Modern Irish Grammatical Structure and Dialectal Variation [Paperback]

This comparative overview of modern Irish dialects surveys the phonology, morphology and syntext of the various dialects and contains a wealth of empirical data organized in an accessible way for the nonspecialist.This comparative overview of modern Irish dialects surveys the phonology, morphology and syntext of the various dialects and contains a wealth of empirical data organized in an accessible way for the nonspecialist.Micheal O Siadhail considers modern Irish dialects against the background of their common grammar, providing a comprehensive overview for Celticists and general linguists with an interest in dialectical comparison. His Modern Irish contains a wealth of empirical data which is analysed in a fresh and accessible manner, keeping technical terminology to a minimum. It includes background information on the Irish language and gives explanations of basic concepts in order to compare the phonology, morphology and syntax of the dialects. Students of linguistics amd the Irish language will welcome this clear and sensible cross-dialectal survey by Micheal O Siadhail, who is well-known as an Irish scholar and as a poet.List of tables; List of figures; Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Phonology: 1. Introduction to Phonology; 2. The syllabic system; 3. The vowels; 4. The semi-vowel and consonant systems; Part II. Morphology: 5. Introduction to morphology; 6. General morphological rules; 7. The noun; 8. The verb; Part III. Syntax: 9. Introduction to Syntax; 10. The copula; 11. Complementation and modal and auxiliary verbs; 12. Non-complemental subordination and marginal syntactic features; Glossary; References; Index of Irish words. This carefully crafted book, the product of tremendous labour, should earn Ó Siadhail the thanks of the linguistics community. It has always struck me as odd that, given the extensive historical and descriptive studies of Irish, the language plays such a small part in theoretical linguistic discussionslÓ