The English Language in Ireland:An Introduction

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Published: Jan 1, 2012
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/ijltic.8
Jeffrey L. Kallen
Trinity College Dublin
Abstract

Irish English, as the oldest overseas variety of English, displays a number features which are unique to Ireland or which show characteristic patterns in the use of variation within English more generally. Many of these features reflect the interacting infl uences of settlement from England and Scotland, bringing with it elements from British dialects as well as elements now considered obsolete in British English, and transfer (via intergenerational bilingualism and language shift) of elements from the Irish language. Some features of this mix have continued from early times to the present, others have died out with the increasing homogenisation of Irish English, and still new elements, from internal change and other linguistic infl uences, continue to develop the language.

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Author Biography
Jeffrey L. Kallen, Trinity College Dublin

Jeff rey Kallen is an Associate Professor of Linguistics and Phonetics in Trinity College Dublin, where he is Head of the Centre for Language and Communication Studies. Following degrees in Folklore Studies (Western Washington University, Fairhaven College) and Linguistics (University of Washington), he completed a PhD in Trinity College Dublin on the English Language in Ireland. He has written many papers on aspects of Irish English, including its historical development, syntax, lexicon, and phonology, and edited the volume Focus on Ireland (Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1997); a forthcoming volume on English in the Republic of Ireland is scheduled for publication in 2013. As co-director of the International Corpus of English for Ireland (ICE-Ireland), his research interests also include English as a world language and corpus linguistics. A former president of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics, he has also published on topics such as the Linguistic Landscape and its relation to language policy and globalisation, discourse analysis and politeness theory, and the semiotics of the Greek postage stamp.