An Introduction to Irish English »

This book is a general introduction to the English spoken in Ireland, its most characteristic features, and its historical development. It provides a practical introduction to the topic of Irish English (also known as Hiberno-English), the variety of English that arose in Ireland as a consequence of contact between the Irish and the English languages. As well as looking at the specific examples where substratum from Irish can be observed, the book analyses other features unique to Irish English, from different perspectives (taking into account, for example, the pragmatic implications of certain syntactic structures in current spoken Irish English). It offers the reader a comprehensive coverage of the history and most salient features of this variety of English, while discussing key concepts such as bilingualism and language shift. The material is presented in a simple and accessible manner. It encourages the reader to discuss and think critically about some of the topics and to use the last section of each chapter as a basis for further investigation. An Introduction to Irish English contains exercises and practical activities with each chapter, as well as suggestions for further reading. It deals with both real data and fictional representations of this variety and it includes excerpts from Literature, media and film scripts, as well as other contexts, including everyday conversation, political debates, newspapers, e-mail, blogs, etc.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Some Key Notions
2. The History of the English Language in Ireland
3. The Grammar of Irish English
4. The Vocabulary of Irish English
5. The Sounds of Irish English
6. Fictional Representations of Irish English
7. Meaning What They Say: The Pragmatics of Irish English
8. Searching Corpora for Data
9. Implications for EFL Teachers and Learners