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The Phonology of English Loan-Words in Inis Meáin Irish

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The Phonology of English Loan-Words in Inis Meáin Irish In: Ériu (33), 1982, 137-156. The phonology of English loan-words in Inis Meáin Irish Raymond Hickey University of Bonn The systematic changes in the phonetic form of English words1 adopted into the Irish of Inis Meáin,2 the centre one of the Aran Islands, have not been dealt with as yet, although many of them are given in Ó Siadhail (1978) and in de Bhaldraithe (1953) which, however, deals with those loan-words found in the Irish of Cois Fhairrge, the dialect of which shows only slight if any differences to that of Inis Meáin. Both authors, in their phonetic transcriptions, used symbols and diacritics which are common to all works on Irish phonetics and phonology. These symbols are, however, imprecise in many cases and are over-influenced by the orthography of Irish rather than being strictly based on spoken usage. Here the method of transcription is that of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), in a narrow interpretation. This has the advantage of explicitness and accessibility to non-Celtologists and also, most importantly, it allows one to establish the relation of symbol to articulation,3 something which is not possible with the specifically Irish symbols (such as [L], [N], etc.) as they are not satisfactorily defined. In considering English loan-words in Inis Meáin Irish (IMI) it is necessary to see both consonants and the vowels in relation to each other. This is especially the case where vowel quality is frequently determined by the nature of the neighbouring consonants. However, for the purposes of classification I have chosen to examine firstly the vowel phonemes of Standard English4 and their reflexes in IMI while dealing with consonants where their realization is either effected by the vowel phonemes or in turn determines them. The consonant phonemes will be treated subsequently inasmuch as they will not have been touched upon already by then. The values given for all vowel phonemes are those which they have in received pronunciation (RP). It must be stressed, however, that the form they had or have5 while in contact with IMI is that of Hiberno-English (HE)6 which in the area of vowel quality shows considerable deviation from RP. The main differences are given below: RP HE RP HE /i:/, [ïi] F [i:]/[ii]7 [=:] F [Q] [ei] F [e:] /ai/ [ae] F [ai] [<:] F [<:]8 [qu] F [o:]/[ou] [>] F [>] [iq] F [iQ] [o:] F [>:] [eq] F [eQ] /u:/, [uu] F [u:]/[uu] [uq] F [uQ] /v/, [ä] F [ß] Monophthongization and r-colouring are the most salient features of HE vowel quality in comparison with RP. In this respect it has affinity with Irish which phonemically has only four diphthongs (/ai/, /au/, /iq/, /uq/) and which also has a Raymond Hickey The phonology of English loan-words in Inis Meáin Irish Page 2 of 19 post-vocalic, pre-consonantal r. The realization of the RP vowels can thus be shown in the ensuing examples: RP HE IMI /i:/ F [i:]/[ii]9 F [i:] Exx.: steamer F [Isti:mQ] cheese F [t"i:s] As opposed to both RP (/i:/ F [ïi]) and HE this vowel (/i:/) is a long tense monophthong in Irish. The existence of the phonemic diphthong /in/ in Irish (cf. bia ‘food’ F [bia]) acts against any tendency to diphthongize /i:/, particularly as a centring diphthong such as HE [ii]. /i:/ has a palatalizing effect on the preceding consonant in accordance with the phonetics of Irish. This is seen most clearly when the consonant in question is /r/, e.g. breeze10 F [b"r"i:s] The quality of this [r"] varies from a slightly fricative [r] as in the same word pronounced in RP to a variant which has the blade of the tongue so close to the hard palate that a sibilant results which is close to [g]. RP HE IMI /i/ F [i] F [i] Exx.: Synge F [sink] crazy F [/k"r"e:si] When [i] is in a post-stress syllable it is very often weakened in its distinctive ness to [q]. In stressed syllables it is fully maintained as is to be expected because of its phonemic status in Irish. In isolated cases where [e] is followed in the next syllable by [i] we find dissimilation of vowel quality which because of [e] being realized as [i] in Irish leads to [i] being realized as [e]. Ex.: Wellingtons F [/wiìentqns] A similar type of dissimilation is to be seen in the word busy F [/b"izi] where the quality of the first vowel was altered, not to [e], however, but to a more centralized version [e], [/b"esi] which could reflect slight uncertainty on the part of the speaker (cf. the realization of RP /au/). RP HE IMI /ei/ F [e:] F [e:]/[e:{] Exx.: crazy F [Ikr"e:si] play11 F [p"l"e:] In keeping with the monophthongization which we find among Irish vowels [ei] is never realized in loan-words as a diphthong. Even with some speakers who have a Raymond Hickey The phonology of English loan-words in Inis Meáin Irish Page 3 of 19 slightly lowered version of /e:/, i.e. [e:{] (e.g. in sé ‘he’ F [$e:{]) we still have a stable vowel in loan-words, e.g. pancake F [Ip"@:nke:{k] RP HE IMI /e/ F [e] F [i] Exx.: friendly F [Ifr"iÂëdìi] sexy F [/siksi] The raising of RP /e/ to [i] is among the more prominent shifts in vowel realization in IMI. It cannot be traced back to phonetic conditioning which obtains in Irish and it is does not depend on phonotactic or prosodic restrictions. Note that the shift occurs even when change of stress has lead to /e/ being in an unstressed syllable: cement F [Isimiët]. RP HE IMI /@/ F [@] F [@:] Exx.: flat F [f"l"@:t] bank F [b"@:nk] The vowel used in IMI for RP /@/ is qualitatively different from the long allophonic variant of /@/ in RP [Ih@·ndi] for handy. In addition to increased length and tenseness the lips are more spread and the vowel may be partially nasalized towards the end of its articulation: Ex.: IMI [Ih@:ndi] or [Ih@ndi] The nasalization is always present with those speakers who nasalize this vowel in Irish anyway, even in open syllables, e.g. the realization of sea ‘yes’ (lit.: it is) as [$æ̃̃:]. It is worth remarking that the vowel used for RP /@/ in IMI, i.e. [@:] is an allophone of the vowel phoneme /@/ which has the following distribution in IMI: [@:] / C [+palatal] – /@/ [a:] / C [–palatal] – Exx.: teach ‘house’ F [t"@:x] lag ‘weak’ F [1a:g] See also the distribution conditions for /</. The choice of [@:] instead of [a:] for RP /@/ is made on the strength of the articulatory proximity of the former to the RP vowel. RP HE IMI /<:/ F [a:] F [@:] Raymond Hickey The phonology of English loan-words in Inis Meáin Irish Page 4 of 19 Exx.: chance F [$@:ns] blastáil ‘blasting’ F [/b"l"@:st<:l"] The shift in articulation which takes place in IMI with RP /<:/ is unexpected as IMI has a phoneme which lies very close to this, i.e. /</ whose realization can be seen in the following schema: [>:] / C [–palatal] _ /</ [<:] / C [+palatal] _ Exx.: lán ‘full’ F [1>:B] ceann ‘head’, ‘one’ F [k"<:B] Nonetheless the shift to [@:] is attested in many examples. An explanation could be sought in the advanced variety of [<:] found in HE which then leads with loan-words to a further advancing and phonemic merger with RP /@/: RP /@/ IMI [@:] RP /<:/ However, precisely this advanced variety of /<:/ is found in IMI as one of the allophones of /</; nonetheless it has not been used for RP /a:/ in any of the forms recorded. RP HE IMI /o:/12 F [>:] F [>:] F [o:] F [o:] The following represents examples of both realizations of RP /o:/ Exx.: (i) porch F [po:r$] (HE: [po:rt$]) (ii) shawl F [$>:1] (HE: [$>:l]) In considering the realization of RP /o:/ in IMI one must first look at the intermediary stage in HE. Here we have phonetic distinction of homophones in RP, e.g.: RP [ko:t] F HE [k>:t] caught F HE [ko:at] court This is due to the rhotic character of HE which preserves ME /o:/ before /r/. In those cases where /o:/ before /r/ arose from ME /a:/13 it is maintained in HE, e.g. warm F [w>:rm]. The HE value of RP /o:/ is more open probably to maintain the perceptual distinction between it and the HE realization of RP /qu/, [o:]/[ou]. Raymond Hickey The phonology of English loan-words in Inis Meáin Irish Page 5 of 19 RP HE IMI />/ F [>] F [@:] Exx.: doll F [d@:1] Knock F [BB@:k] In comparing the realizations of various RP vowels in IMI with each other one must couple />/ not with its raised long equivalent /<:/ but with its lowered unrounded long equivalent /<:/ inasmuch as these two RP phonemes appear in IMI as [@:]. This realization is as unexpected as that of /<:/ as again one would expect an allophone of Irish /</ as the realization of RP />/. We can begin, however, by saying that the length of [@:] is a non-distinctive feature in IMI which is not necessarily found in other Irish dialects and a slightly shorter variant is found with some speakers, especially in rapid speech.14 Thus we can formulate the following change: RP />/ F IMI /@/ F [@:]15 On a phonemic level then the equivalence is between short vowels. As the vowel /n/ does not occur short phonemically the following shift is not allowed: RP />/ –/F IMI [>] (*IMI />/) Furthermore it holds true for all vowel shifts between RP and IMI that changes in phonemic vowel quantity do not take place.
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