Continuity and change in variety choice in radio advertising in Ireland (1977 to 2007): A language ideological analysis Joan O’Sullivan The thesis is submitted in part fulfilment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Limerick Supervisor: Dr. Helen Kelly-Holmes External examiners: Professor Nikolas Coupland, Cardiff University; Professor Daniel Davis, University of Michigan-Dearborn Submitted to the University of Limerick, May 2014 Abstract This research examines language ideological change in the Irish context through a longitudinal analysis of variety choice in radio advertising in Ireland from 1977 to 2007. The study extends the growing body of research on variation and change in Irish English to examine this variety as it operates within the context of the genre of radio advertising. A corpus of radio ads from the years 1977, 1987, 1997 and 2007 is analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Bakhtin’s (1981) concept of heteroglossia is applied to accent and dialect as well as genre as they relate to the ads. The analysis is based on Sussex’s (1989) ad components of Action and Comment which relate to the genre of the discourse. The corpus is analysed firstly at the inter-varietal level in relation to the range of varieties in the corpus, predominantly Irish English and Standard Southern British English (SSBE). Based on the decline of SSBE in the 1997 and 2007 sub-corpora, the second part of the analysis is at the intra-varietal level and focuses on accent sub-varieties of Irish English. The study explores the manifestation of standard and nationalist ideologies, the conversationalisation of discourse and the ideological construction of authenticity, employing a number of factors; variety choice and location in terms of ad components, the juxtaposition of prestige and vernacular varieties and sub-varieties in the ad components, indexical value of variety, and accommodation strategies including audience and referee design. Nationalist language ideologies and vernacular authenticities are reflected in the use of Irish English rather than the use of the Irish language. Standard language ideologies prevail throughout the corpus but take on a new guise in the later years in the form of prestige Irish English sub-varieties rather than SSBE. These prestige Irish English forms can be seen as a merging of nationalist and standard ideologies and of traditional establishment and vernacular authenticities. The notion of authenticity is found to be moving away from traditional conceptions and is based on more creative constructions. ii Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for any other award at this or any other academic institution. Where use has been made of the work of others, it has been fully acknowledged and referenced. Material from this thesis has been previously published in: O’Sullivan, J. (2013) ‘Advanced Dublin English in Irish radio advertising’, World Englishes, 32(3), 358–376. _________________________________________________ Joan O’Sullivan May 2014 iii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the help and support of a number of people in the completion of this thesis. Firstly, I sincerely thank Dr Helen Kelly-Holmes for her invaluable support, guidance, inspiration and encouragement throughout the project. It was a privilege to have her as my supervisor. I would also like to acknowledge the advice and support of Professor Angela Chambers at the concluding stages of the thesis. Thanks also to Professor Chambers for chairing the viva. Particular thanks are due to the external examiners, Professor Nikolas Coupland and Professor Daniel Davis for giving me the opportunity to discuss my research with them and for their very helpful feedback. I also acknowledge the academic and financial support of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication in relation to the completion of this thesis. Thanks are also due to former UL student, Mr John Drennan, who compiled the original data for the project and made it available to me. I would also like to thank the UL library staff, who were always so helpful and pleasant to deal with. I wish to thank most sincerely my good friends and colleagues, both past and present, at the University of Limerick Language Centre for their invaluable support and encouragement throughout the project. Particular thanks at a practical level are due to Brigid Ryan, Teresa Dolan, Maura Casey, Dr Declan O’Donnell and Dr Mary McCarthy for their help with proof-reading and critical discussion of the thesis. I would also like to thank my friend and colleague, Angela Farrell, who encouraged me to take on this project, and who has always been such a loyal and supportive friend. Finally, thanks to my family for their patience and especially to Brendan for his unwavering support and belief in me. iv Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Declaration .................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi List of Adverts .............................................................................................................................. xii Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Context and background.................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Terminology ....................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Objectives and research questions .................................................................................... 9 1.4 Theoretical basis for the research questions ................................................................... 13 1.5 Limitations of the study ................................................................................................... 18 1.6 Organisation of the thesis ................................................................................................ 19 Chapter 2. Irish English: Sociolinguistic and ideological context ................................................ 25 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 25 2.2 Irish English: Background and description ....................................................................... 26 2.2.1 History and development of Irish English ................................................................ 26 2.2.2 Irish English: Vernacular and prestige varieties ....................................................... 30 2.2.3 Vernacular Irish English ............................................................................................ 31 2.2.4 Salient phonological markers for the differentiation of Irish English and SSBE ....... 36 2.2.5 Prestige varieties in Ireland ...................................................................................... 37 2.3 The ideologies of language .............................................................................................. 39 2.3.1 Language ideology as a social construct .................................................................. 40 2.3.2 Language ideology and the media ........................................................................... 42 2.3.3 Nationalist language ideology .................................................................................. 46 2.3.4 Nationalist language ideology and the Irish context ................................................ 51 2.3.5 Standard language ideology ..................................................................................... 59 2.3.6 Standard language ideologies and the Irish context ................................................ 67 2.3.7 ‘Standard’ or ‘non-local’ Irish English ........................................................................ 71 2.3.8 ‘Non-local’ and ‘local’ Irish English ........................................................................... 78 2.4 Recent language ideological shifts .................................................................................. 82 2.4.1 Conversationalization and democratization of public discourse ............................. 84 v 2.4.2 Authenticity in crisis ................................................................................................. 89 2.4.3 New authenticities ................................................................................................... 95 2.4.4 Advanced Dublin English as ‘authentic’ ................................................................. 100 2.5 Summary and conclusions ............................................................................................. 111 Chapter 3. Frameworks and theories for examining the