LINGUIST List 13.3359

Wed Dec 18 2002

Review: Sociolinguistics: Hickey (2002)

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  • Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Hickey (2002), A Source Book for Irish English

    Message 1: Hickey (2002), A Source Book for Irish English

     Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 01:57:45 +0000
    From: Elizabeth J. Pyatt <ejp10psu.edu>
    Subject: Hickey (2002), A Source Book for Irish English


    Hickey, Raymond (2002) A Source Book for Irish English (Library and Information Sources in Linguistics, vol. 27), John Benjamins, hardback, ISBN 90 272 3753 0 (Eur) / ISBN 1 58811 209 8 (U.S.) 541 pp., CD-ROM (Windows), $136.00

    Book Announcement on Linguist: http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=3940 http://linguistlist.org/issues/13/13-2459.html

    Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Penn State University

    The handbook 'A Source Book for Irish English' is the latest volume of John Benjamins Library and Information Sources in Linguistics series which collects references for specialized language topics such as Irish English. This book consists of four portions - a ''Historical Overview'' of the English language in Ireland starting from the medieval period, an overview of ''Research Themes'' in the scholarship of Irish English, the ''Annotated Bibliography'' containing over 3,400 entries and then various appendices, including information about the CD-ROM.

    Irish English, also known as Hiberno-English, refers to the form of English spoken in Ireland. This variety is of potential interest to traditional dialectologists, sociolinguists, and also to creolists since many features of the native Celtic language Irish, such as heavy use of clefting, were transferred to this form of English as the population lost Irish.

    As can be imagined from the proximity of Ireland and England, the history of English in Ireland has been long, complicated and sometimes turbulent. The historical overview gives an excellent synopsis of the social and political situation starting from the initial Norman settlements in the 12th century through the Protestant plantations of the 16th-17th centuries to the secret 'hedge schools' run by Irish language scholars, then the modern era. Hickey also mentions other linguistic events in Ireland such as contact with Old Norse and Flemish through various settlements or colonies. The synopsis is followed by a list of key documents starting again from the Anglo-Norman era. The research themes section sketches out what issues have been of concern to historians and linguists.

    The bulk of the source book is the annotated bibliography. At almost 400 pages, this section alone comprises almost three-quarters of the book. This section is also organized by topic, and the range and depth of topics is truly impressive as will be discussed later in this review. Each entry is numbered in order to facilitate searches on the CD-ROM and in the book itself. For instance, the historical overview and research themes contain reference numbers which refer to the bibliographic section. In addition, each entry is accompanied by a short annotation explaining the contents of the article or book.

    The CD-ROM contains the references in an electronic database, but unfortunately for this reviewer, it is only accessible in PC format. The database files are available with a special PC database or in Microsoft Access format. However, some of the shorter reference files are in RTF format which is usable on most platforms.

    The first section of the bibliography covers references to works about ''English in Ireland'' and includes general works, regional studies including Dublin, Belfast and Ulster (Northern Ireland), medieval resources, contact issues, the influence of Irish on Irish-English, linguistic analyses (phonology, morphology, lexical, syntax and acquisition) and the use of Irish-English in literature and drama with special sections on Joyce, Swift, O'Casey, Synge and the Irish ''brogue.''

    The second section covers what Hickey calls ''Extra-Territorial Varieties'' or language issues related to the diaspora of Irish English speakers to Britain, North America, Australia and New Zealand in the 18th-19th centuries. This section actually begins with the linguistic relationship between Ireland and Scotland and then Ireland and the Isle of Man. The socio-linguistic relationship between these three regions is complex because both English and a form of Irish or Gaelic is spoken in all three. The rest of this section finishes with references to Wales and various regions in Britain then moves to North America, with special sections on New Foundland, Appalachia and the Caribbean. This section also includes papers which explores potential relations with North American and Caribbean creoles including African American Vernacular English. The last portion includes sources for the Southern Hemisphere including Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa.

    The next section is ''Additional Languages'' and includes basic citations for the Celtic languages, Norse, Flemish, Anglo-Norman and Shelta (a gypsy language if Ireland), plus issues of Irish and English bilingualism and language planning. The last two sections are ''General References'' covering history, politics and literature in Ireland and ''Collections'' organized by world region.

    This book is a valuable resource for specialists of Irish English as well as in other sub-disciplines such as creoles, Celtic linguistics, English language dialectology and Germanic linguistics. Indeed, even scholars of Irish literature and history could find this source book very valuable, since the detailed organization of the bibliography makes it easy for scholars to review the type of references they are interested in. In addition, the historical overview is well-written and extremely informative for both novices and experts. The chronology at the end of the book is another valuable research tool.

    However, for a researcher interested in getting an overview of Irish English linguistic features, this may not be the best source to begin with. Some information is available, but it is interspersed within the annotations or in the Research Themes section which themselves are mixed in with historical or dialectal themes. The focus of the book is the bibliography and that would be its recommended use. Fortunately, some information about general sources is provided in the initial sections.

    One technical quibble I have is that the database files on the CD-ROM are apparently accessible only to PC users. The Macintosh user group may be in the minority, but, in my opinion, still a significant market force in the field of linguistics. A parallel set of files in the cross-platform FileMaker Pro database format or even comma/tab delimited delimited files could be made available. In particular, the text delimited are relatively easy to import into other database programs or a spreadsheet Excel. Finally, one minor publication quirk is that Section II ''Research Themes'' is given its own section heading in the table of contents, yet is labeled as part of the previous ''Historical Overview'' section in the text itself. The author's contents are not affected, but in a book this size, I found this a little disorienting.

    Overall though, scholars looking for a comprehensive overview of available research on Irish-English will want to take a look at this book. The detailed organization and annotation of the book make this a valuable tool for Irish-English scholars and specialists in related disciplines.

    ABOUT THE REVIEWER

    Elizabeth Pyatt earned a Ph.D. in linguistics, specializing in Celtic phonology and syntax.