K Mccooey-Heap Final Thesis
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Putting a Sight on the Substrate, Yessir: Lexical and syntactic items from the Manx Gaelic substratum in Manx English as resources for marking a Manx linguistic identity. Katherine Elizabeth McCooey-Heap 20717211 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Edge Hill University for the award of Doctor of Philosophy March 2020 Word Count (Excluding data): 77, 817 CONTENTS Contents ...................................................................................................................... i 1. List of Figures..................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .............................................................................................................. x List of Appendices ..................................................................................................... xii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................. xiii Abstract .................................................................................................................... xiv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... xv Declaration .............................................................................................................. xvii 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Context ......................................................................................... 2 1.2 IoM Linguistic Environment ........................................................................... 5 1.2.1 MxG ........................................................................................................ 5 1.2.2 The Perceived Death of MxG ................................................................. 6 1.2.3 MxG Revival ........................................................................................... 8 1.2.4 Manx English ........................................................................................ 12 1.3 Research Questions .................................................................................... 13 1.4 Thesis outline .............................................................................................. 14 2 Theoretical Review ............................................................................................ 16 2.1 Dialectological Enquiry ................................................................................ 16 2.1.1 Defining Dialect .................................................................................... 16 2.1.2 The Dialect Continua Approach ............................................................ 17 2.1.3 The Dialect Area Approach ................................................................... 17 2.1.4 Constructing Isoglosses: Phonological Priority? ................................... 19 2.1.5 (In)Compatibility of Dialect Delimitation Approaches ............................ 21 i 2.2 From Dialectology to Sociolinguistics .......................................................... 21 2.2.1 Relationship between dialectology and sociolinguistics ........................ 21 2.2.2 First Wave Variationist Study ................................................................ 24 2.2.3 Second Wave Variationist Study .......................................................... 25 2.2.4 Third-Wave Variationist Study .............................................................. 28 2.3 Locating Identity in Sociolinguistics ............................................................. 37 2.3.1 Defining Identity .................................................................................... 37 2.3.2 Language Ideological Approach ........................................................... 41 2.4 Linguistic Identity and the Nation ................................................................ 43 2.4.1 The Nation as an Imagined Community ............................................... 44 2.4.2 Language as an Emblem of National Identity ....................................... 46 2.4.3 The Linguistic Landscape and Language Policy ................................... 48 2.5 The Linguistic Identity of Island Nations ...................................................... 57 2.5.1 Malta ..................................................................................................... 57 2.5.2 Ocracoke Island .................................................................................... 59 2.6 Language Contact ....................................................................................... 61 2.6.1 Borrowing ............................................................................................. 61 2.6.2 Dialect Levelling ................................................................................... 65 2.6.3 Dialect Loss .......................................................................................... 66 3 Methodological Advances ................................................................................. 68 3.1 Dialect Geography ...................................................................................... 68 3.1.1 The Survey of English Dialects (SED) .................................................. 70 3.2 SuRE ........................................................................................................... 73 3.2.1 SuRE Elements .................................................................................... 75 3.2.2 Existing Applications of SuRE .............................................................. 97 3.2.3 SuRE on the Isle of Man ..................................................................... 105 4 Methodology ................................................................................................... 107 ii 4.1 Data Collection Approach ......................................................................... 107 4.1.1 Ethnographic Element ........................................................................ 107 4.1.2 The MxE SuRE Pack – Instructions, Confidentiality & Consent ............. 111 4.1.2 The MxE SuRE Pack – Biographical Information (‘About You’) .......... 112 4.1.3 The MxE SuRE Pack - Sense Relation Networks (SRNs) .................. 113 4.1.4 The MxE SuRE Pack - Questionnaires ............................................... 114 4.1.5 Interviews ........................................................................................... 124 4.2 Sampling ................................................................................................... 125 4.2.1 Nativeness and Representation .......................................................... 125 4.2.2 Sample Size ....................................................................................... 127 4.3 Ethical Implications ................................................................................... 132 4.3.1 Informed Consent ............................................................................... 132 4.4 Fieldwork Procedure ................................................................................. 133 5 Linguistic Data................................................................................................. 137 5.1 The Sample ............................................................................................... 137 5.2 Linguistic Data: MxG Substrate Lexis ....................................................... 140 5.2.1 Total items by age .............................................................................. 140 5.2.2 Total Items by Location....................................................................... 141 5.2.3 Total Items by MxG Proficiency .......................................................... 143 5.2.4 MxG Lexis Elicited .............................................................................. 144 5.2.5 Age ..................................................................................................... 149 5.2.6 Location .............................................................................................. 162 5.2.7 MxG Proficiency ................................................................................. 167 5.3 Linguistic Data: MxG Substrate Grammar ................................................. 172 5.3.1 MxG Grammar by Age ........................................................................ 172 5.3.2 MxG Grammar by Location ................................................................. 174 5.3.3 MxG Grammar by MxG Proficiency .................................................... 176 iii 5.3.4 Lack of Indefinite Article...................................................................... 176 5.3.5 ‘Put a sight on’ .................................................................................... 183 5.3.6 ‘Absolute’ usage of reflexive pronouns ............................................... 190 5.3.7 The Progressive form of verbs ............................................................ 195 5.3.8 Possessive Constructions using ‘at’ ................................................... 199 5.4 Linguistic Data: Other Items of Interest ..................................................... 204 5.4.1 Yessir.................................................................................................. 204 5.4.2 Hoolie ................................................................................................