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THe Irish of West Muskerry, Co. Cork THE IRISH OF WEST MUSKERRY, Co. CORK A PuHonetic Stupy BY Brian O Cufv N B a A i e R R E R O B R A R R DUBLIN R RAE THE DUBLIN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES E N U P 1988 ~ ~ ee —a_— CONTENTS Page Chapter PRM cinmooreewenemersec eccmtucseeen apsmcress 1X PART I (THE DUBLIN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES PHONETIC DESCRIPTION AND TEXTS First Published 1944 1 L. INTRODUCTORY 2000 cee ee Reprinted 1968, 1975, 1988. The System Employed 920.000.0000... I The Classification of Vowels...............- 2 PFongue POSiONS: <cccnansesnpereeneraenccen eases 3 Lip Positions 2.0... cess ee cseceeresnee 3 Description of Vowels...........:0:0005 3 Description of Diphthongs.............. 5 The Classification of Consonants | .......-.. 5 The Phoneme System......0 00ers 7 The Diaphone ......00...: cs: ete 8 Basis of Description ......0.00. eee - 9 SUMMAyyooeeeeeeecce cee eeeee este ee ees taee ceneeectee te tteces 9 JI. PRINCIPLES OF TRANSCRIPTION © o.....:cc00 certs 10 VOWS cccsstssisseccosccecsssansacerscceves wenccborsntarsnanton seneeees 10 Diphthongs 2.0... teee eee eee eentt tenes teens 10 Consonants ..........00-6 ep eeecad se sey isp eC . 10 SETeSS:) eecscesavsecen: cescsdiessresesexerenrren cree nmmnnrreere . 12 III. PHoxetic DESCRIPTION OF THE VOWELS............ 3 13 i Vowel No. i 14 Vowel No. i 15 Vowel No. i 16 Vowel No. 17 Vowel No. 18 Vowel No. 18 Vowel No. 1y Vowel No. i 20 Vowel No. it 20 Vowel No. : 21 Vowel No. : 22 Vowel No. i 23 Vowel No. i : é i ; Words CONTENTS vii Page . 3 Page Chapter 8 ; Chapter , NETIC DESCRIPTION OF THE DIPHTHONGS .... 24 XII. STRESS Sei AERIS TAN Fgpahicenr saver veengrNEV eect hs. cc 6 IV. PHO 8 BB scqsansecnnnnsNanrcvsioeneetovensseey 2 Simple Words 657 ple ooo. ceccesccsescsessesessesescesssee, 4 Diphthong No. I: i sescesavecensesnansneoseeeaaesnnenavaenengs 67 Compound Words .u..cececccccusssssesseeteseesessees Diphthong NO. 2 1 BB cessssessssescasen crsseereeneenssnecenvene 25 68 Sentence Stress .ccccccsseesesnecsseenesssees 26 Diphthong No. 3: WO .-verscesereeseeerenere 27 No. 4: oi cesve we neat SSTETRITTE MATSUI Diphthong Diphthong No. 5: 8b rset 28 XIII. INTONATION oesoseneanennventananeneacectessennvannnssnseeeees 71 71 System Ol, NOPAHIOM: scencrscrsaeuermmeiermidcdenans Diphthong NO. 6 1 QW. sseceeceeeee ee reeeeeetente tenes ncnees 28 71 QueésliONs sscosmsssessmmermerernensamueneaiens 29 Diphthong NO. 71 OW. ccsscsssssreecesoseeereeesseeeeenetnny 74 Commands and Requests SRG 30 { FUGanncssaysszorrsonnnnnn stnznanreereonennsahssinabaReSRESE Statements ............. eeessasacsasseseseuevsessscsesescesscsases 75 TNTRODUGTORY . | .... 31 OF THE CONSONANTS V. PHoPnaeltaitacliDzaEtSiCoRnIPaTnIdONVelarization .........s 31 | XIV. TEXTS eee cceneneeeceseeeeenscseeeenanicese sasseseseeeeneas 80 Voicing of Comsomants ....--....sesec erties iectees 31 PART II 32 Aspiration of Consonants «0.0... HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT Consonant Phonemes.........:.::cceseeeseseeeeeteeeee ese 32 5 Sr. Terneumatoae Plosive Consonants (b’, b, p’, p, a’, d, t’, t, S <ccnememmecneeeeneeeewees 9 92.) EK) sesscneentene So . 33 — +alls “a hd i ; : XVI. VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. ... veces 98 PoE KD) cecceesseeseeeneeesecnsecentnsnneeeeereenin 39 Long Vowels 98 a ee Affricate Consonant (tf) .....:ccccceceeseeeeenens 44 i Diphthongs.....eeeennneeennssntenssetseneeeunnnsnnnarennessne 100 Nasal Consonants (m’, m,n’, n, hn’, hn, ’, 9)... 45 | Vowel Shortening .........ccccccceecseseteeetereeeseneeees 100 L ; , i ateral Consonants (1’, 1, bl’, hil) .............. ee 4497 {i Short Stressed Vowels ........cccccccccscessesseseseeeeenees IOI R-Sounds (r’, r, hr’, br) Short Unstressed Vowels (Posttonic, Pretonic) 104 aa aaa Epenthetic Vowels ....: NMEGODES: scesencemearcas res:...namerenmreeereneey 52 Vowels in Hiatus VII. NASALIZATION ooo. cccccscccesscesesacsecsesecscacecensnesenscsssceeees 54 XVIL.. CONSONANTS. ....0.n.-issseuercermmranrermversencsennnnennnanen inti Plosive Consonants | VIL. SANDHT oo ccccsssssnsessenscessonsnsnsenecsassresseeeesenseseneeet 57 | Fricative Consonants DH, GH. csesesssvervivssesvsvesccsnssneneeneenensesenneonesennees i BH, ME cesssssssssscsscsssssssscsssssssesssssscessseenissnsten IX. ELISVIoOwNelooEo eiccso.i..on gy60 | TH oo mmnnnetl seeeaseeee eee eenenees ta Secceuscecceescceecccuseeeceeeessecsseseees 61 Consonant EVSION ooooecccoccce ccccecccecececcccecececceceveree erences sree BE SS coeceuccscescacenss aeusescecacsescenesenseecsesensnenssansenenaneneee® i X DEGREES OF LENGTH IN VOWELS coccccocsoccocoon 62 E SH coccsnssssssssssssssssessssscesssssssssssesnanseanesrssenenacneascsseaee S R N a XI. Sytra BLE Drvision 63 e n p h U T T S T T a THE IRISH OF WEST MUSKERRY viii Chapter PREFACE I2r Tue accurate and systematic recording of all the features I21I of the different Irish dialects—phonology, accidence, syntax, R-Sounds 122 etc.—has long been recognized as being of the utmost importance Vowels ‘in Position’ before R-Sounds ............ 122 in any attempt to oreserve or restore our national language. With the advancing tide of English the small “ islands” in XVIII. INTERCHANGE OF CONSONANTS ... 124 which Irish is still the native language are gradually being Interchange of Palatal and Non-palatal submerged, and the familiarity with the language which, Consonant... eeeeeseeeeeneeeeeneeees 124 according to statistics, is shown by hundreds of thousands of Variation of Initial Consonants 125 school-children and adults alike in the English-speaking areas of the country, is a poor substitute for that mastery of his 127 native tongue which the Irish speaker in any Gaéultacht in Ireland showed a generation ago. Any such contribution to 129 our knowledge of the dialects should, then, be welcome not only to those interested from the point of view of general 159 linguistics, but also to those who seeking the restoration of our language, look to the speech of the Gaéultacht as our source and aim. The present work is an attempt to make available an accurate description of the phonology of the Irish of the barony of West Muskerry in Co. Cork. This barony extends roughly from the Kerry border and the Pass of Keimaneigh in the west to Macroom in the east, and from the barony of Duhallow in the north to the barony of East Carbery in the south. At present Irish as the native language is confined mainly to parts of the parishes of Ballyvourney, Inchigeelagh, Clondrohid, and Kilnamartery. The district of Coolea in the parish of Ballyvourney, which has been chosen as a centre for this study, is within a few miles of the Kerry border, but speakers from other districts, particularly the Ballingeary district, have also been examined. Most of what is said here of the Irish of Coolea applies to the dialect of West Muskcrry in general, and indeed much of it applies to the Irish of Munster as a whole. The language is substantially the same as that of our greatest modern prose- ix we IRISH OF WEST MUSKERRY PREFACE xi T 1 Peadar 6 Laoghaire, who was born at of listening to many other speakers, too numerous to mention ht miles to the north-east of Coolea in poth in Ballyvourney and Iveleary. , se influence it is undoubtedly due The first part of this work was begun under the guidance became so prominent about the beginning of Miss Eileen E. Evans, of University College, London. Since From the point of view of phonetic investiga- then circumstances have deprived us of that guidance, so that of this century. and the dialect has also received a pee I alone am responsible for the phonetic descriptions in this our tion oO an um Letiriti Shimpli have provided book. publications ofen eein simplified spelling which far exceeds In the second part of the work a special interest has been a body of ail ofphonetic texts publishedfor all other dialects, taken by Dr. T. F. O’Rahilly, whose advice and expert in oe eiudy has been divided into two parts. In the first knowledge have been available from thestart. Apart from the ound of the living speech and their usage have been this, his own work on Irish dialects has provided a foundation described. In the second an attempt has been made to show from which it has been comparatively easy to deal with the how the sounds of Early Modern Irish have developed in the historical developments in the dialect of West Muskerry. I am dialect. In this part there may be exceptional words and indcbted to him for the keen interest which he has taken in but it must be developments which have been overlooked, the whole work and for the great’ help which he has so generously remembered that the primary aim here has been to deal with given. the broader lines of development. The Irish spelling employed Mythanksare also due to Professor Daniel Jones of University is, as a rule, based on that of classical or Early ModernIfish. College, London, for permission to utilise and summarise certain ‘An endeavour has been madeto distinguish late words or word- chapters of his ‘ Outline of English Phonetics ’ in the preparation forms, not admitted into classical Irish, by prefixing an astcrisk of the introductory chapter in Part I, and also for his kindness to them, but it will be understood that this is at best only in reading the manuscript of that chapter and suggesting some approximative. Theasterisk, it should be added, is not employed alterations; to the Minister for Education and to the Royal in phrases, nor in the transliteration of the phonetic texts. Irish Academyfor permission to examine the Docgen gramaphone In accordance with the phonetic system employed, as sum- records and to publish a transcript of one of them in Chapter XIV. marised in § 38, the phonetic description in Part I is based Le muintir Mhusgrui agus go h-dairithe lem chairde ar Cuil on the speech of one speaker who is typical of the dialect. For Ao agus i mBéal Atha’n Ghaorthaidh gabhaim baochas 6 chruf. this purpose I have chosen Amhlaoibh O Loingsigh (A. O L.) Mara mbeadh an ctinamh a thugadar dhom go fial agus go | | of Coolea. He is 71 years of age, was born in Coolea, and has fonnamhar nuair a loirigios eélas ortha, ni bhcadh an obair lived there practically all his life. He is a very careful speaker, seo 4 thuirt chun criche agam a n-aochor. is a well-known seanchut, and has won manyprizes at feiseana Brian O Cufv and at An {-Oireachtas. | I have also consulted Domhnall Ban O Ceéilleachair (D. B.), a coeval of Amhlaoibh O Loingsigh, who was oneof the subjects of a phonetic investigation carried out by Alf Sommerfelt twenty years ago, Donnchadh O Suibhne, Bean Thaidhg { Mhulldin, and Bean [ Rioghbhardain, all of Coolea ; Conchubhar O Muimh-- oe of Ballingeary; Séamus © Muimhneachdain of Concise . well as his son Aindrias now living in Dublin; Othe ar hEaluighthe of Scrahanmore; and Padraig urchadha of Gortnaloughra. I have had an opportunity PART I PHONETIC DESCRIPTION AND TEATS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY THE SYSTEM EMPLOYED 1. The system of phonetic description employed in this work is based on that used by Professor Daniel Jones in ‘ An Outline of English Phonetics ’ (1936).1 For a detailed discussion on general phonetics and on his ‘system readers should consult that work. 2. Our aim is to describe the sounds of the dialect as accurately as possible, either in relation to certain fixed sounds, namely cardinal sounds or other well-known sounds such as those of Southern English,? or by describing organically their formation. In particular in the case of vowel sounds the former is very convenient. Thus an organic description of the formation of a vowel in itself may conveylittle, but if the relation which it bears to a well-known vowel is added,it is a much simpler matter for the reader to estimate and reproduce the sound. In the following pages the system is described in detail. 3. For the purpose of phonetic description the roof of the mouth may be divided into three parts—the teet h-ridge oralveolar ridge immediately behind the upper teeth, thehard palate, and the soft palate. The tongue . 1 Published by Heffer, Cambridge. *The sounds of Irish-English are not suitable for this purpose since they vary considerably (just as do the sounds in the dialects of Irish) and hence no fixed values have been assigned to them. THE IRISH OF WEST MUSKERRY INTRODUCTCRY 3 accurately only from someone who can repeat them correctly may conveniently be divided into tthhereetiCopr)rewshpiocnhdinngorPmaarltlsy and can indicate the differences between them and the vowels (including These are the blade ‘a one’s own speech, or failing that, from gramaphonerecords.} lbieens ebatehneatthhe htaherd tepeatlha-trei,dgaen, dthtehe fbraocntk wwhhiicchh nnoorrmmaallllyy lliieess beneath the soft palate. TONGUE PosITIONS jo. The tongue positions of the eight cardinal vowels may Tue CLASSIFICATION OF VOWELS be represented diagrammatically as in j u 4. The classification and description of vowels is based on Fpiogs.iti1o. ns Heofre tthhee hdiogthsessthopwoitnhtesreloaftitvhee © o a scale of eight cardinal vowels which are represented in the tongue during the articulation of each & 2 International Phonetic Script by the symbols ie €aaqodou. vowel. In the case of a the front of a 4 These vowels are fixed, since their tongue and lip positions the tongue 1S held as low as possible om Ge oe and their acoustic qualities are known. the front of the mouth, while in the pocitions of the 5. Cardinal vowel No. 1 (i) is formed by raising the front case of a the back of the tongue is as low Cardinal Vowels. of the tongue as high as possible towards the roof of the mouth and as far back as possible. without, however, crossing the vowel limit.1. The lips are 11. In classifying these vowels according to the height of spread. This is the sound of French i in ‘ici’. the tongue we distinguish four classes :_close vowels 6. Cardinal vowel No. 5 (a) is formed by holding the back (i, u), half-c lose vowels (e,0), half-open vowels of the tongue as low down andas far back as possible consistently (e, 9), and open vowels (a, 4). with the sound being a vowel. The lips are neither rounded 12. In classifying them according to the part of the tongue nor spread. which is raised highest we use the terms front (i, e, € a), 7. Cardinal vowels Nos. 2, 3 and 4 (e, €, a) form a regular and back (a, 9, 0, U). acoustic sequence between vowels 1 and 5, each being equally separated from the next. This acoustic sequence is produced by varying the tongue andlip positions, the tongue being lowered Lip PosITIONS through approximately equal intervals, and the lips being 13. The lips may be spread, rounded, or neutral gradually opened, in passing from vowel 1 to vowel 5. Paha — Nos. 6, 7, and 8 (9, 0, u), together with during the formation of vowels. As we have already seen cardinal i is formed with spread lips, cardinal u with closely- eemcen 5 (a) form an acoustic sequence of back vowels rounded lips, while cardinal a has neutral lips. No. 6 is leachcee the series of equidistant vowels. Vowel lipround with open lip-rounding, No. 7 with fairly close ing, and No. 8 with very close lip-rounding. The DESCRIPTION OF VOWELS tongue is again raised thr ; h equal thoug smaller i‘i ntervals. ‘ouggh h approximately 14. When we come to describe vowels other than the eight dewLnAtelat,ve,thoensee mcuarsdti: nralemevmowbeelrs thhaatvethetyhecafnixbeed levaarlnueeds ctoarwdihniaclhvotwheelst,onwgeuecains rcaliassesdi,fy (iti)heamcc(oir) daicncgortdointghetopatrhte hofeigthhte abo‘vTehewhviocwhelthleimittitonij s an ii magi= nary l.ine below the roof of the mouth, rec1oTrhdeDCAaJrOdin1a-l2,Vopwuebllisshheadvebybetehne LreicnogrudaepdhonbeyInPrsotfi. tDuatneie(l207JoRneegseonnt . 4 succhh as would resultguien caaundniobtle befrircatiion, wi: thout causing obstruction Street, London, W. 1.). B —— HE IFIS H OF WEST MUI PERRY 4 INTRODUCTORY 5 hich is raised, and (i) according to the position of 17. For practical purposes it will in general be found tihe liips.a fn c. onnection wiiotnhs thaiss ssyhsotwenmain siFmipgl.if2iedisreupsreeds,enta. convenient in descritang the quality of vowels, to mention tion of the tongue posit their relation to the nearest cardinal vowel of alternatively tO regard 16. With the relation they bear to Southern English of French vowels. the height to which the tongue 15 raised, we can describe a vowel fairly Description of DirntHoxes accurately with the terms close, half-close, 1%. A diphthong consists of a continuous movernent of the etc, A vowel, in the speech-organs from one vowel-position to another in one emission formation of which the of breath. tongue is raised to a m.. ine 1g. Diphthongs will be described in terms of the principal intermediate vowels of which they are composed, ie, the starting and finishing position between any two of these Cardinal Vowels, points. It should be remembered that the end-pant of a . points, may be more diphthong is liable to vary, since the movement may be stopped aEcgc.urianteSloyutdheesrcnriEbnegdlibsyh ggivaisnginit‘ smpaonsi’t,itonhe ifnrornetlaotfiontheto ttohnegmu.e bmeafkoerse vteheryenlidt-tlpeoidnitffedreesnccreibteod tihse rseoacuhnedd.. Such a variation is raised to a position about mid-way between half-open and 20. Diphthongs are classed as falling or rising according as the first or the second element respectively is the open. "6 So far we have dealt with vowels in the formation of more prominent. They are also described as imperfect when either element is lengthened before or after the vocalic which either the.front or the back of the tongue has been raised. movement. A further classification into narrow and When the central part of the tongue is highest, vowels having wide diphthongs refers to the amount of movement between an obscure quality are usually the result. Thus in passing the starting and finishing points. from i to win the close position we come to a stage where vowels are intermediate between the front and back vowels. The rounded central vowel (&) is intermediate between the rounded front vowel (y) and u ; the unrounded central vowel (i) is intermediate THE CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS between i and the unrounded back vowel (uz). Such vowels 21. A description of the organic formation of a consonant are said to be central and may be placed withinthe triangle is of much greater practical value than that of a vowel, in Fig. 2. This triangle represents the central vowel area. particularly since consonants as a rule fall into groups having In the case of open vowels, when the central part of the tongue certain characteristics in common which distinguish them is highest the vowel is not obscure but is midway in quality from other groups. between a and a. Thus the terms front, central and 22. The importantparticulars in the description of a consonant back may be used to describe vowels with regard to the part are (i) the primary point of articulation, (ii) the secondary of the tongue raised. The term centralised may be point of articulation, (iii) the state of the air-passage at the teeat vowels which are intermediate in position between primary point ofarticulation, (iv) whether voiced or voiceless. retracted central and ba ck and central vowels. The terms 23. The chief classes distinguished under (i) for our purpose and advanced may also be applied to are bilabial, labio-dental, dental, alveolar, such vowels. Thus French a as in ‘bas’ is advanced from post-alveolar, palato-alveolar, palatal, the Cardinal 5 position. THE IRISH OF WEST MUSKERRY 7 INTRODUCTORY 6 as These may be briefly defined for a plosive, but subsequently releasing the breath slowly so elar and glottal. a \ as to produce friction. This is a combination of a plosive lows : e.g. Ir. +p. articulated by the two lips, lip against and the corresponding fricative. E.g. Southern English tf riabial! ; by the lower - articulated abio-dental in ‘ church’. the upper teet ha,rtei.cgu.laSteoduthbeyrn thEengltiisph o£f. the tongue against at Ntahessaalm:e ftoirmemeldeabvyinmgatkhiengsofat cpoamlpalteetleocwleorseudresoinasthteo mpoeurtmhi,t Dental: eg. Ir. ¢ in td. the free passage of breath through the nose, e.g. 0. atghaeAirlnuosvptspetetor-hleataletrevet:echt,ohalrartiirdc:gue,l,ata¢er.dt8-ibcuySloatuthteedhetrbinyp oEtrnhgelbiltsaihdpe tooffintthh‘eetitnt’oo.nngguuee csiednLetsaretofeofrtahtehle:tmonogfuuoterh,m,eedb.gu.tby1.leoabvsitnrgucatifnrege tphaessaagier-cahtanonneel orin bottheh agaPinaslt attheob-aaclk vpearotloaf rt:he taerettihcurliadtgeed, eb.gy. StohuethebrlnadEengolfishthre. (usRuoalllyletdhe atonndgueFltiap)ppmeadki:ng foarmreadpidbysuacncesesliaosnticofortgaapns traoinPsgeaudle atatogawaialnrs:dts tahtrehteitceuheltaahrtderdidpbgayleatwteih,tehe.ftgrh.oentmIra.oifnfitbhonedy ostfo.fnguthee atgoanignuset oarre26aa. cscUionngmdlpeearntiahepedadrbieynspgevco(tiiicvve)eloiyrs, ntoeh.teg.. qusIeonsmtgeieonnFerswaolhuenitndhseo.rurccoonnssoonnaanntts the hard palate, e.g. French p in ‘digne’. system we have both types of consonant occurring in pairs Velar: articulated by the back of the tongue against the corresponding to one another in most other respects, e.g. b, PB; g, k. sofGt lpoatlattea,l:e.g.arItri.cuklatiend coisn. the glottis, the space between 27. There is a further characteristic which is of importance tahne2d4.vovTceahlelaccrolraidszss,eesded..ig.stiInrT.ghuiheshienddisuctnhideneacrnt(ai.ioin) baeretwpeeanlatthaesleiztewdo iotnfhethafseopirarrmattioicfuolnaatiacofontneotrfinpculeaornstciaveien ocfopnltoshsoeinvaenbstr.se,atTnhhaimasfetleayrspttihhreeatoipcolcnousrirtoeannkceiess complete. quaiities is of great importance in Irish. Palatalization of consonants whose primary point THE PHONEME SYSTEM of articulation is other than at the hard palate is caused by raising the front of the tongue towards the hard palate 28. In order to appreciate as a whole the phonetic system simultaneously with the narrowing or closure at the primary employed in the following study, it will be necessary to under- point of articulation. stand the differences between the speech-sounds described Velarization of consonants is caused by raising the therein and the groups into which certain of these sounds fall. back of the tongue towards the soft palate simultaneously Such groups are called -phonemes. with the narrowing or closure at the primary point of articulation. 29. A phoneme hasbeen defined as ‘a family of sounds 25. The classes distinguished under (iii) are plosiveé, consisting of an important soundof the language(i.e. the most “8Plkosiivne.e. Theeyemnay bneasdaelfi,ned laastefroalllo,ws:rolled rferleaqtueedntlsyouunsdesd wmheimcbhertaokfe thiatst fpalmaicley)intogpeatrhteirculwairthsooutnhde-r asiurd-dpeanslcyagewitahn ia.seqbuyenmtalky inrgeleaascinogmpltehtee ccolmopsurreesseodf tahlet sbeuiq3du0.heencFaeorsre”’ed.x!iaffmeprleen,t iinn qouuarlidtiyalefcrtomthoenei’sanionthtehre, wbourtdsthbety aanrde SrittAipefe e.g. b, » 0 members of the same phonemesince their occurrence depends narrowin e air-passa ‘ as to produce audible friction, eg. f, f. et — Affri ' closure 4° 1 Jones, § 191. a complete by making formed Ticate:

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