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Percentage of Irish speakers by county of the Republic; the six Northern Ireland counties have been considered as one.
'Irish' (''Gaeilge'') is a Celtic language of the Goidelic branch spoken in Ireland. Although once spoken across the whole of the island, it is currently a minority vernacular in Ireland, spoken in specific communities and most particularly in the officially-recognised Gaeltacht, which exists in six separate communities around the Republic of Ireland. It is constitutionally upheld as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland, and it is an official language of the European Union. It is also an officially recognised minority language in Northern Ireland.
Of the Republic of Ireland's 4,057,646 residents who are aged three and over, 1,656,790 people (40.9%) regard themselves as competent in Irish. Census 2006 – Principal Demographic Results (Table 31). The number of people in the Gaeltacht regions of Ireland is 91,862, as of the 2006 census. Of these, 70.8% aged three and over speak Irish and approximately 60% speak Irish on a daily basis.(Table 33)
The number of people speaking Irish reflects the fact, to a certain extent that Irish is a compulsory subject in education. Outside the educational system, 1,203,583 (29.7% of the population aged three years and over) regard themselves as competent Irish speakers.(Table 32A)
Of these 85,076 (7.1%) speak Irish on a daily basis, 97,089 (8.1%) weekly, 581,574 (48.3%) less often, 412,846 (34.3%) never, and 26,998 (2.2%) didn't state how often.
The 2001 census in Northern Ireland showed that 167,487 (10.4%) people 'had some knowledge of Irish'. Combined, this means that around one in three people (~1.8 million) on the island of Ireland can understand Irish to some extent.
On 13 June 2005, EU foreign ministers unanimously decided to make Irish an official language of the European Union. The new arrangements came into effect on 1 January 2007, and Irish was first used at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, by Minister Noel Treacy, T.D., on 22 January 2007. Since then, it has been regularly used by Irish government ministers.
According to the 2002 Census of Population, 42% of the population of Ireland report having the ability to speak Irish. The Irish government has stated that it is committed to the development of a bilingual society, where as many people as possible can use Irish and English with equal ease and facility.[2]
Names of the language
In English
The language is usually referred to in English as ''Irish'', sometimes as ''Gaelic'' (IPA: ), or in general terms as ''Irish Gaelic'' when discussing other Goidelic languages. ''Gaelic'' is often used in the Irish diaspora. Calling the language ''Irish'' is a precise indication of its constitutional status as the national language of the Republic of Ireland, and by extension, the Irish people. ''Irish'' is the term generally used among linguists studying the language; it is also the term used in the Constitution of Ireland. On the other hand, use of the term ''Gaelic'' acknowledges the language's close relationship with other Goidelic languages and could be considered more endonymic.
Closely related languages which descend from Old Irish include Scottish Gaelic (''Gàidhlig''), and Manx Gaelic (''Gaelg''), languages spoken in Scotland and the Isle of Man respectively, so the term ''Irish Gaelic'' instead of ''Irish'' is often used when the three languages and their relationship to one another are being discussed. Scottish Gaelic is often referred to in English as simply ''Gaelic'' (IPA: or ). The archaic term ''Erse'' (from ''Erisch''), originally a Scots form of the word ''Irish'', and used in Scotland to apply to all of the Goidelic languages, is no longer used for any Goidelic language, and in most current contexts is considered derogatory.
In Irish
In the ''Caighdeán Oifigiúil'' (the official written standard) the name of the language is ''Gaeilge'' (IPA: ), which reflects the southern Connacht pronunciation.
Before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled ''Gaedhilge''; originally this was the genitive of ''Gaedhealg'', the form used in classical Modern Irish. Older spellings of this include ''Gaoidhealg'' in Middle Irish and ''Goídelc'' in Old Irish. The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ''dh'' in the middle of ''Gaedhilge''.
Other forms of the name found in the various modern Irish dialects, in addition to south Connacht ''Gaeilge'' mentioned above, include ''Gaedhilic/Gaeilic/Gaeilig'' (IPA: ) or ''Gaedhlag'' (IPA: ) in Ulster Irish and northern Connacht Irish and ''Gaedhealaing/Gaoluinn/Gaelainn'' (IPA: ) in Munster Irish.
Official status
In the Republic of Ireland
Irish is given recognition by the Constitution of Ireland as the first official language of Ireland (with English being a second official language), despite the limited distribution of fluency among the population of the country. Since the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see also ''History of the Republic of Ireland''), the Irish Government required a degree of proficiency in Irish for all civil service positions (including postal workers, tax officials, agricultural inspectors, etc.).[3] Proficiency in Irish for entrance to the public service ceased to be a compulsory requirement in 1974, in part through the actions of protest organizations like the Language Freedom Movement.
While the requirement was also dropped for wider public service jobs, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools within the Republic which receive public money (see also ''Education in the Republic of Ireland''). Those wishing to teach in primary schools in the State must also pass a compulsory examination called "Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge". The need for a pass in Leaving Certificate Irish for entry to the Gardaí (police) was dropped in September 2005, although applicants are given lessons in the language during the two years of training. All official documents of the Irish Government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (this is according to the official languages act 2003, which is enforced by "an comisinéir teanga", the language ombudsman).
In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde (an Anglican), was inaugurated as the first President of Ireland. The record of his delivering his auguration ''Declaration of Office'' in his native Roscommon Irish remains almost the only surviving remnant of anyone speaking in that dialect.
The National University of Ireland, Galway is required to appoint a person who is competent in the Irish language, as long as they meet all other respects of the vacancy they are appointed to. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). It is expected that the requirement may be repealed in due course.[4]
Even though modern parliamentary legislation is supposed to be issued in both Irish and English, in practice it is frequently only available in English. However, Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" be provided of any law in both official languages—if not already passed in both official languages.[5]
In Northern Ireland
A sign for the Department of Culture, Leisure, and Arts in Northern Ireland, in English, Irish, and Ulster Scots.
The language has also received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The British government promised to create legislation encouraging the language as part of the 2006 St Andrews Agreement. Irish language future is raised
In the European Union
As an official language of the European Union all legislation and documents of major public importance or interest are produced in Irish. Before Irish became an official language on 1st January 2007, it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU had been translated into Irish.
Gaeltacht
Official Gaeltacht areas
There are parts of Ireland where Irish is spoken as a traditional, native language. These regions are known collectively as the Gaeltacht. These are in County Galway (''Contae na Gaillimhe''), including Connemara (''Conamara''), the Aran Islands (''na hOileáin Árann''), Carraroe (An Cheathru Rua) and Spiddal (An Spidéal); on the west coast of County Donegal (''Contae Dhún na nGall''); in the part which is known as Tyrconnell (''Tír Chonaill''); and Dingle Peninsula (''Corca Dhuibhne'') in County Kerry (''Contae Chiarraí''). Smaller ones also exist in Mayo (''Contae Mhaigh Eo''), Meath (''Contae na Mí''), Waterford (''Contae Phort Láirge''), and Cork (''Contae Chorcaí''). However, even within the Gaeltacht areas, the Irish-speaking populations have declined since the Gaeltacht boundaries were drawn up.
Gweedore (''Gaoth Dobhair''), County Donegal is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland.
The numerically and socially strongest Gaeltacht areas are those of South Connemara, west Dingle and northwest Donegal, in which the majority of residents (although not all in North-West Donegal) use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as the ''Fíor-Ghaeltacht'' ("true Gaeltacht") and collectively have a population just under 20,000.
"Caution Children"
Irish summer colleges are attended by tens of thousands of Irish teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to ''céilithe'' and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged.
According to data compiled by the Irish Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, only one quarter of households in Gaeltacht areas possess a fluency in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe, described the Irish language policy followed by Irish governments a 'complete and absolute disaster.' ''The Irish Times'' (January 6, 2002), referring to his analysis, which was initially published in the Irish language newspaper ''Foinse'', quoted him as follows: 'It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but the number now is between 20,000 and 30,000.'
Dialects
There are a number of distinct dialects of Irish. Roughly speaking, the three major dialect areas coincide with the provinces of Munster (''Cúige Mumhan''), Connacht (''Cúige Chonnacht'') and Ulster (''Cúige Uladh''). Newfoundland, in eastern Canada, is also seen to have a minor dialect of Irish, closely resembling the Irish spoken during the 16th to 17th centuries (See Newfoundland Irish) Also, a dialect of Irish that has rarely (if ever) been recorded is Dublin Irish ('Gaeilge Átha Cliath' or 'Gaeilge Bhleá Cliath'), the newest of the Irish dialects, spoken by the younger generations in the Greater Dublin region.
Munster dialects
Main articles: Munster Irish
Munster Irish is mainly spoken in the Gaeltacht areas of Kerry (''Contae Chiarraí''), Ring (''An Rinn'') near Dungarvan (''Dún Garbháin'') in County Waterford (''Contae Phort Láirge'') and Muskerry (''Múscraí'') and Cape Clear (''Oileán Chléire'') in the western part of County Cork (''Contae Chorcaí''). The most important subdivision in Munster is that between Decies Irish (spoken in Waterford) and the rest of Munster Irish.
Some typical features of Munster Irish are:
# The use of personal endings instead of pronouns with verbs, thus "I must" is in Munster ''caithfead'', while other dialects prefer ''caithfidh mé'' (''mé'' means "I"). "I was and you were" is ''Bhíos agus bhís'' in Munster but ''Bhí mé agus bhí tú'' in other dialects.
# In front of nasals and "ll" some short vowels are lengthened while others are diphthongised.
# A copular construction involving ''is ea'' is frequently used.
# Stress is often on the second syllable of a word, e.g. "bio-RÁN" ("pin"), as opposed to "BIO-rán" in Connacht and Ulster.
Connacht dialects
Main articles: Connacht Irish
The strongest dialect of Connacht Irish is to be found in Connemara and the Aran Islands. In some regards this dialect is quite different from general Connacht Irish but since most Connacht dialects have died out during the last century Connemara Irish is sometimes seen as Connacht Irish. Much closer to the larger Connacht Gaeltacht is the dialect spoken in the smaller region on the border between Galway (''Gaillimh'') and Mayo (''Maigh Eo''). The northern Mayo dialect of Erris (''Iorras'') and Achill (''Acaill'') is in grammar and morphology essentially a Connacht dialect; but shows an affinity in vocabulary with Ulster Irish, due to large-scale immigration of dispossessed people following the Plantation of Ulster.
Connemara Irish is very popular with learners, in part thanks to Mícheál Ó Siadhail's self-teaching textbook ''Learning Irish'' but also thanks to the large number of Irish Summer Camps there in comparison to all other counties.
There are features in Connemara Irish outside the official standard—notably the preference for verbal nouns ending in ''-achan'', e.g. ''lagachan'' instead of ''lagú'', "weakening". The non-standard pronunciation with lengthened vowels and heavily reduced endings give Connemara Irish its distinct sound. Distinguishing features of this dialect include the pronunciation of broad ''bh'' as , rather than as in Munster. For example ''mo bhád'' ("my boat") is pronounced in Connacht and Ulster as opposed to in the south. In addition Connacht and Ulster speakers tend to include the "we" pronoun rather than use the standard compound form used in Munster e.g. ''bhí muid'' is used for "we were" instead of ''bhíomar'' elsewhere.
Ulster dialects
Main articles: Ulster Irish
Linguistically the most important of the Ulster dialects today is that of the Rosses (''na Rosa''), which has been used extensively in literature by such authors as the brothers Séamus Ó Grianna and Seosamh Mac Grianna, locally known as Jimí Fheilimí and Joe Fheilimí. This dialect is essentially the same as that in Gweedore (''Gaoth Dobhair'' = Inlet of Streaming Water), and used by native singers Enya (''Eithne'') and Moya Brennan and their siblings in Clannad (''Clann as Dobhar'' = Family .from the Water) Na Casaidigh, and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh from another local band Altan.
Ulster Irish sounds very different and shares several unusual features with Scottish Gaelic, as well as having lots of characteristic words and shades of meanings. However, since the demise of those Irish dialects spoken natively in what is today Northern Ireland, it is probably an exaggeration to see Ulster Irish as an intermediary form between Scottish Gaelic and the southern and western dialects of Irish. For instance, Scottish Gaelic has many non-Ulster features in common with Munster Irish.
One noticeable trait of Ulster Irish is the use of the negative participle ''cha(n)'' in place of the Munster and Connacht version ''ní''. Even in Ulster, ''cha(n)''—most typical of Scottish Gaelic—has largely ousted the more common ''ní'' (except in ''níl'' "is not") in northernmost dialects (e.g. Rosguill and Tory Island).[6][7]
An Caighdeán
''An Caighdeán Oifigiúil'' ("The Official Standard"), often shortened to ''An Caighdeán'', is the standard language, and was introduced in the 1950s/1960s in an attempt to make Irish easier to learn, as it was composed using elements of the Munster, Ulster and Connacht dialects. This is the 'dialect' that is taught in most schools in Ireland.
The dialects of Irish native to Leinster, the fourth province of Ireland, became extinct during the 20th century, but records of some of these were made by the Irish Folklore Commission among other bodies prior to this.
The present-day Irish of Meath (in Leinster) is a special case. It belongs mainly to the Connemara dialect. The Irish-speaking community in Meath is mostly a group of Connemara speakers who moved there in the 1930s after a land reform campaign spearheaded by Máirtín Ó Cadhain (who subsequently became one of the greatest modernist writers in the language).
What has been called "Dublin Irish" and "Gaelscoil Irish" is also spoken in the capital and amongst the students of Irish-speaking schools throughout the country.
Comparisons
The differences between dialects are considerable, and have led to recurrent difficulties in defining standard Irish. A good example is the greeting "How are you?". Just as this greeting varies from region to region, and between social classes, among English speakers, this greeting varies among Irish speakers:
★ Ulster: ''Cad é mar atá tú?'' ("What is it as you are?" Note: ''caidé'' or ''goidé'' and sometimes ''dé'' are alternative renderings of ''cad é'')
★ Connacht: ''Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?'' ("What way [is it] that you are?")
★ Munster: ''Conas taoi?'' or ''Conas tánn tú?'' ("How are you?")
★ Leinster (Casual Dublin): ''Conas 'tá?'' ("How are [you]?")
★ Standard Irish: ''Conas atá tú?'' ("How are you?")
In recent decades contacts between speakers of different dialects have become frequent and mixed dialects have originated. With the growth in the Irish language media—and in particular the television channel TG4—it has become much easier for speakers of different dialects to understand one another, although this is mostly seen in the younger generations.
Linguistic structure
The features most unfamiliar to English speakers of the language are the orthography, the initial consonant mutations, the Verb Subject Object word order, the use of two different forms for "to be", and noun genders. However, initial mutations are found in other Celtic languages as well as in some Italian and Sardinian dialects, as an independent development. They are also found in some West African languages.
Syntax
Main articles: Irish syntax
Word order in Irish is of the form VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) so that , for example, "He hit me" is ''Bhuail'' [hit-past tense] ''sé'' [he] ''mé'' [me].
One aspect of Irish syntax that is unfamiliar to speakers of other languages is the use of the copula (known in Irish as ''an chopail''). The copula is used to describe what or who someone is, as opposed to how and where. It is used to say that a noun is another noun, rather than an adjective. This has been likened to the difference between the verbs ''ser'' and ''estar'' in Spanish and Portuguese (see Romance copula), although this is only a rough approximation.
Morphology
Main articles: Irish morphology, Irish nominals, Irish verbs
Another feature of Irish grammar that is shared with other Celtic languages is the use of prepositional pronouns (''forainmneacha réamhfhoclacha''), which are essentially conjugated prepositions. For example, the word for "at" is ''ag'', which in the first person singular becomes ''agam'' "at me". When used with the verb ''bí'' ("to be") ''ag'' indicates possession; this is the equivalent of the English verb "to have".
| ''Tá leabhar 'agam'''. | "I have a book." | (Literally, "there is a book at me") |
| ''Tá deoch 'agat'''. | "You have a drink." | |
| ''Tá ríomhaire 'aige'''. | "He has a computer." | |
| ''Tá páiste 'aici'''. | "She has a child." | |
| ''Tá gluaisteán 'againn'''. | "We have a car." | |
| ''Tá teach 'agaibh'''. | "You (plural) have a house." | |
| ''Tá airgead 'acu'''. | "They have money." |
Orthography and pronunciation
"Gaelach" in the Gaelic script.
Main articles: Irish orthography, Irish phonology
The written language looks rather daunting to those unfamiliar with it. Once understood, the orthography is relatively straightforward. The acute accent, or ''síneadh fada'' (´), serves to lengthen the sound of the vowels and in some cases also changes their quality. For example, in Munster Irish (Kerry), ''a'' is or and ''á'' is in "law" but in Ulster Irish (Donegal), ''á'' tends to be .
Around the time of World War II, Séamas Daltún, in charge of ''Rannóg an Aistriúcháin'' (the official translations department of the Irish government), issued his own guidelines about how to standardise Irish spelling and grammar. This de facto standard was subsequently approved of by the State and called the Official Standard or ''Caighdeán Oifigiúil''.
It simplified and standardised the orthography. Many words had silent letters removed and vowel combination brought closer to the spoken language. Where multiple versions existed in different dialects for the same word, one or more were selected.
Examples:
★ ''Gaedhealg / Gaedhilg(e) / Gaedhealaing / Gaeilic / Gaelainn / Gaoidhealg / Gaolainn'' → ''Gaeilge'', "Irish language" (''Gaoluinn'' or ''Gaolainn'' is still used in books written in dialect by Munster authors, or as a facetious name for the Munster dialect)
★ ''Lughbhaidh'' → ''Lú'', "Louth"
★ ''biadh'' → ''bia'', "food" (The spelling ''biadh'' is still used by the speakers of those dialects that show a meaningful and audible difference between ''biadh'' (nominative case) and ''bídh'' (genitive case) "of food, food's". For example, in Munster Irish the latter ends in an audible ''-g'' sound, because final ''-idh, -igh'' regularly delenites to ''-ig'' in Munster pronunciation.)
Modern Irish has only one diacritic sign, the acute (''á é í ó ú''), known in Irish as the ''síneadh fada'' "long mark", plural ''sínte fada''. In English, this is frequently referred to as simply the ''fada'', where the adjective is used as a noun. The dot-above diacritic, called a ''ponc séimhithe'' or ''sí buailte'' (often shortened to ''buailte''), derives from the ''punctum delens'', which was used in medieval manuscripts to indicate deletion, similar to crossing out unwanted words in handwriting today. From this usage it was used to indicate the lenition of ''s'' (from /s/ to /h/) and ''f'' (from /f/ to zero) in Old Irish texts.
Lenition of ''c'', ''p'', and ''t'' was indicated by placing the letter ''h'' after the affected consonant; lenition of other sounds was left unmarked. Later both methods were extended to be indicators of lenition of any sound except ''l'' and ''n'', and two competing systems were used: lenition could be marked by a ''buailte'' or by a postposed ''h''. Eventually, use of the ''buailte'' predominated when texts were writing using Gaelic letters, while the ''h'' predominated when writing using Roman letters.
Today the Gaelic script and the ''buailte'' are rarely used except where a "traditional" style is required, e.g. the motto on the University College Dublin coat of arms or the symbol of the Irish Defence Forces, The Irish Defence Forces cap badge ''(Óglaiġ na h-Éireann)''. Letters with the ''buailte'' are available in Unicode and Latin-8 character sets (see Latin Extended Additional chart (see ).
Mutations
Main articles: Irish initial mutations
In Irish, there are two classes of initial mutations:
★ Lenition (in Irish, ''séimhiú'' "softening") describes the change of stops into fricatives. Indicated in old orthography by a dot (called a sí buailte) written above the changed consonant, this is now shown by adding an extra -h-:
★
★ ''caith!'' "throw!" - ''chaith mé'' "I threw" (this is an example of the lenition as a past-tense marker, which is caused by the use of ''do'', although this is now usually omitted)
★
★ ''margadh'' "market", "market-place", "bargain" - ''Tadhg an mhargaidh'' "the man of the street" (word for word "Timothy of the market-place" (here we see the lenition marking the genitive case of a masculine noun)
★
★ ''Seán'' "Seán, John" - ''a Sheáin!'' "O John!" (here we see lenition as part of what is called the vocative case - in fact, the vocative lenition is triggered by the ''a'' or vocative marker before ''Sheáin'')
★ Nasalisation (in Irish, ''urú'' "eclipsis") covers the voicing of voiceless stops, as well as the true nasalisation of voiced stops.
★
★ ''athair'' "father" - ''ár nAthair'' "our Father"
★
★ ''tús'' "start", ''ar dtús'' "at the start"
★
★ ''Gaillimh'' "Galway" - ''i nGaillimh'' "in Galway"
History
Main articles: History of the Irish language
Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the fourth century AD; this stage of the language is known as Primitive Irish. Old Irish, dating from the sixth century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. Middle Irish, dating from the tenth century, is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the famous Ulster Cycle. Early Modern Irish, dating from the thirteenth century, was the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland, and is attested by such writers as Geoffrey Keating. From the eighteenth century the language went into a decline, rapidly losing ground to English due in part to restrictions dictated by British occupation, and in the mid-nineteenth century it lost a large portion of its speakers to death and emigration resulting from poverty, particularly in the wake of the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849). At the end of the nineteenth century, members of the Gaelic Revival movement made efforts to encourage the learning and use of Irish in Ireland.
Current status
Republic of Ireland
The number of native Irish-speakers in the Republic of Ireland today is a smaller fraction of what it was at independence. However, this number has risen significantly over the past two decades. The Official Languages Act of 2003 gave people the right to interact with state bodies in Irish. It is too early to assess how well this is working in practice. Other factors were outward migration of Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht (see related issues at Irish diaspora) and inward migration of English-speakers. The Planning and Development Act (2000) attempted to address the latter issue, with varied levels of success. Planning controls now require new housing in Gaeltacht areas to be allocated to English-speakers and Irish-speakers in the same ratio as the existing population of the area. This will not prevent houses allocated to Irish-speakers subsequently being sold on to English-speakers.
On 19 December, 2006 the government announced a 20-year strategy to help Ireland become a fully bilingual country. This involved a 13 point plan and encouraging the use of language in all aspects of life. [1]
Daily life
Several computer software products have the option of an Irish-language interface. Prominent examples include KDE, KDE Irish Gaelic translation
Mozilla Firefox, Firefox in Irish
Mozilla Thunderbird,
OpenOffice.org,[8]
Apple Macintosh OS X,
Microsoft Windows XP,[9]
and Microsoft Office 2003.
Many English-speaking Irish people use small and simple phrases (known as ''cúpla focal'', "a few words") in their everyday speech, e.g. ''Slán'' ("goodbye"), ''Slán abhaile'' ("get home safely"), ''Sláinte'' ("good health"; used when drinking like "bottoms up" or "cheers"), ''Go raibh maith agat'' - ("thank you"), ''Céad míle fáilte'' ("a hundred thousand welcomes", a tourist board saying), ''Conas atá tú?'' ("How are you?"). There are many more small sayings that have crept into Hiberno-English. The term ''craic'' has been popularised outside Ireland in its Gaelic spelling: "How's the ''craic?''" or "What's the 'craic'?" ("how's the fun?"/"how is it going?").
In an effort to increase the use of the Irish language by the State, the Official Languages Act was passed in 2003. This act ensures that most publications made by a governmental body must be published in both official languages, Irish and English. In addition, the office of Language Commissioner has been set up to act as an ombudsman with regard to equal treatment for both languages. Effectively this is to protect Irish as a minority language.
A major factor in the decline of natively-spoken Irish has been the movement of English speakers into the Gaeltacht (predominantly Irish speaking areas) and the return of native Irish-speakers who have returned with English-speaking families. Some government grants have helped to limit the effect of this. "only about half Gaeltacht children learn Irish in the home... this is related to the high level of in-migration and return migration which has accompanied the economic restructuring of the Gaeltacht in recent decades".[10] Many see this as a deliberate attempt by anti-nationalist politicians to wipe out the language. "That economic development of the kind undertaken was likely to have such consequences was readily predictable a decade ago".[11] In a last-ditch effort to stop the demise of Irish-speaking in Connemara in Galway, planning controls have been introduced on the building of new homes in Irish speaking areas.
Attempts have been made to offer support for the language through the media, notably with the launch of Raidió na Gaeltachta (Gaeltacht radio) and Teilifís na Gaeilge (Irish language television, initially abbreviated to 'TnaG', now renamed TG4). Both have been relatively successful. TG4 has offered Irish-speaking young people a forum for youth culture ''as Gaeilge'' (in Irish) through rock and pop shows, travel shows, dating games, and even a controversial award-winning soap opera in Irish called ''Ros na Rún''. Most of TG4's viewership, however, tends to come from showing Gaelic football, hurling and rugby matches and also films in English, and English pop music programs, although some of its Irish language programmes attract large audiences. In 1996, Nuacht TG4 (TG4 News) was getting only about 5,000 viewers daily. This figure has now risen to just under 50,000 (as of 2006). The channel's viewership has steadily risen since the foundation of the station it will become independent from the State in the distant future. Arguments about the level of funding it receives persist.
The Irish Language daily newspaper ''Lá Nua'' publishes five days a week and has circulation of several thousand as well as an active website. There is also a weekly paper, ''Foinse''. These require government sponsorship. The ''Irish News'' has two pages in Irish every day. The ''Irish Times'' had up until recently one article in Irish every week. Now it has several articles with some articles appended with short lists giving the meaning of some of the words used in English. Another paper, ''Saol'', and about 5 magazines are also published in the language, as well as internet-only publications such as "Beo!". The immigrants magazine ''Metro Éireann'' also has articles in Irish every issue, as do many local papers throughout the country, including university publications such as ''Trinity News''.
The Placenames Order (Gaeltacht Districts)/''An tOrdú Logainmneacha (Ceanntair Gaeltachta)'' (2004) requires the original Irish placenames to be used in the Gaeltacht on all official documents, maps and roadsigns. This has removed the legal status of those placenames in the Gaeltacht in English. Opposition to these measures comes from several quarters including some people within popular tourist destinations located within the Gaeltacht (namely in Dingle/An Daingean) who claim that tourists may not recognise the Irish forms of the placenames.
However following a campaign in the 1960s and early 1970s, most roadsigns in Gaeltacht regions have been in Irish only. Maps and government documents did not change, though. Previously Ordnance Survey (government) maps showed placenames bilingually in the Gaeltacht (and generally in English only elsewhere). Unfortunately, most other map companies wrote only the English placenames, leading to significant confusion in the Gaeltacht. The act therefore updates government documents and maps in line with what has been reality in the Gaeltacht for the past 30 years. Private map companies are expected to follow suit.
Beyond the Gaeltacht only English placenames were officially recognised (pre 2004). However, further placenames orders have been passed to enable both the English and the Irish placenames to be used. The village of Straffan is still marked variously as ''An Srafáin'', ''An Cluainíní'' and ''Teach Strafáin'', even though Irish has not been the spoken widely there for two centuries.
Irish vehicle registration plates are bilingual: the county of registration is shown in Irish above the plate number as a kind of surtitle, and is encoded from English within the plate number. For example, a Dublin plate is surtitled ''Baile Átha Cliath'' and the plate number includes "-D-".
There is a concerted effort by some to promote the language among recent immigrants. From 1964 The Bible was translated at Maynooth for Roman Catholics under the supervision of Professor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta and was finally published in 1981.[12]
Education
A Statement of Provisional Results showing the subjects and grades for the Junior Certificate examination.
The Irish language is a compulsory subject in government funded schools in the Republic of Ireland and has been so since the early days of the state.[13] The Irish Government has endeavoured to address the situation by revamping the curriculum at primary school level to focus on spoken Irish. However, at secondary school level, it can easily be argued that Irish is still taught "academically". Students must analyse literature and poetry, and write lengthy essays, debates and stories in Irish for the Leaving Certificate examination.
In March 2007, the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, announced that more focus would be devoted to the spoken language, and that from 2012, the percentage of marks available in the Leaving Certificate Irish exam would increase from 25% to 40% for the oral component[3]. This increased emphasis on the oral component of the Irish examinations is likely to change the way Irish is examined. [4]
[5]
Recently the abolition of compulsory Irish has been discussed and while some Irish people favour such a move, many do not. In 2005 Enda Kenny, leader of Ireland's main opposition party, Fine Gael, called for the language to be made an optional subject in the last two years of secondary school. This call drew widespread criticism from many quarters, although some have supported his call. Mr Kenny, despite being a fluent speaker himself (and teacher), stated that he believed that compulsory Irish has done the language more harm than good.
A relatively recent development is the proliferation of gaelscoileanna (schools) in which Irish is the medium of education. By September 2005 there were 158 gaelscoileanna at primary level and 36 at secondary level in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland together (excluding the Gaeltacht, whose schools are not considered gaelscoileanna), which amounted to approximately 31,000 students. This has grown from a total of less than 20 in the early 1970s and there are 15 more being planned at present. With the opening of Gaelscoil Liatroma in County Leitrim in 2005 there is now at least one gaelscoil in each of the 32 counties of Ireland.
The Irish Equality Authority recently questioned the official State practice of awarding 5-10% extra marks to students who take all their examinations through Irish.[14]
The Royal Irish Academy's 2006 conference on "Language Policy and Language Planning in Ireland" found that the study of Irish and other languages is declining in Ireland. The number of schoolchildren studying "higher level" Irish for the Leaving Certificate dropped from 15,719 in 2001 to 14,358 in 2005. To reverse this decline, it was recommended that training and living for a time in a Gaeltacht area should be "compulsory" for teachers of Irish.[15]
Northern Ireland
Main articles: Irish language in Northern Ireland
Sign at Irish medium school in Newry
As in the Republic, the Irish language is a minority language in Northern Ireland, known in Irish as ''Tuaisceart Éireann''.
Attitudes towards the language in Northern Ireland have traditionally reflected the political differences between its two divided communities. The language has been regarded with suspicion by unionists, who have associated it with the Roman Catholic-majority Republic, and more recently, with the republican movement in Northern Ireland itself. Many republicans in Northern Ireland, including Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, learnt Irish while in prison, a development known as the ''jailtacht.''[16] Although the language was taught in Catholic secondary schools (especially by the Christian Brothers), it was not taught at all in state (Protestant) schools and public signs in Irish were effectively banned under laws by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which stated that only English could be used.
These laws were not repealed by the British government until the early 1990s. However, Irish-medium schools, known as ''gaelscoileanna'', had already been founded in Belfast and Derry, and an Irish-language newspaper called ''Lá Nua'' ("New Day") was established in Belfast. BBC Radio Ulster began broadcasting a nightly half-hour programme in Irish in the early 1980s called ''Blas'' ("taste, accent"), and BBC Northern Ireland also showed its first TV programme in the language in the early 1990s.
The ''Ultach Trust'' was also established, with a view to broadening the appeal of the language among Protestants, although hardline DUP politicians like Sammy Wilson ridiculed it as a "leprechaun language".[17]
Ulster Scots, promoted by many loyalists, was, in turn, ridiculed by nationalists (and even some Unionists) as "a DIY language for Orangemen".[18]
According to recent statistics, there is no significant difference between the number of Catholic and Protestant speakers of Ulster Scots in Ulster (see Ulster Scots language), although those involved in promoting Ulster-Scots as a language are almost always unionist. Ulster-Scots is defined in legislation (The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999) as: ''the variety of the Scots language which has traditionally been used in parts of Northern Ireland and in Donegal in Ireland.''[19]
Irish received official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement. A cross-border body known as ''Foras na Gaeilge'' was established to promote the language in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, taking over the functions of the previous Republic-only ''Bord na Gaeilge''.
The British government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect to Irish in Northern Ireland.
It has been claimed that Belfast now represents the fastest growing centre of Irish language usage on the island - and the Good Friday Agreement's provisions on 'parity of esteem' have been used to give the language an official status there. In March 2005, the Irish language TV service TG4 began broadcasting from the Divis transmitter near Belfast, as a result of agreement between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Office, although so far this is the only transmitter to carry it.
The Belfast city council has designated the Falls Road area (from Milltown Cemetery to Divis street) as The Gaeltacht Quarter of Belfast, one of the four cultural quarters of the city.
Under the St Andrews Agreement, the government has legislated to introduce an Irish Language Act. A consultation period ending on 2 March 2007 could see Irish becoming an official language, having equal validity with English, recognised as an indigenous language, or aspire to become an official language in the future.
Outside Ireland
The language spread of Irish Gaelic in the United States according to U. S. Census 2000 and other resources interpreted by research of U.S. ENGLISH Foundation, percentage of home speakers.
An interest in the Irish language is maintained throughout the English speaking world among the Irish diaspora and there are active Irish language groups in North American, British, and Australian cities. In Australia, a network of people have established special Irish schools around the country teaching the language and music.
The Irish language emigrated to North America along with the Irish people. Although Irish is one of the smaller European languages spoken in North America, it has cultural importance in the northeast United States and in Newfoundland, and according to the 2000 Census, approximately 26,000 people in the U.S. speak Irish at home.[20]
The Irish language came to Newfoundland in the late 1600s and was commonly spoken among the Newfoundland Irish until the middle of the 20th century. There is direct evidence to suggest that as high as 90% of the Irish in Newfoundland spoke only Irish as their mother tongue. Records from Newfoundland's courts, where defendants often required Irish-speaking interpreters, indicate that the dominant language of the Avalon Peninsula was Irish rather than English. Today it remains the only place outside of Ireland that can claim a unique Irish name (''Talamh an Éisc'', ''meaning Land of the Fish''), and an area where Irish is natively spoken. In 2007 a number of Canadian speakers founded the first "Gaeltacht" outside of Ireland in an area near Kingston, Ontario (see main article Permanent North American Gaeltacht). The site (named ''Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann'') is located in Tamworth, Ontario and is to be a retreat centre for Irish-speaking Canadians and Americans.[21][22]
The Irish language reached Australia in 1788, along with English. In the early colonial period, Irish was seen as an opposition language used by convicts and repressed by the colonial authorities. [6] Although the Irish were a greater proportion of the European population than in any other British colony, the use of the language quickly declined and is now almost unknown. As legal barriers to the integration of the Irish and their descendants into Australian life were progressively removed, English became the language of social advancement.
In May 2007, Cambridge University in England started offering courses in Modern Irish and Medieval Irish. [23]
Many Australian slang words are Irish-derived and there are arguments that Australian English is more influenced by Irish than other varieties of English. There is a small movement to re-establish the language in contemporary Australia [7]. The Special Broadcasting Service transmits Irish language radio and television.
Notes
1. Ethnologue, Gaelic, Irish: a language of Ireland
2. Statement on the Irish Language 2006
3. The Celtic Languages, , Máirtín, Ó Murchú, Routledge, 1993, ISBN 0-415-01035-7
4. Minister Hanafin publishes University College Galway (Amendment) Bill 2005
5. Constitution of Ireland
6. A Phonetic Study of the Irish of Tory Island, County Donegal, , John Noel, Hamilton, Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, 1974,
7. Grammar of Ros Goill Irish, County Donegal, , Leslie W., Lucas, Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, 1979,
8. Bogearra den scoth, chomh maith agus a bhí sé ariamh, anois as Gaeilge
9. Windows XP ® Pacáiste Comhéadan Gaeilge
10. ''The Irish Language in a Changing Society: Shaping The Future'', p. xxvi.
11. ''The Irish Language in a Changing Society: Shaping The Future'', p. 47.
12. An Bíobla Naofa (Maynooth 1981)
13. The exemption from Irish on the grounds of time spent abroad or learning disability is subject to Circular 12/96 (primary education) and Circular M10/94 (secondary education) issued by the Department of Education and Science.
14.
15. 2006 RIA language conference report
16. Allen Feldman. ''Formations of Violence: The Narrative of the Body and Political Terror in Northern Ireland.''U of Chicago P, 1991. Chapter 3.
17. Unionist fear of Irish must be overcome
18. The rich heritage of Ulster Scots culture
19. Initial Periodical Report by the United Kingdom presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter (internet archive copy as of 14 May 2005)
20. MLA Language Map Data Center, Irish Gaelic. Accessed 2007-07-22
21. Gaelport, Irish at home in Canada, 17 February 2007
22. Gaelport, First Gaeltacht abroad planned for Canada, 23 January 2007
23. Irish becomes subject at Cambridge University
See also
★ Dictionary of the Irish Language
★ Place names in Irish
★ Differences between Scottish Gaelic and Irish
★ Hiberno-Latin, a variety of Medieval Latin used in Irish monasteries. It included Greek, Hebrew and Celtic neologisms.
★ Irish name
★ Irish words used in the English language
★ Language Freedom Movement
★ List of Ireland-related topics
★ List of English words of Irish origin
★ Modern literature in Irish
External links
General
★
★ Foras na Gaeilge - Official promotional body for the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland
★ Irish Translators and Interpreters Association
★ Gaeilge ar an ghréasán Irish online recources
★ Gaelscoileanna
Grammar and pronunciation
★ Braesicke's Gramadach na Gaeilge (Engl. translation)
★ Beginner's Guide to Irish Gaelic Pronunciation
★ '' (a phonological description of the dialect of the Aran Islands, from 1899)
Media
★ Foinse - weekly newspaper
★ Lá
★ BBC Northern Ireland Irish language
★ Irish language non-commercial webcast
Dictionaries
★ Online English-Irish dictionary
★ Irish-English-Irish bilingual dictionaries
★ ''Foclóir Téarmaíochta'', a large terminology database developed by FIONTAR, DCU
★ ''Hogastand's "Our native tongue"'' English-Irish online dictionary
★ General Gaelic Dictionaries
★ Freelang Irish-English-Irish dictionary to browse online or download
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