This thesis is an investigation of the language situation in Gort an Choirce, County Donegal. It deals with both the sociolinguistic makeup of the area and the linguistic reality, relating to how the language is used in the contemporary social setting. An analysis has been carried out of how this situation has changed through time with specific attention being paid to social and economic changes within the area. Through this study, a corpus of spoken Irish has been collected, transcribed and edited which has then been used in the analysis of how certain linguistic features come to be used in normal discourse. Among these features are the Vocative and Genitive cases. As well as this there is an analysis of the use of the Copula and an interpretation has been given of a range of other linguistic features whose usage deviate from that of the traditional language. A detailed analysis has also been carried out in relation to the vocabulary of native Gort an Choirce Irish speakers, dealing with lexical items which are steadfast, items which can be seen to be being lost, loan words and calques from English and finally English/Irish code-switching. It can be shown, through this study, that the language of Gort an Choirce is undergoing significant changes in the areas outlined above. Some of these changes, the Vocative Case and the increase in borrowing/code switching, are more apparent and fast moving, while others, the Genitive Case and the dominance of the Substantive Verb over the Copula, are slowly taking root and the effects of which will be shown more clearly with the passing of time. It is clearly outlined that these linguistic changes and changing linguistic habits can be explained in terms of the social situation. This changing social situation has been discussed throughout as the major cause of changing language competencies, awareness and usage.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:554290 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Ó Domagáin, Gearóid |
| Publisher | University of Ulster |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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