New Speakers of Irish in the Global Context

New Revival?
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-032-17363-4
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 212 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 318 g

Reihe: Routledge Critical Studies in Multilingualism

This volume is the first full-length publication to systematically unpack and analyze the linguistic practices and ideologies of "new speakers" specifically in an Irish language context. The book introduces the theoretical foundations of the new speaker framework as it manifests itself in the Irish setting, describes its historical precedents, and traces its evolution to today. The book then draws upon a rich set of data and research methods, including participant observation and ethnographic fieldwork to examine the new speaker phenomenon in Irish in greater detail. Areas of analysis include new speakers’ language practices and usage and the ways in which they position their linguistic identities both within their respective communities and in juxtaposition with "native" speakers. While the book’s focus is on Irish, the volume will contribute to a greater understanding of new speaker practices and ideologies in minority language contexts more generally, making this key reading for students and scholars in sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, language policy and planning, anthropology, and Irish studies.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

O'Rourke, Bernadette

Walsh, John

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Soziolinguistik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Acknowledgements

Figure 1 Map illustrating Language Planning Process

Figure 2 Transcription protocol

Chapter 1: Re-thinking the Sociolinguistics of Irish

Introduction

Disrupting old ideas, creating new tensions

Giving a voice to new speakers

John’s story

Bernie’s story

Outline of book

Chapter 2: New speakers, new paradigms? Building a theoretical framework

Introduction

New speaker research: origins and developments

New speakers and broader debates around language and society

Native speaker ideologies in language revitalisation movements

New speakers, new paradigms?

New speakers of minority languages: questions of authenticity, authority, and legitimacy

Rethinking new labels and frameworks

Conclusion

Chapter 3: National, official and minoritised: the context and background of Irish

Introduction

Revival period and new speakers

Phases of language policy and new speakers

Gaeltacht

Legal and administrative status

Irish in the education system

Standardisation

Irish in Northern Ireland

Recent policy initiatives and Irish language networks

Conclusion

Chapter 4: Becoming a new speaker of Irish

Introduction

Fieldwork conducted by John

Clár

Karen

Roibeárd

Cian

Jason

Fieldwork conducted by Bernie

Máire

Joanne

Liam

Micheál

Jane

Conclusion

Chapter 5: New speakers of Irish and identities

Introduction

Irish speakers and identities

Primary Irish-speaking identity

Irish language identity linked to standard language or dialect

Ambiguous or mixed linguistic identity

Primary English-speaking identity

Intersection of linguistic and sexual identities

Conclusion

Chapter 6: Ciorcail chomhrá – ‘safe spaces’ for the cúpla focal

Introduction

The ciorcal comhrá phenomenon

Safe spaces and ‘breathing spaces’ for the language

New speakers at Cluain Lí

Tá cúpla focal agam – ‘I have the few words’

The ciorcal comhrá as a ‘safe place’ to use Irish

Expert speakers and the native speaker ideology

Beyond the ciorcal comhrá: the Gaeltacht as an authentic space

Conclusion

Chapter 7: Conclusions

New speaker stories

Theoretical insights from the study

Policy implications

New speakers and the Gaeltacht

References

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Bernadette O’Rourke is Professor of Sociolinguistics and Hispanic Studies at the University of Glasgow. She is author of Irish and Galician in the European Context (Palgrave 2011) and co-author (with Gabrielle Hogan-Brun) of the Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities (2019). She was Chair of COST Action on New Speakers in a Multilingual Europe (2013-17). She is a Fellow of the Smithsonian Institute for Folklife on the Sustaining Minoritized Languages in Europe (SMiLE) project (2018-present).

John Walsh is a Senior Lecturer in Irish in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is author of several publications in Irish and English about Irish language policy, Irish language media, Irish and socioeconomic development and new speakers of Irish. John was a leading member of the COST Action on New Speakers in a Multilingual Europe (2013-17) and jointly led two Working Groups (on new speakers and indigenous minority languages and on new speakers and subjectivities).