Language awareness Irish and Northern Irish English TEACHER VERSION

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Language awareness Irish English and Northen Irish English

Historical context of the English language in Ireland

Characteristics of Irish English and Northern Irish English

Student workbook + teacher manual

Activity

Where it all started:

Pre 12th century: Celtic language ("Gaelic").

12th century: Anglo-Norman invasion in Ireland 

Brought Old English  to Ireland

+-1300: 

Norman control (=blue on the map) over large parts of Ireland.

However, the English King had little control - establishment of "the Pale", a region around Dublin for English settlers.

14th- 15th century: 

Norman control lessened

The Pale (=grey)

English Lords (=blue) in the south of Ireland and in a small part of Ulster

16th century: Control, land ownership and religion

Catholic Ireland was seen as a threat to Protestant England

1542 - Kingdom of Ireland (Henry VIII)

1552: Land Ownership Act - only Protestant, English men allowed to own land (exception: Connaught - green striped area on the map)

Plantations:

1585: Munster Plantation (Mary I)

1603: Ulster Plantation 

Ban on education for Catholics led to "Hedge schools" 

19th -20th century: 

1802: Formation of the United Kingdom (Act of Union) -Protestant control

1845-49: The Potato Famine

1 million deaths, 1 million emigrated

(population pre Famine= 8.5m)

Connaught:  Hit hardest by the Famine

1916: The Easter Rising

1922: Irish Free State (Ulster remained in the UK). 

Linguistic effects 

-From a linguistic point of view, the 12th and 16th centuries probably had the largest impact on the English language in Ireland:

12th century: Old English was brought to Ireland (Normans)

16th century: Increased control by the English Monarchy and Plantations brought Early                    Modern English to Ireland

         -Munster plantation: settlers from the West of England.

         -Ulster plantation: settlers from Scotland.

These locations are significant, as they form the basis for the differences between dialects in Ireland (broadly speaking Ulster English, West Irish English, Dublin English/ Hiberno English).

-Hedge schools led to (grammar and pronunciation) characteristics of Irish being transferred to English

Irish English pronunciation

• Rhotic language- r is pronounced ("wateR" vs British "wateh")
  
• Th: t / d pronunciation (thick=tick, this = dis). No th sound in Irish!
  
•  "g" dropped in "ing" (walkin' / eatin' / learnin')
  
• Final t often dropped
• Melodic: Pitch variations, with a tendency to raise the pitch at the end of a sentence.
  

Many variations in the different regions: Every county has their own accent.

Cork: very melodic "sing-songy"

(North) West: h emphasis / addition to w and s sounds (whist, shpirit) 

Dublin: clear distinction between North (working class) and South (posh) accents.

No standard general Irish English accent.

Northern Irish English pronunciation

• Stronger R pronounciation (Scottisch influence).
  
• Generally more intonation variations than IE. Higher pitch rise at the end of the sentence.
  
• Clipped vowel sounds, especially the "ow" (cow, brown, flower..). Vowels can be shortened to the extent that multiple syllable words become 1 syllable words
  

Similar to Irish English: accent variations between the counties (and also between the Catholic and Protestant population). 

Grammar characteristics of Irish English 

• 2nd person singular: ya (I'll see ya tonight will I?)
  
• 2nd person plural: ye / youse / yeez (Are yeez all going to the party?)
  
• Use of "after" to indicate past tense (He's after smashing the windows)
  
• Use of object +past participle to indicate that something has happened (She has the soup made (=she has finished making the soup))
  
•  It's + object construction to place emphasise on the object (It's to Dublin he went today / It's at the shops I seen her)
•  seen / done instead of saw / did (I done that yesterday!)
• Continuous tense instead of a simple tense (I'm wanting some new cloths).
• (do +) be+ verb+ing to indicate habitual aspects (She does be worrying about the children all the time / He be going to work by car every day)

Grammar characteristics of Irish English

be to + bare infinitive: obligation / intention (he is to go to the doctor)

be after + gerund: something has just happened (he is after seeing the doctor five minutes ago)

Many of these grammar characteristics originate from Irish grammar.

Most of these constructions are used in spoken language. 

Written Irish English tends to use standard English grammar (unless it intends to highlight the Irishness of the text). 

Identify the different accents

Irish English words

Dublin accent: Trailer The Commitments

Northern Irish accent: Joanna Lumley interviews Derry Girl

Northern Irish words