An overview of English as it is spoken in the Northern dialect regions of Ireland.

This volume brings together current research by international scholars on the varieties of English spoken in Ireland. The papers apply contemporary theoretical and methodological approaches and frameworks to a range of topics. A number of papers explore the distribution of linguistic features in Irish English, including the evolution of linguistic structures in Irish English and linguistic change in progress, employing broadly quantitative sociolinguistic approaches. Pragmatic features of Irish English are explored through corpus linguistics-based analysis. The construction of linguistic corpora using written and recorded material form the focus of other papers, extending and analyzing the growing range of corpus material available to researchers of varieties of English, including diaspora varieties. Issues of language and identity in contemporary Ireland are explored in several contributions using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The volume will be of interest to linguists generally, and to scholars with an interest in varieties of English.

The publication in the past ten years of linguistic atlases of England and Scotland has not only advanced our knowledge of the lexical and morphological variety inherent in the English language, but has made it possible to establish a number of methodological principles for the study of language both in its contemporary distribution and in its historical evolution. The essays in this volume, by contributors to the linguistic atlases and other dialectologists, describe some of the problems that bedevil the study of dialect and the methodological solutions employed to minimise them. They also survey the contributions that linguistic cartography can make to the study of English and of language in general. The considerations it embodies are of major importance for the student of language and, in addition, the book is an invaluable companion to the Atlases.

Routledge Library Editions: Linguistics brings together as one set, mini-sets, or individual volumes, a series of previously out-of-print classics from a variety of academic imprints. With titles ranging from Applied Linguistics and Language Learning to Experimental Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics Today: International Perspectives, this set provides in one place a wealth of important reference sources from a wide range of authors expert in the field.

This volume examines in-depth the many facets of language and identity in the complex linguistic landscape of Ireland. The role of the heritage language Irish is scrutinized as are the manifold varieties of English spoken in regions of the island determined by both geography and social contexts. Language as a vehicle of national and cultural identity is center-stage as is the representation of identity in various media types and text genres. In addition, the volume examines the self-image of the Irish as reflected in various self-portrayals and references, e.g. in humorous texts. Identity as an aspect of both public and private life in contemporary Ireland, and its role in the gender interface, is examined closely in several chapters. This collection is aimed at both scholars and students interested in langage and identity in the milti-layered situation of Ireland, both historically and at present. By addressing general issues surrounding the dynamic and vibrant research area of identity it reaches out to readers beyond Ireland who are concerned with the pivotal role this factor plays in present-day societies.