This thesis focuses on the historical development of dialectal variation in the Gaelic languages with special reference to Irish. As a point of departure, competing scholarly theories concerning the historical relationships between Goidelic dialects are laid out. Next, these theories are tested using dialectometric methods of linguistic analysis. Dialectometry clearly suggests the Irish of Ulster is the most linguistically distinctive of Irish dialects. This perspective on the modern dialects is utilised in subsequent chapters to clarify our understanding of the history of Gaelic dialectal variation, especially during the Old Irish period (AD 600–900). Theoretical and methodological frameworks that have been used in the study of the historical dialectology of Gaelic are next outlined. It is argued that these frameworks may not be the most appropriate for investigating dialectal variation during the Old Irish period. For the first time, principles from historical sociolinguistics are here applied in investigating the language of the Old Irish period. In particular, the social and institutional structures which supported the stability of Old Irish as a text language during the 8th and 9th centuries are scrutinised from this perspective. The role of the ecclesiastical and political centre of Armagh as the principal and central actor in the relevant network structures is highlighted. Focus then shifts to the processes through which ‘standard’ languages emerge, with special reference to Old Irish. The evidence of a small number of texts upon which modern understandings of Old Irish was based is assessed; it is argued that these texts most likely emerged from monasteries in the northeast of Ireland and the southwest of Scotland. Secondly, the processes through which the standard of the Old Irish period is likely to have come about are investigated. It is concluded that the standard language of the period arose primarily through the agency of monastic schools in the northeast of Ireland, particularly Armagh and Bangor. It is argued that this fact, and the subsequent prominence of Armagh as a stable and supremely prestigious centre of learning throughout the period, offers a sociolinguistically robust explanation for the apparent lack of dialectal variation in the language. Finally, the socio-political situation of the Old Irish period is discussed. Models of new-dialect formation are applied to historical evidence, and combined with later linguistic evidence, in an attempt to enunciate dialectal divisions which may have existed during the period.

In this thesis I will explore the impersonal constructions in Modern Welsh. In doing so, I will follow the approach of the previous literature in comparing this construction with the analytic Welsh passive. The general linguistic literature on passivization assumes that both constructions involve passivization and despite some studies of Welsh concluding that the impersonal construction is not a passive, this thesis cannot support or deny this claim. I show that it is the definition of passive that obstructs a conclusive analysis for the Welsh impersonal morphology's syntactic and semantic effects, ultimately. Using the data described in detail throughout the thesis, I conclude with an assessment of the scope of our current theories of passive - be they typological or theoretical - that reveals problematic areas. Typological, prototypical and canonical approaches to the passive of course fail to include enough nuance to identify the relevant structural components of the Welsh impersonal, whilst theoretical approaches cannot account for the restrictions found on intransitive impersonals. LFG's mapping theory has the potential to accommodate the Welsh data according to current proposals and as such is examined in more depth. I have given an emphasis to using naturally occurring data whenever possible and this has led to a data-rich, descriptive work, in an attempt to expand the breadth of examples of Welsh found in discussions of linguistic theory. Additionally, this approach provide the basis for future work on Welsh verb classes by describing the behaviour of verbs in several constructions relevant to the work at hand. Along with a general synthesis of the previous literature on impersonals and analytic passives in chapter 2, I include an elaborated analysis of Welsh analytic passives and some problematic new impersonal data. The novel data on verb classes begins in chapter 3 with a study of verbs of psychological state. The lack of restriction on the impersonal contrasts with the analytic GET-passive's failure in a subset of these transitive verbs previously unobserved. In chapter 4, I investigate the availability of unaccusativity diagnostics in Welsh, in an attempt to prove that unaccusative verbs do indeed impersonalize, as suggested by previous literature. Chapter 5 then uses the diagnostic, amongst others to track down further restrictions on the impersonal and I show that whilst unaccusativity cannot be excluded as a potential restriction to impersonal morphology, the semantic restrictions are as plausible an account. This chapter uses different structural and semantic verbs and predicates and finds that animacy in intransitives is the only restriction needed to describe impersonals. In the following chapter (6) I examine this restriction in more detail and summarize the data on the impersonal in order to then probe the current linguistic theories in chapter 7.

This thesis investigates translation tools and technologies in the Welsh language context and provides translators working in the Welsh-English language pair with a method of evaluation of Translation Memory (TM).

Ce travail consiste en l'analyse des trois traductions en breton du texte de François de Sales publié en 1609 : L’introduction à la vie dévote. La première traduction fut l’oeuvre de Charles Le Bris au début du XVIIIème siècle durant la période dite dubreton pré-moderne. Les deux traductions suivantes furent écrites dans un breton du domaine du sud-est, le standard de Vannes, par Jean Marion à la fin du XVIIIème siècle, puis par Sylvestre Sévéno au début du XXème. L’analyse de ces textes abordera dans un premier temps les aspects traductologiques : les différents auteurs bretonnants face aux choix linguistiques qu’implique la traduction, les rapports qu’ont eus ces derniers entre eux vis-à-vis du texte source ou encore de la réception du texte. Progressivement, la morphologie et la syntaxe des traductions seront analysées pour mettre en évidence la variabilité ou bien les correspondances entre traducteurs bretonnants. / This work is an analysis of three translations in Breton of the text of François de Sales published in 1609:L’introduction à la vie dévote. The first translation was made by Charles Le Bris during the Breton's pre-modern period in the beginning of the 18th century in the north-west dialect.The two other translations both originate from the south-east of the area where Breton was spoken and written in the Vannes standard. One was written by Jean Marion in the end of the 18th century and the other by Sylvestre Sévéno in thebeginning of the 20th century. The study of those texts is, in a first section, founded on traductological purposes: how did the different authors play their roles of translators; what are the links between the different authors and the original; how did they account for the expectations of their future audience. Progressively, this analysis focuses on a syntactic and morphological approach and identifies some language variations between the authors.

No description available.

The question of ‘the Pictish language’ has been discussed for over four hundred years, and for well over two centuries it has been the subject of ceaseless and often heated debate. The main disagreement focusing on its linguistic categorisation – whether it was Celtic, Germanic (using modern terminology) or whether it belonged to some more exotic language group such as Basque. If it was Celtic then was it Brittonic or Goidelic? The answer to such questions was of some importance in ascertaining to whom the Scottish past belonged. Was it to immigrant Irish, conquering Germanic peoples or native Britons? The twentieth century saw the normalising of the view that it was closely related to Brittonic with some erudite scholars maintaining that another, non-Celtic language, was also spoken in Pictland. The debate subsequently shifted to focusing on just how close was the relationship between Pictish and Neo-Brittonic. Was Pictish simply a northerly dialect variant of the latter or was it indeed a more distinct and perhaps conservative form, evolving independently in an area outwith Roman power and linguistic influence? Recently, as the field of Pictish studies was subjected to both linguistic and historical scrutiny, discussions have become significantly more sophisticated, but the core question remains, as to whether Pictish distinctiveness merits the label ‘dialect’ or ‘language’, as the Venerable Bede himself stated. This thesis will investigate this core issue by providing an overview of previous thinking and scrutinising the evidence for early divergence. It is intended as groundwork for much needed further studies into this field.

The development of education through the medium of Celtic languages (here specifically Welsh and Scottish Gaelic) is often placed within a language planning framework in which Celtic-medium education is viewed as a means of sustaining a threatened language in the context of levels of intergenerational transmission which are insufficient to maintain speaker numbers. The primary to secondary school stage is a critical juncture from such a perspective, as language revitalization requires the language competencies, patterns of Celtic language use and positive attitudes towards the Celtic language fostered at the primary school stage to be maintained and developed at the secondary school stage. However, the secondary school stage has often been associated with a reduction in the uptake and availability of Celticmedium education and with a decline both in Celtic language use and in positive attitudes towards the language. Such a policy and research context raises two sets of research questions, the first relating to choice of medium of instruction of education, and the second to aspects of pupil language relevant to language planning and maintenance: (1)Research Questions: Choice What factors influence parental decisions for Celtic-medium education at the primary school level? What factors influence Celtic-medium pupil decisions regarding language of education for the first year of secondary school? Do the responses and patterns of response regarding choice differ between (i) the primary and secondary school stages and/or (ii) the Scottish and Welsh contexts? (2)Research Questions: Language Planning What are Celtic-medium pupils’ patterns of (a) language use (b) perceptions of their linguistic ability (c) identification with the Celtic language and (d) perceptions of the usefulness of the Celtic language for their future at the primary and early secondary school stages? Do the responses and patterns of response differ between the Scottish and Welsh contexts at the primary school stage? Do the responses and patterns of response shift between the primary and secondary school stages in either the Scottish or the Welsh contexts? This thesis presents the results of a longitudinal study of 28 Gaelic-medium and 57 Welsh-medium final year primary and first year secondary pupils, their parents and teachers, conducted in 2007-2008. English-medium pupils from dual stream schools were also incorporated, primarily as a control group for the experiences of their Celtic-medium counterparts (17 English-medium Scotland and 34 English-medium Wales pupils, their parents and teachers). The research questions are investigated using multiple research methods in a longitudinal design. Pupils took part in semi-structured interviews in the final year of primary school and in the first year of secondary school concerning their experience of learning a Celtic language, the reasons for their decisions regarding the medium of instruction of secondary school subjects, their identification with their Celtic language and their perceptions of its usefulness. At each of these two school stages, pupils also completed standardized questionnaires (which yielded statistical data) on their language use and their perceived language competence in their Celtic language and in English. The pupil interviews were supplemented by interviews with their teachers at primary and secondary school, and with their parents at the primary school stage; thus a total of 383 interviews were conducted. Comparison was made not only longitudinally but also between the Gaelic and Welsh groups and, where relevant, between each of them and their English-medium counterparts. The results are discussed in relation to contextual factors (for example national and local authority policies, the linguistic demographics of Scotland and Wales and the level of Celtic-language institutionalization in the two countries), in relation to previous research on choice, language use, language ability and language attitudes in the Scottish and Welsh contexts, and in relation to theories of language maintenance.

Ce travail de recherche entend considérer la revitalisation linguistique dans la sphère économique comme un projet. Cela implique de déterminer un point de départ et ce qui y a conduit. C’est l’objet de la première partie du travail, qui retrace l’évolution de la langue au fil des siècles, ce qui est l’échelle de temps la plus adaptée pour comprendre l’évolution des langues. Viennent ensuite les conditions d’environnement, trois aspects sont abordés : les outils de la langue, la quantité et le niveau des locuteurs dans une situation d’offre et de demande d’emplois. Enfin, le dernier outil concerne la méthodologie et le suivi d’une revitalisation linguistique. La seconde partie éclaire la situation des tensions internes à la sphère économique, entre les vitesses d’évolution des activités humaines et numériques. La suite est consacrée à la valorisation des initiatives de revitalisations linguistiques contemporaines dans le monde des entreprises. Les deux aspects principaux concernent les possibilités d’utilisation de la langue minoritaire et la gestion des facteurs humains liés à une telle démarche. Enfin, la troisième partie concerne une expérimentation de revitalisation linguistique dans l’entreprisede l’auteur, ce qui lui a permis de confronter utopie et réalité d'une telle initiative. / This research work considers reverse language shift in economy as a project. This involve defining a starting point and understanding how this situation came up. It is the aim of the first part which shows the evolution of breton language on several centuries, the appropriate scale to understand language evolutions. Then comes the environment conditions, three aspects are studied : language tools, numbering and level qualifications of the speakers in front of current supply and demand situation. Then, the last tool considered is the methodology and the follow-up of minority language revitalisation. The second part is dedicated to tensions generated in economy between the evolution speed of human activities versus numeric ones. Then comes valorisation of contemporary initiatives regarding language revival in companies. Two main aspects are considered : the possibilities offered by minority languages and managing human aspects linked to such initiatives. Last, the third section is dedicated to an experimental minority language revitalisation performed in the company of the author of this work, which allowed him to put face to face utopia and reality of such an initiative. / Al labour imbourc’h-mañ a ginnig sellout ouzh advuhezekaat ar yezhoù minorel er bed an armerzh evel ur raktres. Ar pezh a dalv spisaat al lec’h loc’hañ, ha penaos emeur degouezhet eno. Pal al loden gentañ an hini eo, hag a ziskouez emdroadur ar yezh a-hed ar c’hantvedoù, skeul amzer dereat evit meizañ emdroadurioù ar yezhoù. Dont a ra war-lerc’h aozioù an endro ha tri anezho zo bet studiet : ostilhoù ar yezh, kementañ hag adrummañ ar vrezhonegerien e-keñver kinnig ha goulenn al labour, hag a-benn ar fin, metodologiezhoù evit lakaat e pleustr ha heuliañ advuhezekaat ur yezh. An eil lodenn a ziskouez tennderioù diabarzh war dachenn an armerzh etre tizh emdroadur faktorioù denel ha niverel. D’an talvoudegezh an intrudu a-vremañ er bed an embregerezhioù, eo gouestlet ar peurrest eus al lodenn. Daou dra a zo bet studiet pizh : peseurt implij eus ar yezh vinorel ha penaos merañ faktorioù denel liammet gant an difrae. Evit echuiñ, an trede lodenn a zo gouestlet d’ul labour pleustrek advuhezekaat ar brezhoneg en embregerezh oberour al labour-mañ, ar pezh en deus roet dezhañ da lakaat tal-ouzh-tal utopiezh ha gwirvoud an difrae.

Notre thèse porte sur les dictionnaires juridiques et comment on peut les améliorer du point de vue du traducteur au sein des institutions européennes. Les dictionnaires juridiques existants sont lacunaires. On peut surtout leur faire grief de limiter la fonction de décodage par la pluralité des équivalents proposés et de sacrificier complètement celle d’encodage. C’est à partir de ce constat que nous avons voulu élaborer un lexique anglais-gaélique du droit de l’environnement de l’Union européenne pour mieux répondre aux besoins des traducteurs. Le statut de nouvelle arrivée de la langue irlandaise en tant que langue officielle de l’Union européenne (2007) fait d’elle un terrain propice à la recherche. Le droit de l’environnement est un nouveau droit dont la terminologie est en devenir. Notre recherche a surtout voulu mettre en évidence l’utilité des corpus pour l’étude de la terminologie et pour l’élaboration de dictionnaires juridiques. Notre corpus, pleinement représentatif du domaine couvert, allié au système de gestion de corpus Sketch Engine, nous a permis d’identifier les termes les plus fréquemment employés. Une fois la sélection faite, nous avons pu approfondir notre recherche en utilisant la carte combinatoire du logiciel (Word Sketch), qui permet de dresser un portrait du comportement concurrentiel des termes. Des divergences entre les termes utilisés au niveau national et ceux qui sont proposés au niveau européen sont également analysées. / Legal dictionaries are notoriously misleading and a source of confusion for translators. This study aims at improving the quality of those lexicographic products in the context of translation in the European Union. The criticism of existing resources is accompanied by the proposal of a new lexicographical model. An English-Irish dictionary of environmental law in the EU is produced for the target users using a corpus of the key jurisprudence and doctrine. Once created, the corpus was exploited using the tools offered by Sketch Engine. The difficulties posed by the terminology of a minority language and that of a relatively recent legal domain are analyzed. Divergences between terminology used at national level and that used at EU level are also discussed.

La thèse propose un début d’étude du champ sémantique de la santé en breton vannetais. Cette étude est basée sur un corpus de breton littéraire vannetais et un corpus de breton oral recueilli auprès de locuteurs traditionnels de la région de Pontivy. Le travail de description de lexies de ce champ sémantique est fait dans le cadre de la théorie linguistique Sens-Texte. Dans un premier temps sont données des explications sur le modèle linguistique proposé par la théorie Sens-Texte et sur la branche lexicologique de cette théorie, la Lexicologie Explicative et Combinatoire. La combinatoire lexicale et syntaxique des noms dénotant des troubles physiologiques, y compris ceux dénotant des maladies, est ensuite décrite. Cette description suppose un travail de lexémisation – c’est-à-dire de distinction des différentes acceptions d’un mot polysémique – de quelques vocables dont certaines acceptions sont des lexèmes de base de ce champ sémantique : les vocables DROUG ‘mal’, KLEÑVED ‘maladie’, KLAÑV ‘malade’, KLEÑVEDET lit. ‘maladié’ = ‘qui a une maladie’, YAC’H ‘en bonne santé’, YEC’HED ‘santé’ et AESAAT ‘guérir’. Il est proposé une description la plus complète possible de ces lexèmes. Il s’agit de la toute première tentative d’application au breton d’une méthodologie d’élaboration dictionnairique claire et cohérente, au fort pouvoir descriptif. En outre, ce travail de thèse débouche sur un corpus de breton oral d’environ un demi-million de mots, outil précieux pour les chercheurs sur la langue bretonne / The thesis offers a first-start study of the semantic field of health in the vannetais variety of Breton, based both on a corpus of literary Breton from the Vannes region and a corpus of oral Breton collected from traditional speakers in the Pontivy area. Lexicographic description of lexical units from that semantic field is embedded in the Meaning-Text linguistic theory. An overview of the theory, in particular it’s lexicological branch, the Explanatory and Combinatorial Lexicology is given, followed by a detailed description of the lexical and syntactic co-occurrence of nouns denoting physiological disorders, illnesses and diseases. Such a description has required lexemization of vocables (= discrimination of different word-senses of polysemous words) to which belong basic lexemes of this semantic field: DROUG ‘≈ physiological disorder’, KLEÑVED ‘disease’, KLAÑV ‘ill / sick’, KLEÑVEDET lit. ‘made.ill’ = ‘having an illness’, YAC’H ‘healthy’, YEC’HED ‘health’ and AESAAT ‘to cure / heal’. These lexemes have been given a detailed lexicographic description. The thesis represents the very first attempt at applying a clear, coherent and descriptively powerful lexicographic methodology to Breton data. In addition, it makes available to the scientific community a corpus of oral Breton of about a half million words