From the centre to the edge: The social contours and linguistic outcomes of contact with English in an Irish core and peripheral community

To date no sociolinguistic study has addressed the issues around language contact in Ireland between Irish and English as it impacts on Irish. This study addresses this lacuna by investigating language use in a Core and Peripheral neighborhood addressing in particular borrowing and codeswitching and tracing the differential use of discourse markers. It reports the results of a quantitative analysis, which show a rate of borrowing of less than 3%. A subsequent multivariate analysis of English nouns and English discourse markers in use show the latter to be statistically significant in differentiating Core and Periphery. This study also addresses how speakers deal with the rules of lenition in Irish in the contact situation. In order to delineate the social factors involved in the linguistic processes observed, this study looks at (1) the history of language contact and (2) the social structure of the two communities under investigation by examining personal networks and the need to constitute a local identity. It also examines the greater social context of the borrowing behavior, Ireland as a whole. The conclusion of the study is that the borrowing of English-origin nouns and discourse markers has an important place in the construction of an Irish vernacular by providing resources for style-shifting in the language.