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At
a time of increased interest in language issues in
the north of Ireland, Tom Paulin, the poet and arts
critic writing in a 1983 Field Day pamphlet entitled,
‘A New Look at the Language Question’
suggested that Irish English could exist as a fully-fledged
language alongside Irish Gaelic and Ulster Scots.
By Irish English he did not mean Hiberno-English (English
as clearly influenced by the grammar and vocabulary
of Irish Gaelic) though that would be an important
part of it. He was referring to English as influenced
by both the Irish and Scots languages as well as by
Elizabethan, British, American English and other influences.
The growing awareness of language issues at the time
it was written was related to the political conflict
at one of its most intense periods when questions
of identity were salient. The Irish language movement
was influenced by the Hunger Strikers which awakened
a new Irish cultural consciousness. Around this time
also Ian Adamson, the Ulster Unionist historian and
linguist argued that the Cruithin were the indigenous
non-Celtic people from whom the Ulster people were
descended and that the Gaelic language (as opposed
to the Irish language) should be claimed by Unionists
as part of their heritage.
Interest
in a language concept termed Irish English may not
be widespread but the literary and artistic talent
throughout the island is testament to the strength
of such a concept. There is no doubt that this could
develop and I believe some other factors which have
not been mentioned could make their mark on it in
the future. The language of the Irish Travellers,
Shelta or Gammon /Cant as it is variously known, and
Ireland’s new immigrant communities and ethnic
minorities can only add to and enrich its lexicon.
In fact the language and its creative use could develop
a real cultural commonality irrespective of ethnic
identity. The following quotations here are taken
from interviews I did with leading academics and language
enthusiasts which may serve to highlight this cultural
asset. It should be recognised that Irish English
need not suffer from some kind of inferiority complex.
We are talking about a language in which some of the
greatest literature has ever been written and one
thinks of Yeats and Joyce in particular and other
exceptional Irish writers.
Loreto
Todd is a renowned linguist and author of books such
as ‘Words Apart’ and ‘Green English’
which explore Ireland’s linguistic heritage.
She believes that the strands that have come together
in Ireland succeed in making it specially unique.
Green English is her term for English as spoken in
Ireland. She explains:
"Black
English is a term usually used for the English of
the African Diaspora and Green English is a form of
English used in Ireland that has been carried world-wide.
Irish people have always been great travellers. One
thinks of Colmcillle and the early Irish monks .You
had Irish people in the Caribbean almost as early
as you had African people and they were instrumental
in creating that type of English (Creoles)."
Comparing
Irish English with what is sometimes called Black
English and its impact on contemporary culture helps
us to understand the influential way in which Irish
people have moulded English. Todd believes that this
comes down to the variety of influences in Ireland
especially in Ulster. She sees a defining characteristic
of language here as being that of diversity. She sees
its potential as a cultural commonality since it has
drawn together different cultural/ linguistic strands
and also as a force in literature and other art forms:
"Irish,
Ulster Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Hiberno and Ulster
English all belong here and should all be cherished.
The depoliticisation of language is necessary if
this is to be successful. Our common linguistic
heritage is one of the chief marks of our identity
and it can be a positive and valuable way of creating
new understandings and good relations between people
irrespective of their political viewpoint. It must
not be a tool of propaganda giving an ugly distortion
to a rich cultural fabric and thereby prevent achieving
a cultural consensus. There has been in the past
in Ulster a very lively tradition of songs and ballads
which you can recite as poems. Ulster’s finest
writers can hold their own with anyone. They have
their roots in a very rich oral tradition of poems
and story telling. If you wanted to get a literary
tradition that can be harsh in its way and have
an incredible truthfulness you couldn't do better
than the Scottish tradition; if you wanted a literature
that delves into the imagination and almost outdoes
science fiction in its wonderful imaginative qualities
then you couldn't do better than the Irish tradition.
If you wanted a time when the English tradition
was at its most vibrant then you couldn't do better
than the Shakespherian tradition. How then could
we not produce great writers, great talkers, great
storytellers and musicians? "
While
many people of a Unionist persuasion may be, to quote
from Paulin’s work, "unwilling to contemplate
the all–Ireland context which a federal concept
of Irish English would necessarily express" its
flexibility should allow for it to be seen as a language
with various branches, one of the richest being Ulster
English. Nelson Mc Causland, a leading member of the
DUP and director of the Ulster Scots Heritage Council,
opts to place it in an Ulster context shaped by his
Ulster Scots cultural viewpoint:
"We
have three language traditions Ulster Scots, Gaelic
and Ulster English. It is getting away from polarity
to plurality. Both Gaelic and Scots have influenced
Ulster English. In fact if you look at the Concise
Ulster Dictionary it is clear for obvious reasons
that the influence of Ulster Scots on Ulster English
was greater than Gaelic because they are sister
languages."
Irish
English can therefore split off in a number of directions.
After all we are talking here about a medium which
is always growing and changing. By allowing others
to define a form as Ulster English we release creative
possibilities. The frame reference should simply be
the island of Ireland; the all-island context opening
up different perspectives. The language should not
form part of any political objective. Ian Parsley,
formerly of the Ulster Scots Agency and also a linguist,
expresses what I believe could similarly be said in
relation to Irish English. While he is concerned with
the Ulster Scots revival his view that: "the
Ulster Scots revival needs to be seen in the context
of increased regionalisation throughout Europe"
is a reflection of what Irish English could be with
its regional differences and vernaculars. Whether
it is Ulster Scots words, or slang from Cork or Cavan,
Dublin or Dundalk, they all form part of this tapestry
of tongues. He also expresses what would appear to
be an antidote to nationalism in that "paradoxically
as Europe becomes more centralised, regions rather
than nations will develop identities". His non-political
Ulster Scots Research Centre and its sponsored website
are an important contribution to this subject.
The
Newry or Nyuck dialect referring to the vocabulary
and pronunciation found in the Newry area researched
by Brian Dodds and available on his website is an
example of this regionalisation but also in the context
of a broader outlook. He has developed links with
Appalachian residents who have been able to share
with him the similarities in speech and vocabulary.
Coming back to Ireland’s ethnic minorities, linguistic
cultural projects could be explored with Shelta, a
unique and largely secretive language created out
of both Irish and English in the 16th or 17th centuries.
Some of its vocabulary is taken from Romani, the language
of the Roma and also other Traveller cants. Given
the racism against Irish Travellers, cultural projects
-say with the Irish language community- could aim
to break down some of the prejudice that exists in
society and provide a much greater awareness and appreciation
of Irish Traveller culture in general. Similar language
based projects could be explored with other ethnic
minorities. There is no doubt that they will bring
new words into the lexicon of Irish English as well.
One
need that may have to be met if a confidant concept
of Irish English is to flourish is a dictionary to
help define its many words. The concise Ulster dictionary
was an important milestone for Ulster English. A home
needs to be found for the great many words that exist
in Irish English. The result otherwise to quote Paulin
again "is a language which lives a type of romantic,
unfettered existence". He believes it should
instead become " the flexible written instrument
of a complete cultural idea". One thinks of writers
like Roddy Doyle who today perhaps best express a
concept that could be termed Irish English. His books
have wisps of Hiberno-English influenced by Dublin
working class slang and humour. Irish writers such
as Sean O Casey and John Synge are writers of Irish
English clearly influenced by the Hiberno-English
tradition in particular. To see an excellent rendering
of modern Irish/Ulster Dialect English in the Derry
vernacular read Frances Molloy’s, ‘No Mate
for the Magpie’ and in the Belfast dialect the
playwright Graham Reid’s work.
Irish
English serves brilliantly as a creative and literary
language. It is layered, has multiple forms, dialects
within dialects; it plays on words and has great colour
and expressive quality. Its energy lies in the island’s
linguistic diversity. It is a unique expression of
identity formed by our history and experience. It
expresses new ways of seeing and looking. It is an
inspiration for writers, poets, artists and musicians.
Developing it and shaping it in our own particular
way while giving recognition to it as an original
form of language in itself will lead to its further
enhancement. A dictionary, an academy possibly, a
journal or newspaper and arts/writers groups dedicated
to its enjoyment and use would all serve in invigorating
its future.
Websites
that may be of interest in relation to this subject
are:
http://www.ianjamesparsley.net/ullans.html
http://www.mourne.org
http://www.hiberno-english.com/index.html
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