An Introduction to Irish English (Equinox Textbooks & Surveys in Linguistics) - Softcover

'The book creates a wonderful balance between the theory and the Irish English data. It is rich with illustrations of different features with examples from the author's own research and observations over the years, in particular her classroom experiences. This is an excellent book, well written in an engaging style. It will be attractive to the audience of people interested in the study of Irish English. It will also prove interesting and engaging to the general reader interested in Irish English or Hiberno-English.' --Brian Nolan, Head of the Department of Informatics at the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown in Dublin, Ireland

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 analyzes 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.