Patricia
Ronan s. xx–xxi
Works authored
Theses
Works edited
The legacy of the Celts on the continent is described and the linguistic implications of the term Celtic, as well as of its relatives, are discussed in relation to the people to whom they have been applied in the remote and more recent past. Further, the linguistic and societal outcomes of cultural contacts on the island of Ireland are traced. The influence of Latin and Greek learning on early Ireland is shown and the rise of the English language in Ireland is described in its socio-cultural context. Linguistic and cultural contacts in the modern area are also considered in the discussions of how the Irish and Irish variety of English are perceived in American popular culture, and how multilinguality made use of in James Joyce’s work. Finally, the question is asked how similar or dissimilar Irish English in fact is compared to other international varieties of English.
These studies show that the cultural and linguistic influences are not only unidirectional, they form a network of influences which are largely determined by issues of prestige of the languages concerned.The legacy of the Celts on the continent is described and the linguistic implications of the term Celtic, as well as of its relatives, are discussed in relation to the people to whom they have been applied in the remote and more recent past. Further, the linguistic and societal outcomes of cultural contacts on the island of Ireland are traced. The influence of Latin and Greek learning on early Ireland is shown and the rise of the English language in Ireland is described in its socio-cultural context. Linguistic and cultural contacts in the modern area are also considered in the discussions of how the Irish and Irish variety of English are perceived in American popular culture, and how multilinguality made use of in James Joyce’s work. Finally, the question is asked how similar or dissimilar Irish English in fact is compared to other international varieties of English.
These studies show that the cultural and linguistic influences are not only unidirectional, they form a network of influences which are largely determined by issues of prestige of the languages concerned.Contributions to journals
Among Celticists it is well known that suddenly encountered new characters in a story/sagatext in Old Irish can be introduced using the definite article, as in: Ba dorchae ind adaig. [...]. Co n-accae ara chind in fer, 7 leth a chind fair [...]. 'Dark was the night. He sees a man before him, and half his head on him.' (LU 4932). Thurneysen explains the usage as denoting a participant already known to the storyteller, but not to the listener/reader (c. f. GOI § 470). This is rather unsatisfactory as it is too general and this state of affairs could be said to hold for all the items of a story told. Cross-linguistically this use of the article is unusual as the article is normally only used for known entities. Thus in the grammatical framework of Functional Grammar, the definite article is defined as being used for nouns with continued reference in narrative; it therefore can be referred to as a 'topicality marker' (c. f. Givón 1995: 379ff.). In this paper the usage of the article in Old Irish with newly introduced nouns will be examined. We will first deal with how the Old Irish article is traditionally analysed. Secondly Functional Grammar approaches to definiteness will be examined in different languages. Finally we will evaluate how Old Irish can be seen in this context. It will be argued that in(d) serves as a cataphoric deictic element used as an attention marker.
Among Celticists it is well known that suddenly encountered new characters in a story/sagatext in Old Irish can be introduced using the definite article, as in: Ba dorchae ind adaig. [...]. Co n-accae ara chind in fer, 7 leth a chind fair [...]. 'Dark was the night. He sees a man before him, and half his head on him.' (LU 4932). Thurneysen explains the usage as denoting a participant already known to the storyteller, but not to the listener/reader (c. f. GOI § 470). This is rather unsatisfactory as it is too general and this state of affairs could be said to hold for all the items of a story told. Cross-linguistically this use of the article is unusual as the article is normally only used for known entities. Thus in the grammatical framework of Functional Grammar, the definite article is defined as being used for nouns with continued reference in narrative; it therefore can be referred to as a 'topicality marker' (c. f. Givón 1995: 379ff.). In this paper the usage of the article in Old Irish with newly introduced nouns will be examined. We will first deal with how the Old Irish article is traditionally analysed. Secondly Functional Grammar approaches to definiteness will be examined in different languages. Finally we will evaluate how Old Irish can be seen in this context. It will be argued that in(d) serves as a cataphoric deictic element used as an attention marker.