1st Edition
New Speakers of Irish in the Global Context New Revival?
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.
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
Biography
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).
