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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Gaelic dialects present and past: a study of modern and medieval dialect relationships in the Gaelic languages Peadar Ó Muircheartaigh BA, MA (NUI), MSc (Edin.) Submitted for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2015 i Abstract This thesis focuses on the historical development of dialectal variation in the Gaelic languages with special reference to Irish. As a point of departure, competing scholarly theories concerning the historical relationships between Goidelic dialects are laid out. Next, these theories are tested using dialectometric methods of linguistic analysis. Dialectometry clearly suggests the Irish of Ulster is the most linguistically distinctive of Irish dialects. This perspective on the modern dialects is utilised in subsequent chapters to clarify our understanding of the history of Gaelic dialectal variation, especially during the Old Irish period (AD 600–900). Theoretical and methodological frameworks that have been used in the study of the historical dialectology of Gaelic are next outlined. It is argued that these frameworks may not be the most appropriate for investigating dialectal variation during the Old Irish period. For the first time, principles from historical sociolinguistics are here applied in investigating the language of the Old Irish period. In particular, the social and institutional structures which supported the stability of Old Irish as a text language during the 8th and 9th centuries are scrutinised from this perspective. The role of the ecclesiastical and political centre of Armagh as the principal and central actor in the relevant network structures is highlighted. Focus then shifts to the processes through which ‘standard’ languages emerge, with special reference to Old Irish. The evidence of a small number of texts upon which modern understandings of Old Irish was based is assessed; it is argued that these texts most likely emerged from monasteries in the northeast of Ireland and the southwest of Scotland. Secondly, the processes through which the standard of the Old Irish period is likely to have come about are investigated. It is concluded that the standard language of the period arose primarily through the agency of monastic schools in the northeast of Ireland, particularly Armagh and Bangor. It is argued that this fact, and the subsequent prominence of Armagh as a stable and supremely prestigious centre of learning throughout the period, offers a sociolinguistically robust explanation for the apparent lack of dialectal variation in the language. Finally, the socio-political situation of the Old Irish period is discussed. Models of new-dialect formation are applied to historical evidence, and combined with later linguistic evidence, in an attempt to enunciate dialectal divisions which may have existed during the period. ii Signed declaration: I hereby declare that this thesis has been composed by me and that this work is my own. None of this work has been submitted for any degree or professional qualification other than this degree. Peadar Ó Muircheartaigh iii Linguistics today has so many and so divergent branches that it risks fragmentation. Yet Celtic studies have one great thing to contribute to linguistics as a whole: the very real unifying concern for the Celtic languages as the central object of inquiry. — Calvert Watkins iv Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................ ix Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................ x Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1. Survey of Gaelic dialects ................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Dialectal divisions ......................................................................................................... 10 1.1.1 Irish........................................................................................................................ 10 1.1.2 Scottish Gaelic ....................................................................................................... 13 1.1.3 Manx ..................................................................................................................... 15 1.2 Dialectal relationships .................................................................................................. 15 1.3 Historical development ................................................................................................ 16 1.4 Criticisms of the inherited consensus .......................................................................... 19 1.4.1 Diachronic identities versus genetic relationships ............................................... 19 1.4.2 Which features are relevant? ............................................................................... 24 1.4.3 A dependence on phonological material .............................................................. 27 1.5 Deconstructing ‘Common Gaelic’ ................................................................................ 29 1.5.1 Williams and Galeonic Irish ................................................................................... 30 1.5.2 Ó Buachalla: Northern and Southern Gaelic ......................................................... 33 1.5.3 Other features ....................................................................................................... 36 Syntax ......................................................................................................................... 36 Stress .......................................................................................................................... 39 Intonation .................................................................................................................. 40 Inter-dialectal perception and ‘standard’ Irish .......................................................... 43 1.6 Assessment .................................................................................................................. 45 1.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 46 2. Dialectometry: applications and implications.................................................................... 48 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 48 2.2 Glottochronology and lexicostatistics .......................................................................... 49 2.3 Early investigations of Celtic ........................................................................................ 52 2.4 Elsie’s Brittonic survey ................................................................................................. 54 2.5 Elsie 1986 ..................................................................................................................... 58 2.5.1 Reaction to Elsie’s lexicostatistics ......................................................................... 62 2.6 Kessler 1995 ................................................................................................................. 64 2.7 Results of Elsie and Kessler compared ......................................................................... 69 v 2.8 Representing relationships .......................................................................................... 73 2.8.1 Representing Elsie’s (1986) data ............................................................................... 77 2.8.1.1 Scotland.............................................................................................................. 77 2.8.1.2 Ireland ................................................................................................................ 80 2.8.2 Irish etymon identity analysis ................................................................................... 83 2.8.3 Levenshtein Distance measurement......................................................................... 85 2.8.3.1 Scotland.......................................................................................................... 87 2.8.3.2 Ireland ............................................................................................................ 88 2.8.3.3 Micro-level variation in the phonetic distance data ...................................... 93 2.8.3.4 Analysis of Connacht dialects........................................................................