本科毕业设计the influence of the irish language on irish english grammar英语专业Word文档格式.docx

本科毕业设计the influence of the irish language on irish english grammar英语专业Word文档格式.docx

《本科毕业设计the influence of the irish language on irish english grammar英语专业Word文档格式.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《本科毕业设计the influence of the irish language on irish english grammar英语专业Word文档格式.docx（29页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

DepartmentofEnglish

andAmericanStudies

EnglishLanguageandLiterature

RadoslavaPekarová

TheInfluenceoftheIrishlanguageonIrishEnglishGrammar

Bachelor’sDiplomaThesis

Supervisor:

Mgr.JanChovanec,Ph.D.

2009

TableofContents

References………………………………………………………………………………………………56

Introduction

IrishEnglishissaidtobetheoldestvarietyofEnglishoutsideBritain（Hickey,2007）andbetweenvarietiesofEnglishhasaspecialpositionwhichisconfirmedbySiedmundandPietsch（2008:

87）,“IrishEnglishrepresentsoneofthemostinterestingandintriguinglanguagecontactsituationsintheEnglishspeakingworld.Itinvolvescontactbetweentwogeneticallyrelated,buttypologicallyfairlydistantlanguages–IrishandEnglish…”IfwethinkaboutothervarietiesofEnglish,suchasAmericanorAustralianEnglish,wehavetorealizethatnoneofthemwasinfluencedbyanyofthenativelanguagesofthecountriesasinthecaseofIrishEnglish.NowadaysIrishEnglishrepresentstwolanguageswhichhavebeencoexistingnexttwoeachotherforcenturies.DuringthistimeEnglishoftheIrishadoptedmanyfeaturesofthenativesandthisistheareaofmyinterest.

ThethesisdealswithsomepeculiaritiesofIrishEnglishnamelywiththoseofIrishEnglishgrammarwhichareinfluencedbytheIrishlanguage.However,thisisstillanextensiveareaforstudiesandthusonlysomeofthestructuresofIrishEnglishgrammarwerechosenforthepurposesofthethesis.ThestructureschosenhaveclearparallelsintheIrishlanguagewhich,however,doesnotimplythattheiroriginisclearasisshownindiscussionwithintheindividualsections.

ThepaperbeginswithashorthistoricalaccountofagradualestablishingofEnglishinIrelandbecauseitisnecessarytorealizethatalthoughIrelandisseenasanEnglish-speakingcountry,itlastedforalongtimeuntilthisbecametruth.DuringthislongstrugglethestructuresofEnglishinIrelandwereadjustedtotheneedsofthenativeinhabitantssothattheycouldexpressthemselvesbetter.ThethesisfurtherdealswiththeneglectingoftheinfluenceofIrishonEnglishgenerally:

itwasbelievedalongtimethatIrishmadenoimpactonEnglish;

however,nowadaysitturnsoutbeingcompletelyuntrue.Asisshowninthethesis,especiallyinthechapterdealingwiththestoryoftheIrishinfluence,evensomeStandardEnglishfeatureshavetheIrishparallels.FurtherthereisdealtwiththeterminologyreferringtoIrishEnglishasthereexistthreedifferenttypesoftermsandthechaptershowsashortoverviewoftheirusage.TherestofthestudydiscussesthechosengrammaticalstructuresanddescribestheextentoftheIrishinfluence.

TheaimofthethesisistointroducesomeofthedistinctivefeaturesofIrishEnglishwhichonecanhardlyencounterineverydaylifeandtoemphasizetheinfluenceconductedbytheIrishlanguagewhichisclearlyreflectedintheEnglishlanguageoftheinhabitantsofIreland.

1.Historicalaccount:

EstablishmentofEnglishinIreland

ThischapterdealswiththehistoryoftheEnglishlanguageinIreland.TheestablishmentofEnglishinIrelandwasalongprocesslastingforcenturies.Duringthistimethelanguagebecameaweapon:

itshouldhavehelpedBritaintogaincontroloverIreland.However,itwasnotuntilthe19thcenturywhenEnglishbecamethedominantlanguage.

TwostagesorwavesofestablishingtheEnglishlanguageinIrelandarerecognized.ThefirstoneisconnectedwiththeNormaninvasionin1169whichbroughtEnglishandNormanFrenchtoIreland.ThestatusofEnglishinIrelandwasratherlowthenbecauseitwasspokenmainlybyservantsoftheNormans.ThehighstatuswasenjoyedbyLatin,whichwasintroducedinIrelandsincethearrivalofreligion,andbyFrench（Kallen,1997）.AlthoughtheNormansexpandedinIreland,theirlanguagedeclinedquiterapidlyandtheythemselvesbecamegaelicised（Filppula,1999）orhibernicisedusingTodd’s（1999）terminology.ThoughEnglishmanagedtoendurelonger,graduallyitdeclinedaswell.Hogan（qtd.inFilppula,1999）describesthelanguagesituationin14thand15thcenturiesasfollows:

Irishcamedownagainintotheplainsanduptothewallsofthetowns.WiththeexceptionofthosewhocarriedontheDublingovernment,orlivedinornearthePale,thegreatNormanfamilies,neverhavingbeenEnglish,nowbecamethoroughlyIrish.TheEnglishyeomenandsmallfreeholderssteadilyforsooktheland,goingtoEnglandorthePale.

TheareaofthePale（seeFigure1below）wasimportantforthesurvivalofEnglishinIreland.ItistheonlyareainIrelandwhereEnglishinfluencewasuninterruptedsincetheNormaninvasionsandthustheEnglishlanguagecouldcontinuetoexistinIreland.However,