https___aranirish.nuigalway.ie_ga__1.xml
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Project Description This Survey constitutes a highly detailed micro-dialectological study of spoken Irish in the Aran Islands, focusing on geographical and social variation linked to generations (older and younger age-groups), genders (male and female), and level of education. It provides for the first time ever for any language anywhere in the world an extensive analysis of a wide range of phonological and grammatical variation on a dialectal and sociolinguistic basis. In the case of the largest of the three islands, Inis Mór, the Survey includes detailed information on phonological, grammatical and lexical variation at the level of individual townlands. The geographical layout of these townlands and the strategic position of the archipelago in Galway Bay in relation to the surrounding mainlands in Connemara, East Galway and Clare lend a remarkably potent visibility to the spectrum of linguistic variation displayed in the study. As such, the Survey echoes and also builds on Heinrich Wagner's 1958-69 work Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects to provide an unrivalled portrait of Irish as it was spoken in Aran in the late twentieth century. Presenting a novel and ambitious exploration of complex linguistic change embedded in a social context, the Survey represents a milestone contribution to dialectology and sociolinguistics – and, indeed, to the Irish language itself – that is of international significance. Dialectology Dialectology has traditionally been interested in describing linguistic differences between separate communities of people speaking the same language within a broad geographical region. When dialectologists focus on a small community, they typically make an attempt to describe the general features of the dialect spoken in that community, noting variation at times, but not focusing on it. In other words, dialectology has not been interested in providing a systematic description of the differences in speech found within a small community. Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics, on the other hand, has been interested in describing just such differences in speech between groups of people living side by side in the same community and in relating certain speech forms to specific social groups within the community. Such groups might be distinguished by age, gender, level of education, religious affiliation, ethnic origin, etc. Normally, sociolinguists have focused on only a few linguistic variables – differences in pronunciation, grammar or lexicon – that distinguish one group in the community from another. Uniting Dialectology and Sociolinguistics The Survey unites both dialectology and sociolinguistics in an unusual way. It works on a geographical scale that a dialectologist would consider tiny and includes a range of linguistic features that a sociolinguist would consider far too large and complex to allow for careful investigation. From the very beginning, the rich linguistic data gathered from the field research in the Aran Islands demanded just such an approach, one that honoured the celebrated wealth of the local dialect. Happily, the success of the project has validated the methodology employed. Observing the Evolution of a Dialect The perspective of generative grammarians associated with the work of Noam Chomsky has proven to be particularly valuable in this study as we observe individual speakers spread over three generations apparently choosing between logical alternatives in selecting linguistic forms as they construct their individual grammars unconsciously in their minds. In other words, we are glimpsing the evolution of a communal language, as children within each new generation of speakers absorb the language within the household and then develop their individual languages unwittingly as they interact with their playmates and age-mates in the neighbourhood and at school. In the linguistic evidence from the different generations within the community, we can observe the forces at work in the evolution of a dialect. There are the broad forces of long-term typological change operating on the verbal system and on the nominal and adjectival declensions in Irish over millennia. There are also the ever-present forces of natural selection operating on the individual linguistic forms current among individual speakers, as new forms are born and old ones die out. Celebrating Linguistic Innovation & Creativity The Survey demonstrates that the concept of older speakers representing a 'purer' form of the dialect is misleading and over-simplified. In Aran, the speech of the older speakers does not represent a 'classic form' of the dialect, which younger speakers are somehow 'corrupting'. Younger speakers are certainly moving the dialect toward standard written Irish and producing many spontaneous innovations, but innovation, it emerges, belongs to older speakers too, a finding that recalls the work of Holger Pedersen (1867-1953) over a 100 years ago. The Danish linguist – still remembered in Aran as 'An Dane' – documents considerable linguistic innovation throughout the stories and songs he transcribed in Inis Mór in 1895-6 from older informants. Clearly, the archaism attributed to the Irish language as it is spoken in Aran belies the creativity of each individual speaker who has shaped the dialect down through the generations. Celebrating that individual creativity within the living dialect is, perhaps, the greatest contribution of this Survey. Potential for Future Research For over a century, Galway Bay has presented an intriguing prospect for linguistic research. This is not simply because Irish has remained a vernacular there for millennia or because it represents one of the current strongholds of the language. Rather, Galway Bay spans a broad frontier area where two provinces – Connacht to the north and Munster to the south – and their contrasting dialects meet over land and sea routes. Within that milieu, the Aran Islands hold a particular fascination because they effectively straddle the amorphous dialectal border between the provincial dialects. As such, they have a rare potential to provide a cross-section of linguistic variation in a frontier zone. Building on the Work of Past Pioneers The first scholar to provide some insight into the spoken Irish of the Galway Bay area was Franz Nikolaus Finck (1867-1910). After spending four months transcribing material in Aran in 1894-5, he produced the first linguistic study of the Irish language, Die araner Mundart: ein betrag zur erforschung des westirischen (1899). Hot on his heels came the afore-mentioned Holger Pedersen (1867-1953) who spent six months in Aran in 1895-6. The local linguistics canon has since expanded and now includes more recent contributions, among them Heinrich Becker's work in western Connemara and in Inis Oírr (1939), Tomás de Bhaldraithe's work on the Irish of Cois Fharraige (1945-53), Heinrich Wagner's The Dialects of Connaught (LASID Vol.3, 1982), Brian Ó Curnáin's work on the Irish of Iorras Aintheach (1996-2007), and Brian Ó Catháin's work since 1990 on the Irish of Inis Oírr. Conclusions & Questions By cross-referencing such works and the Survey, some conclusions or suggestions can begin to emerge. For instance, the Cois Fharraige dialect is almost certainly the parent dialect of the Irish spoken on Inis Mór and Inis Meáin, while Inis Oírr's links stretch eastward around Galway Bay nearly as far as Galway City itself. Questions arise too. What is the relationship between these broad linguistic areas? What historical realities do the existing dialects reflect? What further dialect areas can be delineated within Connemara and Aran and within Connacht as a whole? What kinds of linguistic change can be observed in the living dialects? Galway Bay is poised to become an important nexus of linguistic research that enables the exploration of such questions. Read more about the research »
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Cur Síos ar an Tionscadal Staidéar mionchruinn canúineolaíochta ar an nGaeilge labhartha in Oileáin Árann atá sa Suirbhé seo. Díríonn sé go speisialta ar na difríochtaí tíreolaíocha agus sóisialta a bhaineann leis na glúnta, idir shean agus óg, leis na hinscní (fir/buachaillí agus mná/cailíní), agus le leibhéil oideachais. Den chéad uair riamh i gcás aon teanga in aon áit ar domhan, déantar anailís chuimsitheach shochtheangeolaíochta agus canúineolaíochta ar raon leathan éagsúlachtaí a mhaireann san fhoghraíocht agus sa ghramadach. I gcás an oileáin is mó, Árainn (nó Inis Mór, mar a thugtar air amanta), tá mioneolas sa Suirbhé i dtaobh éagsúlachtaí foghraíochta, gramadaí agus an stóir focal go fiú ar leibhéal na mbailte fearainn. Bronnann dáileadh na mbailte fearainn agus suíomh straitéiseach na n-oileán féin i gCuan na Gaillimhe idir Conamara, Oirthear na Gaillimhe agus Co. an Chláir soiléire luachmhar ar phatrúin shuntasacha na héagsúlachta teanga a nochtaítear sa staidéar. Dá réir sin, is ionann an Suirbhé seo agus comharba ar an gcuid de shaothar clúiteach Heinrich Wagner, Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects (1958-69), ina fhaightear léargas den scoth ar an nGaeilge a bhí á labhairt in Oileáin Árann i dtreo dheireadh na fichiú aoise. Trí scrúdú a dhéanamh ar bhealach úr uaillmhianach ar na hathruithe casta atá tagtha ar an teanga ina comhthéacs sóisialta, cuireann an Suirbhé seo cloch mhór ar chairn na canúineolaíochta agus na sochtheangeolaíochta agus cuireann freisin le léann na Gaeilge. Níl aon cheist, mar sin, ach go bhfuil tábhacht idirnáisiúnta ag baint leis. An Chanúineolaíocht Is éard atá i gceist leis an gcanúineolaíocht thraidisiúnta ná míniú ar dhifríochtaí teanga idir pobail i réigiún ar leith, pobail a labhraíonn an teanga chéanna. Nuair a scrúdaíonn canúineolaithe pobal beag, cuireann siad síos ar thréithe ginearálta na canúna a labhraítear sa phobal sin. Cé go dtugtar éagsúlachtaí inmheánacha san áireamh uaireanta, ní ar an ábhar féin a dhíríonn siad a n-aird. Is é sin le rá, níor phléigh an chanúineolaíocht go dtí seo le cur síos córasach ar na difríochtaí urlabhra a fhaightear i bpobal beag faoi leith. An tSochtheangeolaíocht Is éard a bhíonn ar bun sa tsochtheangeolaíocht, ámh, ná plé go díreach leis na difríochtaí sin – na difríochtaí san urlabhra atá le sonrú idir grúpaí daoine atá ina gcónaí taobh le taobh sa phobal céanna. Anuas ar sin, cuireann sí foirmeacha áirithe urlabhra i leith sainghrúpaí sóisialta sa phobal. Is féidir go minic idirdhealú a dhéanamh idir na grúpaí sin de réir aoise, inscne, leibhéil oideachais, creidimh, bunadh eitneach, etc. Go dtí seo, dhíríodh sochtheangeolaithe ar chúpla gné faoi leith den teanga – difríochtaí san fhuaimniú, sa ghramadach nó sa stór focal – a dhealaíonn grúpa amháin ó ghrúpa eile sa phobal. Comhtháthú idir an Chanúineolaíocht agus an tSochtheangeolaíocht Sa Suirbhé seo, aontaítear an chanúineolaíocht agus an tsochtheangeolaíocht le chéile ar bhealach neamhghnách. Is fearr a d’fheilfeadh an scála beag bídeach tíreolaíoch a sholáthraítear don sochtheangeolaí ná don chanúineolaí, a shílfeadh nach mbeadh dóthain éagsúlachta laistigh de limistéar chomh teoranta. Ar an lámh eile, is fearr a d’fheilfeadh an raon fairsing de ghnéithe teanga a sholáthraítear don chanúineolaí ná don sochtheangeolaí, a shílfeadh an fhairsinge úd a bheith iomarcach doláimhsithe, ró-mhór agus ró-chasta. Ba léir ó thús an taighde go mbeadh cur chuige áirithe ag teastáil chun plé leis an dlús mór de shamplaí teanga a bhí á mbailiú in Oileáin Árann. Agus an mhodheolaíocht chomhtháite i bhfeidhm, is fearr a léireofaí an saibhreas teanga a bhain cáil amach riamh don chanúint áitiúil. Is léir anois ó thorthaí an taighde gur rí-mhaith a chruthaigh an cur chuige sin. Spléachadh ar Fhorbairt Canúna Baineadh an-leas go deo sa staidéar seo as peirspictíocht na ngramadóirí giniúnacha, as teoiricí a bhfuil baint acu le Noam Chomsky. Feicimid cainteoirí indibhidiúla thar thrí ghlúin éagsúla ag roghnú foirmeacha teanga as raon fairsing leaganacha, agus iad ag cruthú a gcórais ghramadaí phearsanta féin i nganfhios dóibh féin. Is é sin, faigheann muid spléachadh ar fhorbairt nádúrtha teanga phobail – na páistí i ngach glúin nua cainteoirí ag sealbhú bunús na teanga ina dteaghlach féin agus ansin ag forbairt a dteanga indibhidiúil féin dá mbuíochas agus iad i gcaidreamh leis na páistí a mbíonn siad ag spraoi agus ag foghlaim leo sa chomharsanacht agus ar scoil. San fhaisnéis theanga a fuarthas ó na glúnta éagsúla sa phobal, feicimid fórsaí éagsúla ag múnlú na canúna. Tá na fórsaí leathana ann is cúis leis na hathruithe fadtréimhseacha ar chóras na mbriathra agus ar dhíochlaontaí na n-ainmfhocal agus na n-aidiachtaí sa Ghaeilge leis na céadta bliain. Anuas orthu sin, tá buanfhórsaí an roghnaithe nádúrtha ann agus iad sin ag dul i gcionn ar na leaganacha teanga atá i bhfeidhm ag na cainteoirí faoi láthair – foirmeacha nua á gcruthú sa teanga agus seanfhoirmeacha ag dul i léig. Nuálaíocht & Cruthaitheacht Teanga á gCeiliúradh Léirítear sa Suirbhé gur míchruinn róshimplí an coincheap a deir go bhfuil leagan ‘níos glaine’ den chanúint ag an seandream. In Oileáin Árann, ní hionann urlabhra na seandaoine agus ‘leagan clasaiceach’ den chanúint, leagan atá á ‘thruailliú’ ag an dream óg ar chaoi éigin. Is cinnte go bhfuil na cainteoirí óga ag bogadh na canúna i dtreo na Gaeilge caighdeánaí scríofa agus go bhfuil a lán gnéithe nuálacha le sonrú ar a gcuid Gaeilge. Mar sin féin, baineann an nuálaíocht freisin le cainteoirí aosta, mar is léir ón taighde a rinne Holger Pedersen (1867-1953) os cionn 100 bliain ó shin. ‘An Dane’ a thugtar fós ar an teangeolaí úd ón Danmhairg agus is léir go raibh go leor nuálaíochta teanga sna scéalta agus sna hamhráin a bhreac seisean ó dhaoine aosta in Árainn sna blianta 1895-6. In ainneoin cháil na hársaíochta atá ar Ghaeilge Árann, is follasach go mbaineann cruthaitheacht leis na cainteoirí ar fad agus iad ag múnlú na canúna ó ghlúin go glúin. Seans, mar sin, gurb í an tábhacht is mó atá leis an Suirbhé seo ná go gceiliúrann sé cruthaitheacht an uile dhuine. Deiseanna Taighde Amach Anseo Le breis agus céad bliain anuas, b’iontach agus ba mhealltach an acmhainn don taighde teangeolaíochta é réigiún Chuan na Gaillimhe. Is í an Ghaeilge teanga an phobail anseo leis na mílte bliain agus tá sé fós ar na háiteanna is láidre a bhfuil an Ghaeilge á labhairt iontu. Lena chois sin, is réigiún leathan é Cuan na Gaillimhe atá suite ar an teorainn idir dhá chúige – Cúige Chonnacht ó thuaidh agus Cúige Mumhan ó dheas – sa chaoi go dtagann canúintí na gcúigí sin i gcaidreamh agus i gcoimhlint lena chéile ar talamh agus ar muir. Sa chomhthéacs sin, is díol spéise ar leith iad Oileáin Árann ó tharla iad ag trasghearradh na teorann sin. Tig leo léargas an-chruinn a thabhairt ar éagsúlachtaí teanga in imeallchríoch thábhachtach. Ag Tógáil ar Obair na gCeannródaithe Ba é Franz Nikolaus Finck (1867-1910) an chéad scoláire a thug léargas éigin ar an nGaeilge labhartha i limistéar Chuan na Gaillimhe. I ndiaidh dó ceithre mhí a chaitheamh ag tras-scríobh ábhair in Oileáin Árann sna blianta 1894-5, réitigh sé an chéad staidéar teangeolaíochta ar an nGaeilge, Die araner Mundart: ein betrag zur erforschung des westirischen (1899). Go gairid ina dhiaidh sin, chaith Holger Pedersen (1867-1953) sé mhí in Oileáin Árann sna blianta 1895-6. Tá scoláirí eile i ndiaidh cur le líon na saothar teangeolaíochta ó shin: orthu sin, tá saothar Heinrich Becker in iarthar Chonamara agus in Inis Oírr (1939), saothar Thomáis de Bhaldraithe ar Ghaeilge Chois Fharraige (1945-53), saothar Heinrich Wagner The Dialects of Connaught (LASID, Imleabhar 3, 1982), saothar Bhriain Uí Churnáin ar Ghaeilge Iorras Aintheach (1996-2007), agus saothar Bhriain Uí Chatháin ón mbliain 1990 anuas ar Ghaeilge Inis Oírr. Tátail & Ceisteanna Ach comparáid a dhéanamh idir na saothair sin agus an Suirbhé seo, tig linn roinnt conclúidí nó moltaí a chur chun cinn. Cuir i gcás, táimid ionann is cinnte gurb í canúint Chois Fharraige máthairchanúint na Gaeilge a labhraítear in Árainn agus in Inis Meáin, agus tá baint ag canúint Inis Oírr leis na canúintí thoir timpeall Chuan na Gaillimhe beagnach chomh fada le Cathair na Gaillimhe. Éiríonn ceisteanna as an saothar seo freisin. Cén gaol atá idir na mórcheantair theangeolaíochta seo? Cad a léiríonn na canúintí atá anois ann faoi stair an réigiúin seo? Cad iad na ceantair chanúna eile is féidir a rianú laistigh de réigiún Chonamara agus Oileáin Árann agus laistigh de Chúige Chonnacht trí chéile? Cad iad na hathruithe teanga atá le sonrú ar na canúintí beo? Tá gach cuma air go mbeidh tarraingt na dtaighdeoirí teangeolaíochta feasta ar réigiún sainiúil Chuan na Gaillimhe mar gur áit í ina bhféadfar na mórcheisteanna sin a chíoradh go mion tairbheach.