Abstract
This thesis examines evidence for dialectal variation in the lect of Irish historically spoken in South Leinster (Counties Kilkenny, Carlow, and Wexford).The project addresses the development of the complex linguistic history and the fate of the Irish language in the region; including the influence of English conquests in the 12th and 17th centuries and the impact of the English language. Along with the influence of language shift, this provides essential context for the paucity and form of the surviving sources.
The research is principally concerned with an indepth analysis of dialect preserved in a corpus of anglicised/trasliterated forms of place-names in tandem with Irish language data recorded in an early 20th century collection: R.A. Breatnach’s study of the Irish language in County Kilkenny. A mixed methodology was employed to compile the corpus.
A key objective of this project is a detailed examination of elements containing the suffixes -án, -ín, -óg, and -(e)ach(t) in the second or final syllable for features of stress-shift patterning. The analysis was completed by making paricular use of: (1) local pronunciations of place-names collected by An Brainse Logainmneacha (now attached to the Department of Rural and Community Development) and (2) a sample of pronunciations of place-names gather during contemporary fieldwork in the region. Other dialect features, such as the realisation of word-final -mh, -bh and the realisation of word-initial cn-, which emerged from the data are considered seperately.
This work highlights the merit of anglicised/transliterated place-names and local pronunciaitons to glean dialectal evidence in the absence of other surviving sources. The study also notably revealed that there is a complexity to stress-shift patterning in the Irish language in the region.
| Date of Award | Dec 2025 |
|---|---|
| Original language | Irish |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Sponsors | Northern Ireland Department for the Economy |
| Supervisor | Mícheál B. Ó Mainnín (Supervisor) & Marcas Mac Coinnigh (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- Irish language
- linguistic study
- placenames
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