore | ||
| Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | moor, poor, tour | ||||
| Template:IPA | Template:IPATemplate:Ref | cure, Europe, pure | ||||
Footnotes:
Template:NoteIn southside Dublin's "Dublin 4" (or "Dortspeak") accent, Template:IPA is realised as Template:IPA.
Template:NoteIn non-local Dublin's more recently emerging (or "advanced Dublin") accent, Template:IPA and Template:IPA may both be realised more rounded as Template:IPA.
Template:NoteThe [[nurse mergers|Template:Sc2 mergers]] have not occurred in local Dublin, West/South-West, and other very conservative and traditional Irish English dialects, including in Ulster, all of which retain a two-way distinction between Template:IPA as in earn versus Template:IPA as in urn. Contrarily, most English dialects worldwide have merged Template:IPA and Template:IPA before the consonant Template:IPA. For instance, in the case of non-local Dublin, supraregional, and younger Irish accents, the merged sequence is phonetically Template:IPA. However, for those accents which retain the more conservative distinction, the distribution of Template:IPA and Template:IPA is as follows: Template:IPA occurs when spelled Template:Vr and Template:Vr (e.g. urn and word), Template:Vr after alveolar stops (e.g. dirt), and after labial consonants (e.g. fern); Template:IPA is occurs in all other situations.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> There are apparent exceptions to these rules; John C. Wells describes prefer and per as Template:IPA, despite the vowel in question following a labial in both cases.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The distribution of Template:IPA versus Template:IPA is listed below in some example words: Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Template:IPA
- certain Template:IPA
- chirp Template:IPA
- circle Template:IPA
- earn Template:IPA
- earth Template:IPA
- girl Template:IPA
- germ Template:IPA
- heard or herd Template:IPA
- Hertz Template:IPA
- irk Template:IPA
- tern Template:IPA
Template:Col-break Template:IPA
- bird Template:IPA
- dirt Template:IPA
- first Template:IPA
- hurts Template:IPA
- murder Template:IPA
- nurse Template:IPA
- turn Template:IPA
- third or turd Template:IPA
- urn Template:IPA
- work Template:IPA
- world Template:IPA
Template:Col-end Template:NoteIn a rare few local Dublin varieties that are non-rhotic, Template:IPA is either lowered to Template:IPA or backed and raised to Template:IPA.
Template:NoteThe distinction between Template:IPA and Template:IPA is widely preserved in Ireland, so that, for example, horse and hoarse are not merged in most Irish English dialects; however, they are usually merged in Belfast and advanced Dublin.
Template:NoteIn local Dublin Template:IPA may be realised as Template:IPA. For some speakers Template:IPA may merge with Template:IPA.
Vocabulary
[edit]Loan words from Irish
[edit]A number of Irish language loan words are used in Hiberno-English, particularly in an official state capacity. For example, the head of government is the Taoiseach, the deputy head is the Tánaiste, the parliament is the Oireachtas and its lower house is Dáil Éireann. Less formally, people also use loan words in day-to-day speech, although this has been on the wane in recent decades and among the young.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
| Word | IPA (English) | IPA (Irish) | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abú | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Interjection | Hooray! Used in sporting occasions, especially for Gaelic games – Template:Lang 'hooray for Dublin!' |
| Amadán<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Noun | Fool |
| Fáilte | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Noun | Welcome – often in the phrase Template:Lang 'a hundred thousand welcomes' |
| Flaithiúlach<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Adjective | Generous |
| Garda (singular) Gardaí (plural) |
Template:IPA Template:IPA |
Template:IPA Template:IPA |
Noun | Irish police officer |
| (An) Garda Síochána | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Noun | Irish police force |
| Garsún<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Garsúr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Template:IPA |
Template:IPA Template:IPA |
Noun | Boy |
| Gaeltacht | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Noun | Officially designated region where Irish is the primary spoken language |
| Grá<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Noun | Love, affection, not always romantic – 'he has a great grá for the dog' |
| Lúdramán<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Noun | Fool |
| Plámás<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Noun | Smooth talk, flattery |
| Sláinte<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | Template:IPA | Template:IPA | Interjection | "[To your] health!/Cheers!" |
Derived words from Irish
[edit]Another group of Hiberno-English words are those derived from the Irish language. Some are words in English that have entered into general use, while others are unique to Ireland. These words and phrases are often Anglicised versions of words in Irish or direct translations into English. In the latter case, they often give meaning to a word or phrase that is generally not found in wider English use.
| Word or Phrase | Part of Speech | Original Irish | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arra<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>/ och / musha / yerra<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | Interjection | Template:Lang / (conjunction of Template:Lang) | "Yerra, sure if it rains, it rains." |
| Bockety<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Adjective | Template:Lang (lame) | Unsteady, wobbly, broken |
| Boreen | Noun | Template:Lang | Small rural road or track |
| Ceili/Ceilidh Template:IPA<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | Template:Lang | Music and dancing session, especially of traditional music |
| Colleen | Noun | Template:Lang | Girl, young woman |
| Fooster | Verb | Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | to busy oneself in a restless way, fidget |
| Gansey<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | Noun | Template:Lang<ref>The form gansey Template:Webarchive, from Garnsey, a form of Guernsey, where the style of fisherman's jersey originated.</ref> | Jumper (Sweater) |
| Give out<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Verb | Template:Lang | Tell off, reprimand<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Gob<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> | Noun | Template:Lang | Animal's mouth/beak (Template:Lang = human mouth) |
| Gombeen<ref name="auto"/> | Noun | Template:Lang | Money lender, profiteer. Usually in the phrase 'Gombeen man' |
| Guards<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Template:Lang | Police |
| Jackeen<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:IPA | Noun | Nickname for John (i.e. Jack) combined with Irish diminutive suffix Template:Lang | A mildly pejorative term for someone from Dublin. Also 'a self-assertive worthless fellow'.<ref name="oed">Template:Cite web</ref> Derived from a person who followed the Union Jack during British rule after 1801, a Dublin man who supported the crown. (See also Shoneen.) |
| Shoneen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | Template:Lang (diminutive of Template:Lang 'John') | An Irishman who imitates English ways (See also Jackeen.) |
| Sleeveen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | Template:Lang | An untrustworthy, cunning person |
| Soft day<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Phrase | Template:Lang (lit.) | Overcast day (light drizzle/mist) |
Derived words from Old and Middle English
[edit]Another class of vocabulary found in Hiberno-English are words and phrases common in Old and Middle English, but which have since become obscure or obsolete in the modern English language generally. Hiberno-English has also developed particular meanings for words that are still in common use in English generally.
| Word | Part of speech | Meaning | Origin/notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amn't<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Verb | "Am not" or used instead of "aren't" | |
| Childer<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Child | Survives from Old English, genitive plural of 'child'<ref>New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd ed. via Apple Mac Dictionary</ref> |
| Cop-on<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun, Verb | shrewdness, intelligence, being 'street-wise'<ref name="auto"/> | Middle English from French Template:Lang 'arrest' |
| Craic / Crack<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:IPA | Noun | Fun, entertainment. Generally nowTemplate:Citation needed with the Gaelic spelling in the phrase – 'have the craic' from earlier usage in Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England with spelling 'crack' in the sense 'gossip, chat' | Old English Template:Lang via Ulster-Scots into modern Hiberno-English, then given Gaelic spelling<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Devil<ref>Old English deofol Template:Webarchive</ref> | Noun | Curse (e.g., "Devil take him")<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Cf. Scots deil tak... Template:Webarchive</ref> Negation (e.g., for none, "Devil a bit")<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Cf. Scots deil a bit Template:Webarchive. Also in A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
by Eric Partridge.</ref> || middle English | |
| Eejit<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:IPA | Noun | Irish (and Scots) version of 'idiot', meaning foolish person<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | English from Latin Template:Lang; has found some modern currency in England through the broadcasts of Terry Wogan |
| Hames<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | a mess, used in the phrase 'make a hames of'<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Middle English from Dutch |
| Grinds<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Private tuition<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Old English Template:Lang |
| Jaded<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Adjective | physically tired, exhausted<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Not in the sense of bored, unenthusiastic, 'tired of' something | Middle English Template:Lang |
| Kip<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | Unpleasant, dirty or sordid place<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 18th-century English for brothel |
| Mitch | Verb | to play truant<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Middle English |
| Sliced pan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | (Sliced) loaf of bread | Possibly derived from the French Template:Lang 'bread' or the pan it was baked in. |
| Yoke<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Thing, object, gadget<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Old English Template:Lang |
| Wagon/Waggon<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | an unpleasant or unlikable woman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Middle English |
| Whisht<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Interjection | Be quiet<ref>The Irish Template:Lang meaning 'be quiet', is an unlikely source since the word is known throughout England and Scotland where it derives from early Middle English Template:Lang Template:Webarchive (cf. Middle English Template:Lang Template:Webarchive and Scots Template:Lang Template:Webarchive)</ref> (Also common in Northern England and Scotland) | Middle English |
Other words
[edit]In addition to the three groups above, there are also additional words and phrases whose origin is disputed or unknown. While this group may not be unique to Ireland, their usage is not widespread, and could be seen as characteristic of Irish English.
| Word | Part of speech | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acting the maggot<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Phrase | To behave in an obstreperous or obstinate manner | |
| Banjaxed<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Verb | Broken, ruined, or rendered incapable of use. Equivalent in meaning to the German Template:Lang | |
| Bogger | Noun | Someone from the countryside or near a bog | |
| Bowsie<ref name="auto"/> | Noun | a rough or unruly person. Cf. Scots Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Bleb<ref name="Dolan2004">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Cf. Scots blab/bleb Template:Webarchive</ref> | Noun, verb | blister; to bubble up, come out in blisters | |
| Bucklepper<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | An overactive, overconfident person from the verb, to bucklep (leap like a buck) | Used by Patrick Kavanagh and Seamus Heaney<ref>Terence Brown, The Literature of Ireland: Culture and Criticism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p.261; James Fenton, "Against Fakery: Kingsley Amis" in The Movement Reconsidered: Larkin, Amis, Gunn, Davie and their Contemporaries, (Oxford: OUP, 2009), p.107</ref> |
| Chiseler<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | Noun | Child | |
| Cod<ref name="auto"/> | Noun | Foolish person | Usually in phrases like 'acting the cod', 'making a cod of himself'. Can also be used as a verb, 'I was only codding him' |
| Culchie<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Noun | Person from the countryside | |
| Delph<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Dishware | From the name of the original source of supply, Delft in the Netherlands. See Delftware. |
| Feck | Verb, interjection | an attenuated alternative/minced oath | "Feck it!", "Feck off"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Gurrier<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | a tough or unruly young man<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | perhaps from French Template:Lang 'warrior', or else from 'gur cake' a pastry previously associated with street urchins. Cf. Scots Gurry<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Jacks | Noun | Bathroom/toilet | Similar to "jakes" as used in 16th-century England. Still in everyday use, particularly in Dublin. |
| Messages | Noun | Groceries | |
| Minerals<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Soft drinks | From mineral Waters |
| Mot | Noun | Girl or young woman, girlfriend | From Irish Template:Lang 'good', i.e. good-looking.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Press<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Cupboard | Similarly, hotpress in Ireland means airing-cupboard. Press is an old word for cupboard in Scotland and Northern England. |
| Rake | Noun | many or a lot. Often in the phrase 'a rake of pints'. Cf. Scots Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Runners<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Noun | Trainers/sneakers | Also 'teckies' or 'tackies', especially in and around Limerick. |
| Sallow | Adjective | Of a tan colour, associated with people from southern Europe or East Asia. | |
| Shops | Noun | Newsagents (or small supermarket) | E.g. "I'm going to the shops, do you want anything?" |
| Shore<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | Noun | Stormdrain or Gutter. Cf. Scots Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Wet the tea<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>/The tea is wet<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | Phrase | Make the tea/the tea is made |
Grammar and syntax
[edit]The syntax of the Irish language is quite different from that of English. Various aspects of Irish syntax have influenced Hiberno-English, though many of these idiosyncrasies are disappearing in suburban areas and among the younger population.
Another feature of Hiberno-English that sets it apart is the retention of words and phrases from Old and Middle English that are not retained otherwise in Modern English.
From Irish
[edit]Reduplication
[edit]Reduplication is an alleged trait of Hiberno-English strongly associated with Stage Irish and Hollywood films.
- the Irish Template:Lang corresponds to English 'at all', so the stronger Template:Lang gives rise to the form "at all at all".
- "I've no time at all at all."
- Template:Lang (lit. 'on fear that ...') means 'in case ...'. The variant Template:Lang, (lit. 'on fear of fear') implies the circumstances are more unlikely. The corresponding Hiberno-English phrases are 'to be sure' and the very rarely used "to be sure to be sure". In this context, these are not, as might be thought, disjuncts meaning "certainly"; they could better be translated 'in case' and 'just in case'. Nowadays normally spoken with conscious levity.
- "I brought some cash in case I saw a bargain, and my credit card to be sure to be sure."
Yes and no
[edit]Irish has no words that directly translate as 'yes' or 'no', and instead repeats the verb used in the question, negated if necessary, to answer. Hiberno-English uses "yes" and "no" less frequently than other English dialects as speakers can repeat the verb, positively or negatively, instead of (or in redundant addition to) using "yes" or "no".
- "Are you coming home soon?" – "I am."
- "Is your mobile charged?" – "It isn't."
This is not limited only to the verb to be: it is also used with to have when used as an auxiliary; and, with other verbs, the verb to do is used. This is most commonly used for intensification, especially in Ulster English.
- "This is strong stuff, so it is."
- "We won the game, so we did."
Recent past construction
[edit]Irish indicates recency of an action by adding "after" to the present continuous (a verb ending in "-ing"), a construction known as the "hot news perfect" or "after perfect".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The idiom for "I had done X when I did Y" is "I was after doing X when I did Y", modelled on the Irish usage of the compound prepositions Template:Lang, Template:Lang, and Template:Lang: Template:Lang / Template:Lang / Template:Lang.
- "Why did you hit him?" – "He was after giving me cheek." (he had [just beforehand] been cheeky to me).
A similar construction is seen where exclamation is used in describing a recent event:
- "I'm after hitting him with the car!" Template:Lang
- "She's after losing five stone in five weeks!" Template:Lang
When describing less astonishing or significant events, a structure resembling the German perfect can be seen:
- "I have the car fixed." Template:Lang
- "I have my breakfast eaten." Template:Lang
This correlates with an analysis of "H1 Irish" proposed by Adger & Mitrovic,<ref>Adger (2004)</ref> in a deliberate parallel to the status of German as a V2 language.
Recent past construction has been directly adopted into Newfoundland English, where it is common in both formal and casual register. In rural areas of the Avalon peninsula, where Newfoundland Irish was spoken until the early 20th century, it is the grammatical standard for describing whether or not an action has occurred.<ref name="heritage language">Language: Irish Gaelic Template:Webarchive, Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.</ref>
Reflection for emphasis
[edit]The reflexive version of pronouns is often used for emphasis or to refer indirectly to a particular person, etc., according to context. Herself, for example, might refer to the speaker's boss or to the woman of the house. Use of herself or himself in this way can imply status or even some arrogance of the person in question.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Note also the indirectness of this construction relative to, for example, She's coming now. This reflexive pronoun can also be used in a more neutral sense to describe a person's spouse or partner – "I was with himself last night" or "How's herself doing?"
- "'Tis herself that's coming now." Template:Lang
- "Was it all of ye or just yourself?" Template:Lang
Prepositional pronouns
[edit]There are some language forms that stem from the fact that there is no verb to have in Irish. Instead, possession is indicated in Irish by using the preposition "at", (in Irish, Template:Lang). To be more precise, Irish uses a prepositional pronoun that combines Template:Lang 'at' and Template:Lang 'me' to create Template:Lang. In English, the verb "to have" is used, along with a "with me" or "on me" that derives from Template:Lang. This gives rise to the frequent
- "Do you have the book?" – "I have it with me."
- "Have you change for the bus on you?"
- "He will not shut up if he has drink taken."
Somebody who can speak a language "has" a language, in which Hiberno-English has borrowed the grammatical form used in Irish.
- "She does not have Irish." Template:Lang literally 'There is no Irish at her.'
When describing something, many Hiberno-English speakers use the term "in it" where "there" would usually be used. This is due to the Irish word Template:Lang fulfilling both meanings.
- "Is it yourself that is in it?" Template:Lang
- "Is there any milk in it?" Template:Lang
Another idiom is this thing or that thing described as "this man here" or "that man there", which also features in Newfoundland English in Canada.
- "This man here." Template:Lang (cf. the related Template:Lang = here)
- "That man there." Template:Lang (cf. the related Template:Lang = there)
Conditionals have a greater presence in Hiberno-English due to the tendency to replace the simple present tense with the conditional (would) and the simple past tense with the conditional perfect (would have).
- "John asked me would I buy a loaf of bread." (John asked me to buy a loaf of bread.)
- "How do you know him? We would have been in school together." (We were in school together.)
Bring and take: Irish use of these words differs from that of British English because it follows the Irish grammar for Template:Lang and Template:Lang. English usage is determined by direction; a person determines Irish usage. So, in English, one takes "from here to there", and brings it "to here from there". In Irish, a person takes only when accepting a transfer of possession of the object from someone elseTemplate:Spaced ndashand a person brings at all other times, irrespective of direction (to or from).
- Do not forget to bring your umbrella with you when you leave.
- (To a child) Hold my hand: I do not want someone to take you.
To be
[edit]Template:Unreferenced section The Irish equivalent of the verb "to be" has two present tenses, one (the present tense proper or "Template:Lang") for cases which are generally true or are true at the time of speaking and the other (the habitual present or "Template:Lang") for repeated actions. Thus, "you are [now, or generally]" is Template:Lang, but "you are [repeatedly]" is Template:Lang. Both forms are used with the verbal noun (equivalent to the English present participle) to create compound tenses. This is similar to the distinction between Template:Lang and Template:Lang in Spanish or the use of the "habitual be" in African-American Vernacular English.
The corresponding usage in English is frequently found in rural areas, especially County Mayo and County Sligo in the west of Ireland and County Wexford in the south-east, inner-city Dublin and Cork city along with border areas of the North and Republic. In this form, the verb "to be" in English is similar to its use in Irish, with a "does be/do be" (or "bees", although less frequently) construction to indicate the continuous, or habitual, present:
- "He does be working every day." Template:Lang
- "They do be talking on their mobiles a lot." Template:Lang
- "He does be doing a lot of work at school." Template:Lang
- "It's him I do be thinking of." Template:Lang
From Old and Middle English
[edit]In old-fashioned usage, "it is" can be freely abbreviated Template:'tis, even as a standalone sentence. This also allows the double contraction Template:'tisn't, for "it is not".
Irish has separate forms for the second person singular (Template:Lang) and the second person plural (Template:Lang). Mirroring Irish, and almost every other Indo-European language, the plural you is also distinguished from the singular in Hiberno-English, normally by use of the otherwise archaic English word ye Template:IPA; the word yous (sometimes written as youse) also occurs, but primarily only in Dublin and across Ulster. In addition, in some areas in Leinster, north Connacht and parts of Ulster, the hybrid word ye-s, pronounced "yiz", may be used. The pronunciation differs with that of the northwestern being Template:IPA and the Leinster pronunciation being Template:IPA.
- "Did ye all go to see it?" Template:Lang
- "None of youse have a clue!" Template:Lang
- "Are ye not finished yet?" Template:Lang
- "Yis are after destroying it!" Template:Lang
The word ye, yis or yous, otherwise archaic, is still used in place of "you" for the second-person plural, e.g. "Where are yous going?" Ye'r, Yisser or Yousser are the possessive forms.
The verb mitch is very common in Ireland, indicating being truant from school. This word appears in Shakespeare (though he wrote in Early Modern English rather than Middle English), but is seldom heard these days in British English, although pockets of usage persist in some areas (notably South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall). In parts of Connacht and Ulster the mitch is often replaced by the verb scheme, while in Dublin it is often replaced by "on the hop/bounce".
Another usage familiar from Shakespeare is the inclusion of the second person pronoun after the imperative form of a verb, as in "Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed" (Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene IV). This is still common in Ulster: "Get youse your homework done or you're no goin' out!". In Munster, you will still hear children being told, "Up to bed, let ye" Template:IPA, although wider English uses similar constructions such as "Up to bed you go".
For influence from Scotland, see Ulster Scots and Ulster English.
Other grammatical influences
[edit]Template:Original research section Now is often used at the end of sentences or phrases as a semantically empty word, completing an utterance without contributing any apparent meaning. Examples include "Bye now" (= "Goodbye"), "There you go now" (when giving someone something), "Ah now!" (expressing dismay), "Hold on now" (= "wait a minute"), "Now then" as a mild attention-getter, etc. This usage is universal among English dialects, but occurs more frequently in Hiberno-English. It is also used in the manner of the Italian 'prego' or German 'bitte', for example, a barman might say "Now, Sir." when delivering drinks.
So is often used for emphasis ("I can speak Irish, so I can"), or it may be tacked onto the end of a sentence to indicate agreement, where "then" would often be used in Standard English ("Bye so", "Let's go so", "That's fine so", "We'll do that so"). The word is also used to contradict a negative statement ("You're not pushing hard enough" – "I am so!"). (This contradiction of a negative is also seen in American English, though not as often as "I am too", or "Yes, I am".) The practice of indicating emphasis with so and including reduplicating the sentence's subject pronoun and auxiliary verb (is, are, have, has, can, etc.) such as in the initial example, is particularly prevalent in more northern dialects such as those of Sligo, Mayo and the counties of Ulster.
Sure/Surely is often used as a tag word, emphasising the obviousness of the statement, roughly translating as but/and/well/indeed. It can be used as "to be sure" (but the other stereotype of "Sure and …" is not actually used in Ireland.) Or "Sure, I can just go on Wednesday", "I will not, to be sure." The word is also used at the end of sentences (primarily in Munster), for instance, "I was only here five minutes ago, sure!" and can express emphasis or indignation. In Ulster, the reply "Aye, surely" may be given to show strong agreement.
To is often omitted from sentences where it would exist in British English. For example, "I'm not allowed go out tonight", instead of "I'm not allowed to go out tonight".Template:Citation needed
Will is often used where British English would use "shall" or American English "should" (as in "Will I make us a cup of tea?"). The distinction between "shall" (for first-person simple future, and second- and third-person emphatic future) and "will" (second- and third-person simple future, first-person emphatic future), maintained by many in England, does not exist in Hiberno-English, with "will" generally used in all cases.
Once is sometimes used in a different way from how it is used in other dialects; in this usage, it indicates a combination of logical and causal conditionality: "I have no problem laughing at myself once the joke is funny." Other dialects of English would probably use "if" in this situation.
See also
[edit]Template:Portal Template:Div col
- English language in Europe
- Highland English
- Kiltartanese
- Languages of Ireland
- Manx English
- Regional accents of English
- Welsh English
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book (Full text not available at this URL, on preview snippets.)
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
Further reading
[edit]External links
[edit]Template:English dialects by continent Template:English official language clickable map Template:Ireland topics