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The Treatment of Aspect Distinctions in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Grammars of English
(2003)
This article discusses the problem why the English language used in Ireland ("Irish English") as the second national language, has to date enjoyed so little prestige among everyday users of it, whereas it found enthusiastic recognition among Anglo-Irish writers since the beginning of the 19c. While no educated speaker of Irish English would target an RP pronunciation any more, the use of Irish English grammar and lexis is still stigmatised as smacking of the "brogue." The hypothesis is advanced that, in spite of its independence since 1921 and its "Celtic Tiger" economy since entry into the EU in the 70s, the Republic of Ireland has still not fully entered the post-colonial stage in matters of language and education, where pride in Identity and Otherness is reflected in the conscious use and engineering of a nationally distinctive variety of English, such as in Australia, New Zealand or Canada.There is still no national dictionary of Irish English, no national grammar, no national broadcasting and TV handbook, no national dictionary of Irish English. The title of the article quotes from a publication which attests to the strong linguistic minority complex which many Irish people still seem to suffer from.
This paper argues that the texts surviving from the Old English period do not reflect the spoken language of the bulk of the population under Anglo-Saxon elite domination. While the Old English written documents suggest that the language was kept remarkably unchanged, i.e. was strongly monitored during the long OE period (some 500 years!), the spoken and "real Old English" is likely to have been very different and much more of the type of Middle English than the written texts. "Real Old Engish", i.e. of course only appeared in writing after the Norman Conquest. Middle English is therefore claimed to have begun with the 'late British' speaking shifters to Old English. The shift patterns must have differed in the various part of the island of Britain, as the shifters became exposed to further language contact with the Old Norse adstrate in the Danelaw areas and the Norman superstrate particularly in the South East, the South West having been least exposed to language contact after the original shift from 'Late British' to Old English. This explains why the North was historically the most innovative zone. This also explains the conservatism of the present day dialects in the South West. It is high time that historical linguists acknowledge the arcane character of the Old English written texts.
Multiculturalism and beyond : perspektives and new publicatons on the culture debate in the USA
(2003)
Arundati Roy's the God of small things : identity construction between indianness and britishness
(2003)