The current status of Irish English

Norrsken

Hi all,
with "Irish English" or Hiberno-English I refer to the actual dialect of English spoken in the island of Ireland.
The dialect has been studied for decades and has a long history, but the latest researches that I know are from the '80s.
Do you believe that irish english has changed in the last three decades? And if so, how?

LordSutch

Professor Terry Dolan (an expert on this subject) used to make regular appearances on Newstalk up untl a year or two ago. People would ring in and throw all kinds of Hiberno-English words at him, and he would invariably give the true meaning & origin of the word then & there! Here's what Amazon says about his brilliant 2006 book on the subject.

"Drawing on the resources of a recently-established Hiberno-English website hosted by UCD, this new edition of "A Dictionary of Hiberno-English" has been extensively revised and updated. Tom Paulin, "The Guardian" - "Terry Dolan's "A Dictionary of Hiberno-English"...is a pioneering work of scholarship, which ascertains the nature of English as it is spoken and written in Ireland. I see it as one of the foundation stones of a new civic culture in the island." Owen Kelly, "Irish News" - "...Professor Dolan's excellent dictionary, where you find such gems as "hallion" and "at the heel of the hunt" sitting comfortably with the Irish and English origins of much of our speech, is a significant contribution."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-Hiberno-English-T-P-Dolan/dp/0717140393

BrensBenz

English, as spoken in Ireland, has been changed (and changed utterly) in recent years by US sitcom-speak; X-Factor-speak; twitter-speak; Jedward-speak, etc. I always felt that a generation gap was a good thing but, as I enter my twilight years, I'm dreading the prospect of failing to communicate with my grandchildren or, worse still, becoming aware that they are dumbing down for the oldies.

mathepac

It would be interesting to compare Terry Dolan's and Lis Chistensen's books with the current state of the art which seems to be more influenced by English soap operas and American rappers than by anything vaguely Irish or Hiberno-English (or even Danish). http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Glossary-Hiberno-English-Lis-Christensen/dp/8778381894/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1358162148&sr=1-3-catcorr

I know, I know, "progress", evolution of a living language, etc :rolleyes:

Norrsken

Thanks for the contribution!
I daresay, though, that what you have highlighted is mostly a de-hibernization of irish english, due to the american and english medias, rather than new indigenous forms being born. Am I wrong?
I guess I should compare dictionaries to know more.

2rkehij30qtza5

It's certainly changing.

If you even look at the programme Reeling in the Years, people spoke with more clipped accents a number of decades ago.

With American and English TV shows, people are picking up phrases and pronunciations. A lot of Irish will say things like "I'm done" now instead of "I'm finished"...this is just one example.

My own 2 year old daughter watches Dora the Explorer and other American cartoons and I notice she pronounces certain words with an American twang.

mathepac

Norrsken wrote: »

...
I guess I should compare dictionaries to know more.

Maybe you should! :rolleyes: