P. W. Joyce
English As We Speak It in Ireland
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4057664624017
Table of Contents
ENGLISH AS WE SPEAK IT IN IRELAND.
P. W. JOYCE, M.A., LL.D., T.C.D.; M.R.I.A.
A SOCIAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT IRELAND,
A SMALLER SOCIAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT IRELAND.
THE STORY OF ANCIENT IRISH CIVILISATION.
OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF IRELAND
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF IRISH NAMES OF PLACES.
A GRAMMAR OF THE IRISH LANGUAGE.
A READING BOOK IN IRISH HISTORY.
IRISH PEASANT SONGS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
A HAND-BOOK OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND METHODS OF TEACHING.
OLD IRISH FOLK MUSIC AND SONGS.
ENGLISH AS WE SPEAK IT IN IRELAND.
PREFACE.
This book deals with the Dialect of the English Language that is spoken in Ireland.
As the Life of a people—according to our motto—is pictured in their speech, our picture ought to be a good one, for two languages were concerned in it—Irish and English. The part played by each will be found specially set forth in Chapters IV and VII; and in farther detail throughout the whole book.
The articles and pamphlets that have already appeared on this interesting subject—which are described below—are all short. Some are full of keen observation; but very many are mere lists of dialectical words with their meanings. Here for the first time—in this little volume of mine—our Anglo-Irish Dialect is subjected to detailed analysis and systematic classification.
I have been collecting materials for this book for more than twenty years; not indeed by way of constant work, but off and on as detailed below. The sources from which these materials were directly derived are mainly the following.
First.—My own memory is a storehouse both of idiom and vocabulary; for the good reason that from childhood to early manhood I spoke—like those among whom I lived—the rich dialect of Limerick and Cork—and indeed to some extent speak it still in the colloquial language of everyday life.
I have also drawn pretty largely on our Anglo-Irish Folk Songs of which I have a great collection, partly in my memory and partly on printed sheets; for they often faithfully reflect our Dialect.
Second.—Eighteen years ago (1892) I wrote a short letter which was inserted in nearly all the Irish newspapers and in very many of those published outside Ireland, announcing my intention to write a book on Anglo-Irish Dialect, and asking for collections of dialectical words and phrases. In response to this I received a very large number of communications from all parts of Ireland, as well as from outside Ireland, even from America, Australia, and