A comparative analysis of noun and verbal morphology in the speech of Irish speakers in the Donegal Gaeltacht and Belfast
This thesis is a linguistic examination of the spoken Irish of two distinct groups of young Irish speakers, one group from the Donegal Gaeltacht and New Speakers from the greater-Belfast area who have acquired their Irish, for the most part, through the Irish-Medium Education System. The thesis will examine the contexts in which both these groups have acquired and use Irish, giving an historical background to the study, encompassing the decline of the Gaeltacht and the use of Irish in the traditional education system in the Republic of Ireland and its growth in the Gaelscoil sector in both states, alongside its societal marginalization in Northern Ireland. There will also be an examination of the causes and structural consequences of language change and the growth of New Speakers in minority language contexts and the discourse surrounding issues of authenticity and native speakers as linguistic models for New Speakers. The linguistic analysis of the speech data collected from the two groups will examine similarities and differences between the informant groups, highlight and examine salient patterns and analyse what linguistic processes influence these.
McGuigan, Colm John
A comparative analysis of noun and verbal morphology in the speech of Irish speakers in the Donegal Gaeltacht and Belfast. This thesis is a linguistic examination of the spoken Irish of two distinct groups of young Irish speakers, one group from the Donegal Gaeltacht and New Speakers from the greater-Belfast area who have acquired their Irish, for the most part, through the Irish-Medium Education System. The thesis will examine the contexts in which both these groups have acquired and use Irish, giving an historical background to the study, encompassing the decline of the Gaeltacht and the use of Irish in the traditional education system in the Republic of Ireland and its growth in the Gaelscoil sector in both states, alongside its societal marginalization in Northern Ireland. There will also be an examination of the causes and structural consequences of language change and the growth of New Speakers in minority language contexts and the discourse surrounding issues of authenticity and native speakers as linguistic models for New Speakers. The linguistic analysis of the speech data collected from the two groups will examine similarities and differences between the informant groups, highlight and examine salient patterns and analyse what linguistic processes influence these.
comparative_analysis noun verbal_morphology speech irish speaker linguistic examination speak irish two_distinct group young irish speaker group new speakers greater area acquire irish part irish medium education_system examine context group acquire use irish give historical_background study encompass decline use irish traditional education_system republic ireland growth sector state alongside societal marginalization northern_ireland also examination cause structural consequence language_change growth new speakers minority_language contexts discourse_surround issue authenticity native_speaker linguistic_model new speakers linguistic_analysis speech data_collect two_group examine similarity_difference informant group highlight examine salient pattern analyse linguistic process influence