Munster Irish

The three dialects of the Irish language, with Munster in the south.

Munster Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Dingle Peninsula Gaeltacht of west Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in Cape Clear Island off the coast of west Cork, in West Muskerry; Coolea, Ballingeary, Ballyvourney, Kilnamartyra, and Renaree of central Cork; and in the An Rinn and An Sean Phobal in Gaeltacht na nDéise in west Waterford.

History

The north and west of Corca Dhuibhne are today the only place in the province of Munster where Irish has survived as the daily spoken language of most of the community although the language is spoken on a daily basis by a minority in other official Gaeltacht areas in the province.

Historically, the Irish language was spoken throughout the province of Munster and Munster Irish had some influence on those parts of Connacht and Leinster bordering Munster such as Kilkenny, Wexford and south Galway and the Aran Islands.

Munster dialect played an important role in the Gaelic revival of the early 20th century. The noted author Peadar Ua Laoghaire wrote in Munster dialect and stated that he wrote his novel Séadna to show younger people what he viewed as good Irish.[1]

Peig Sayers was illiterate, but her autobiography, Peig, is also in Munster dialect and rapidly became a key text. Other influential Munster works are the autobiographies Fiche Blian ag Fás by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin and An tOileánach by Tomás Ó Criomhthain.

Lexicon

Munster Irish differs from the Ulster and Connacht dialects in a number of respects. Some words and phrases used in Munster Irish are not used in the other dialects, such as:

Phonology

The phonemic inventory of Munster Irish (based on the accent of West Muskerry in western Cork) is as shown in the following chart (based on Ó Cuív 1944; see International Phonetic Alphabet for an explanation of the symbols). Symbols appearing in the upper half of each row are velarized (traditionally called "broad" consonants) while those in the bottom half are palatalized ("slender"). The consonant /h/ is neither broad or slender.

Consonant
phonemes
Bilabial Coronal Dorsal Glottal
Dental Alveolar Palato-
alveolar
Palatal Velar
Plosive

t̪ˠ
 
d̪ˠ
 
 
 
     
c
 
ɟ
k
 
ɡ
 
   
Fricative/
Approximant
ɸˠ
ɸʲ
βˠ
βʲ
   
 
   
ʃ
   
ç
 
j
x
 
c
 
h  
Nasal  
  n̪ˠ
 
   
       
ɲ
  ŋ
 
   
Tap           ɾˠ
ɾʲ
               
Lateral
approximant
      l̪ˠ
 
   
               

The vowels of Munster Irish are as shown on the following chart. These positions are only approximate, as vowels are strongly influenced by the palatalization and velarization of surrounding consonants.

In addition, Munster has the diphthongs /iə, ia, uə, əi, ai, au, ou/.

Some characteristics of Munster that distinguish it from the other dialects are:

Morphology

Irish verbs are characterized by having a mixture of analytic forms (where information about person is provided by a pronoun) and synthetic forms (where information about number is provided in an ending on the verb) in their conjugation. In Munster synthetic forms are more often used than in the standard language, where analytic forms (those with a general ending + personal pronoun) are more common.

Munster Standard Gloss
Present
molaim molaim "I (sg.) praise"
molair molann tú "you (sg.) praise"
molann sé molann sé "he praises"
molaimíd molaimid "we praise"
molann sibh molann sibh "you (pl.) praise"
molaid (siad) molann siad "they praise"
Past
mholas mhol mé "I praised"
mholais mhol tú "you (sg.) praised"
mhol sé mhol sé "he praised"
mholamair mholamar "we praised"
mholabhair mhol sibh "you (pl.) praised"
mholadar mhol siad "they praised"
Future
molfad molfaidh mé "I will praise"
molfair molfaidh tú "you (sg.) will praise"
molfaidh sé molfaidh sé "he will praise"
molfaimíd molfaimid "we will praise"
molfaidh sibh molfaidh sibh "you (pl.) will praise"
molfaid (siad) molfaidh siad "they will praise"

Some irregular verbs have different forms in Munster than in the standard (see Dependent and independent verb forms for the independent/dependent distinction):

Munster independent Munster dependent Standard independent Standard dependent Gloss
chím ní fheicim feicim ní fheicim "I see, I do not see"
(do) chonac ní fheaca chonaic mé ní fhaca mé "I saw, I did not see"
deinim ní dheinim déanaim ní dhéanaim "I do, I do not"
(do) dheineas níor dheineas rinne mé ní dhearna mé "I did, I did not"
(do) chuas ní dheaghas/níor chuas chuaigh mé ní dheachaigh mé "I went, I did not go"
gheibhim ní bhfaighim faighim ní bhfaighim "I get, I do not get"

Past tense verbs can take the particle do in Munster Irish, even when they begin with consonants. In the standard language, the particle is used only before vowels. For example, Munster do bhris sé or bhris sé "he broke" (standard only bhris sé).

The initial mutations of Munster Irish are generally the same as in the standard language and the other dialects. Some Munster speakers, however, use /ɾʲ/ as the lenition equivalent of /ɾˠ/ in at least some cases, as in a rí /ə ɾʲiː/ "O king!" (Sjoestedt 1931:46), do rug /d̪ˠə ɾʲʊɡ/ "gave birth" (Ó Cuív 1944:122), ní raghaid /nʲiː ɾʲəidʲ/ "they will not go" (Breatnach 1947:143).

Syntax

One significant syntactic difference between Munster and other dialects is that in Munster (excepting Rinn Ua gCuanach), go ("that") is used instead of a as the indirect relative particle:

Another difference is seen in the copula. Fear is ea mé is used in addition to Is fear mé.

Music

Some notable Irish singers who sing songs in the Munster Irish dialect include Nioclás Tóibín, Elizabeth Cronin, Labhrás Ó Cadhla, Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin, Seosaimhín Ní Bheaglaoich and Máire Ní Chéilleachair.

References

  1. Ua Laoghaire, Peadar (1915). Mo Sgéal Féin. p. 215. In the original Irish:
    Ag machtnamh dom air sin do thuigeas am' aigne ná raibh aon rud i n-aon chor againn, i bhfuirm leabhair, le cur i láimh aon leinbh chun na Gaeluinne do mhúineadh dhó. As mo mhachtnamh do shocaruigheas ar leabhar fé leith do sgrí' d'ár n-aos óg, leabhar go mbéadh caint ann a bhéadh glan ós na lochtaibh a bhí i bhformhór cainte na bhfilí; leabhar go mbéadh an chaint ann oireamhnach do'n aos óg, leabhar go mbéadh caint ann a thaithnfadh leis an aos óg. Siné an machtnamh a chuir fhéachaint orm "Séadna" do sgrí'. Do thaithn an leabhar le gach aoinne, óg agus aosta. Do léigheadh é dos na seandaoine agus do thaithn sé leó. D'airigheadar, rud nár airigheadar riamh go dtí san, a gcaint féin ag teacht amach a' leabhar chúcha. Do thaithn sé leis na daoinibh óga mar bhí cosmhalacht mhór idir Ghaeluinn an leabhair sin agus an Béarla a bhí 'n-a mbéalaibh féin.

Bibliography

Published literature

- An Gealas i Lár na Léithe. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1992 (úrscéal) Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- An Grá faoi Cheilt. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1992 (gearrscéalta)Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- Desiderius a Dó. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1995 (úrscéal)Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- Ar Gach Maoilinn Tá Síocháin. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1998 (úrscéal)Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- Tá Solas ná hÉagann Choíche. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1999 (gearrscéalta)Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- …agus Tomás: Cleití Gé ón mBlascaod Mór. In eagar ag Pádraig Ó Fiannachta. An Sagart, An Daingean 1997. (seanchas) Ciarraí/Na Blascaoidí

- An tOileánach. Pádraig Ua Maoileoin a chuir in eagar. Helicon Teoranta/An Comhlacht Oideachais, Baile Átha Cliath 1980 (dírbheathaisnéis) Ciarraí/Na Blascaoidí

- Bloghanna ón mBlascaod. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1997Ciarraí/Na Blascaoidí

- An Cleasaí. Leagan Caighdeánaithe. Longmans, Brún agus Ó Nualláin Teoranta, Baile Átha Cliath, gan dáta. (Miotaseolaíocht) Muscraí/Cúl Aodha

- Mo Scéal Féin. Sraith na gClasaiceach, Cló Thalbóid, Baile Átha Cliath 1999 (dírbheathaisnéis) Muscraí/Cúl Aodha

- (= UA LAOGHAIRE, Peadar): Séadna. Liam Mac Mathúna a chuir in eagar, Brian Ó Cuív a scríobh an brollach. Carbad, Baile Átha Cliath 1987/1995 (úrscéal/béaloideas) Muscraí/Cúil Aodha

- A Thig Ná Tit orm. Eagrán Nua. C.J. Fallon, Baile Átha Cliath 1995 (cuimhní cinn) Ciarraí

- Corcán na dTrí gCos. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1988 (gearrscéalta) Ciarraí

- Dochtúir na bPiast. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1993/2000 (úrscéal) Ciarraí

- Lilí Frainc. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 2001 (úrscéal) Ciarraí

- Madraí na nOcht gCos. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1998

- Mair, a Chapaill. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1999

- Mura mBuafam - Suathfam. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 2003 (cuimhní cinn) Ciarraí

- Tae le Tae. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1990 (úrscéal) Ciarraí

- Idir Dhá Lios. Coiscém, Baile Átha Cliath 2005 (úrscéal) Ciarraí

- Ó Oileán go Cuilleán Eagarthóir: Nuala Uí Aimhirgín. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 2000(aistí) Ciarraí/Na Blascaoidí

- Peig. Tuairisc a thug Peig Sayers ar imeachtaí a beatha féin. Comhlacht Oideachais na hÉireann, Baile Átha Cliath, gan dáta (dírbheathaisnéis) Ciarraí/Na Blascaoidí

- Malairt Beatha. Inné Teoranta, Dún Chaoin 1992 Ciarraí

- An tAthair Tadhg. An Sagart, an Daingean 2000 (beathaisnéis) Ciarraí

- Abair Leat Joe Daly. An Sagart, an Daingean 1999 (seanchas) Ciarraí

- Sliabh gCua m’Óige. An Sagart, an Daingean 2003 (dírbheathaisnéis)

- Ríocht na dTonn. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1989 (seanchas) Ciarraí

- Guth ón Sceilg. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 2000 (gearrscéalta) Ciarraí

- An Gabhar sa Teampall. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 1986 (creideamh is cráifeacht) Ciarraí

- Bríd Bhán. Sairséal agus Dill, Baile Átha Cliath 1968/1972 (úrscéal)Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- De Réir Uimhreacha. Muintir an Dúna, Baile Átha Cliath 1969 (dírbheathaisnéis)Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- Na hAird ó Thuaidh. Sáirséal agus Dill, Baile Átha Cliath 1960 (stair áitiúil) Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- Ó Thuaidh! Sáirséal Ó Marcaigh, Baile Átha Cliath 1983 (úrscéal)Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

- An Stát versus Dugdale. Coiscéim, Baile Átha Cliath 2001 (tuairisc) Ciarraí/Corca Dhuibhne

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