Read complete books and articles on: Irish Language

Irish Language - also called Irish Gaelic and Erse, member of the Goidelic group of the Celtic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Celtic languages). The history of Irish as a literary language falls into three periods: Old Irish (7th–9th cent. a.d.), Middle Irish (10th–16th cent.), and Modern Irish (since the 16th cent.). In the medieval period a great Irish

9 of the Best Books and Articles on: Irish Language

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Language Policy and Social Reproduction: Ireland, 1893-1993 » Read Now
by Padraig O Riagain. 304 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

During the nineteenth century, Irish-speaking communities declined almost to the point of extinction. But in 1922 the new Irish state launched a broad strategy to re-establish Irish as a national language. This book looks at that policy and its impact over the last seventy years. Padraig O Riagain...
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During the nineteenth century, Irish-speaking communities declined almost to the point of extinction. But in 1922 the new Irish state launched a broad strategy to re-establish Irish as a national language. This book looks at that policy and its impact over the last seventy years. Padraig O Riagain focuses not only on the evolving structure of bilingualism in Ireland but also on the process of bilingual reproduction. His analysis is based on a series of language surveys conducted between 1973 and 1993.
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2.

The Irish Language in the United States: A Historical, Sociolinguistic, and Applied Linguistic Survey » Read Now
by Thomas W. Ihde. 174 pgs.

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Many Irish-Americans feel like outsiders when the topic turns to the Irish language. This collection of essays will inform them of the history of the language in America, the role this language plays in Irish-American identity, and the best way to go about learning it. The sociolinguistic essays...
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Many Irish-Americans feel like outsiders when the topic turns to the Irish language. This collection of essays will inform them of the history of the language in America, the role this language plays in Irish-American identity, and the best way to go about learning it. The sociolinguistic essays concentrate on Irish as an American ethnic language, including interviews with native Irish speakers in the United States today, surveys of Irish usage, and an examination of letters by immigrants back to Ireland in the nineteenth century. Applied linguistic essays describe the Irish language student population in the United States, survey materials and methods used to teach Americans, and tell the story of one Irish language teacher in California whose work has led to great personal satisfaction and considerable Irish-American group solidarity. This is the first major work in English on the Irish language in America.
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3.

Ireland: Historical Echoes, Contemporary Politics (Chap. 4 "Doors Opening and Closing: Economy, Education, and the Irish Language") » Read Now
by Richard B. Finnegan, Edward T. McCarron. 454 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Incorporating extensive new research that allows him to make richer interpretations, Richard Finnegan considers such issues as the impact on church-state relations of the national referenda on divorce & abortion, the rise & fall of governments & political figures, the pathbreaking potential of the...
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Incorporating extensive new research that allows him to make richer interpretations, Richard Finnegan considers such issues as the impact on church-state relations of the national referenda on divorce & abortion, the rise & fall of governments & political figures, the pathbreaking potential of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, & the effects on the country of changes in the European Community.
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4.

Ireland: The Challenge of Conflict and Change (Discussion of the Irish language begins on p. 67) » Read Now
by Richard B. Finnegan. 166 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Cultural Change 67 The Irish Language 67 The Media and Censorship...Intermarriage, adoption of the Irish language, and general acceptance by the...they urged people to...
5.

A Grammar of Old Irish » Read Now
by Rudolf Thurneysen, D. A. Binchy, Osborn Bergin. 690 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
6.

Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages ("First Casualties: The Celtic Languages" begins on p. 133) » Read Now
by Daniel Nettle, Suzanne Romaine. 246 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Few people know that nearly 100 native languages once spoken in what is now California are near extinction, or that most of Australia's 250 aboriginal languages have vanished. In fact, at least half of the world's languages may die out in the next century. What has happened to these voices? Should...
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Few people know that nearly 100 native languages once spoken in what is now California are near extinction, or that most of Australia's 250 aboriginal languages have vanished. In fact, at least half of the world's languages may die out in the next century. What has happened to these voices? Should we be alarmed about the disappearance of linguistic diversity? The authors of Vanishing Voices assert that this trend is far more than simply disturbing. Making explicit the link between language survival and environmental issues, they argue that the extinction of languages is part of the larger picture of near-total collapse of the worldwide ecosystem. Indeed, the authors contend that the struggle to preserve precious environmental resources-such as the rainforest-cannot be separated from the struggle to maintain diverse cultures, and that the causes of language death, like that of ecological destruction, lie at the intersection of ecology and politics. And while Nettle and Romaine defend the world's endangered languages, they also pay homage to the last speakers of dying tongues, such as Red Thundercloud, a Native American in South Carolina, Ned Mandrell, with whom the Manx language passed away in 1974, and Arthur Bennett, an Australian, the last person to know more than a few words of Mbabaram. In our languages lies the accumulated knowledge of humanity. Indeed, each language is a unique window on experience. Vanishing Voices is a call to preserve this resource, before it is too late.
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7.

International Handbook of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education (Discussion of the Irish language begins on p. 111) » Read Now
by Christina Bratt Paulston. 606 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

This comprehensive handbook introduces a theoretical framework of the contextual situations of language maintenance and shift in which are found bilingualism and bilingual education. It presents the basic facts about language and language families in the world and where they are located, and...
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This comprehensive handbook introduces a theoretical framework of the contextual situations of language maintenance and shift in which are found bilingualism and bilingual education. It presents the basic facts about language and language families in the world and where they are located, and illustrates the range of possibilities of languages in contact. A major portion of this important work is devoted to a series of case studies of bilingualism/multilingualism within nation states, arranged alphabetically, and representing specific situations in all corners of the world. Each chapter stands alone and can be read for the information it contains. The book provides a valuabe resource for theory testing and documents the range of educational policies for minority social groups, and emphasizes the legitimacy and importance of scholarly study of this complex social issue.
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8.

Ireland and England in the Past and at Present (Part III, Chap. I "Irish Language and Literature and the Irish Revival") » Read Now
by Edward Raymond Turner. 504 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...VIII ULSTER 293 I IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AND THE IRISH...Outside the Pale "was a country of Irish language, dress, and customs. . . . Norman...English were forbidden...
9.

Language and Conquest in Early Modern Ireland: English Renaissance Literature and Elizabethan Imperial Expansion » Read Now
by Patricia Palmer. 254 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

The Elizabethan conquest of Ireland sparked off two linguistic events of enduring importance. It initiated the language shift from Irish to English, which constitutes the great drama of Irish cultural history, and it marked the beginnings of English linguistic expansion. In Language and Conquest in...
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The Elizabethan conquest of Ireland sparked off two linguistic events of enduring importance. It initiated the language shift from Irish to English, which constitutes the great drama of Irish cultural history, and it marked the beginnings of English linguistic expansion. In Language and Conquest in Early Modern Ireland, Patricia Palmer explores the part which language played in shaping colonial ideology and English national identity. The book is an ambitious, comparative study which will interest literary and political historians.
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