The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-04-11
IRISH PRONUNCIATION.
Another Interesting Article In the Series
ON " Certain vuIgarisms " by Pro-
fessor r.. ". Bowen.


whence this popularity OF utterancei
Whence this difference: Why is it thai
English. as spoken hy the Irish I'm Ire
land. is 40 different IN sound and utter.
anco from that in England and In Amer.
icat Well. as q matter OF fact the Ems
lish spoken by the educated Irish is prac.
| tically the same rs that used In England
| and in America. But the speech of the
| Irish living I'm the rural districts OF Ire
land and Of those who have emigrated
to America IS what we generally under
stand by Irish. and this is unquestionably
| very different from the standard speech.
as every one knows who has ever heard
Pat talk.
Now. TO get at the origin OF this
| "broeue" and lingo. we must 20 back 10
| the times when Ireland was settled 10y
the English The language originally
| spoken i'm ireland was. OF course the old
Irish, or Gaelic. and was very closely
related 10 the Welsh and the speech OF
| the ancient Britons. who resisted the in
yagion of the Romans under julius
| Caesar. This was the tongue OF the
whole of Britain. when our Saxon fore.
! fathers came over TO the ISLAM from
| their homes in the northern part Of Ger
| many. This was. then Of course, the
| language OF King Arthur and his knights
! OF the Round Table, who play so impOr-
| tant a role in the Arthurian legends
In the twelfth century the English he
| gan to plant colonies and TO settle parts
| Of Ireland. as Forth and Bargay, but
| t.cse settlements are. Tor our purpose.
unimportant and so we pass over them.
We now come 10 settlements which are
significant and form an important factor
in the matter before us. The English
settlements i'm Ireland. when the English
tongue found its way into the Green
Emerald Isle" were those made I'm the
north. in Ulster, during the reign OF
James l.. I'm 1911. This English cmigra-
ton was reinforced by the invasion Of
Ireland 10y Cromwell in lG4g IL was.
then. i'm tho seventeenth century that the
domain of the lrishmans native tongue
was invaded by the English
n will be remembered by the reader
that the true Irishman. inasmuch as
ireland was originally populated by the
Celtic race. is really Celt. and not a
saxon, though he now speaks English.
He was therefore. OF the same race and
blood as those ancient Britons who ask
cd Of our Saxon forofathers. then land
ing upon the shores Of their island. Whdt
afterwards proved TO them tO DE q Gre
clan gift. For after helping the BritOns
10 eXpel the depredating Picts and Scots.
the SaXous then drove out and subdued
the rightful pOssessors. and themselves
took possession OF the island-an exhibit
ton OK what Liyy would have called
"punic faith II might be remarked
parenthetcally that the descendants Of
those Saxons still seem 10 retain some
thing Of the "Punic faith. mingled with
their Christian faith, in their dealings
with their neighbors
But the modern Englishman is not pure
Saxon. though. Of course. the Saxon elc-
ment predominates I'm him. Some Of the
Celtic blood flows in his veins also, and II
Is from this source, according TO Matthew
Arnold. that DE gets his sentiment. In
his composite being the modern English
man combines with his original steady
going Saxon temperament something OF
the Celt's instinct for sentiment. love 40
beauty, charm, and spiritually. together
with something OF the Norman's tact FOR
business. There is. then. a comnfnglng
Of these three streams I'm the English
race. the Celtic and the Norman both
merged In the Saxon The Celt had. rs
the defect Of his qualities. Intellectual
ness and self-Will, qualities which, II
must be conceded. are characteristic 'e-
fects Of the Irish genius. even to the pres
ont day. In his admirable essays on Gel
tic literature. Matthew seeks TO show
how some of the finest qualities Of Eng
lish poetry are 10 be traced back 10 Celti,
sources In his own words: III | were
asked where English poetry got these
three :hings-its turn for style. its turn
for melancholy and its turn for natural
magic. for catching and rendering the
charm of nature I'm a wonderfully near
and vivid way-I should answer, with
some doubt that il got much Of Its turn
for style from a Celtic source; with less
doubt. that II got much OF its melancholy
from a Celtic source, with no doubt at
all, that from Celtic source 10 gOt near
~ all it's natural magic" Whether Te
are inclined TO subscribe to this opinion
or not, We must admit these words are
certainly very suggestive. os Indicating
the influence of the Celtic spirit upon the
Saxon.
TO return 10 the language, the English
settlers when they emigratcd 10 Ulster,
carried with them the language Of the !
seventeenth century Now. IL we reflect
for a moment, We shall see that IL was the |
OF the nine OF Milton and !
Dryden which was trausplanted into Ire |
land. The fact must be borne in mind !
that the English OF that century was !
transferred into a country where the ma |
tive speech and method OF utterancr |
Were entirely different This would nat |
urally cause some modification I'm the |
TT dirIldItFu idIkNdNf iNi IsIEll~u nov |
came into contact with the old Irish. ami /
that upon Irish soil. Therefore. these cir
,umstances would exercise a potent innu-
cnce upon the emigTated language. ing
.ish was. then. imposed upon the Irish,
whose native tongue differed. not On.y
in IT'S sounds but also I'm its mode Of
Ittcrancc. from English, and IL was.
therefore. naturally modified TO a greater
Or less extent This be- always the case
when two different languages come into
contact, ana are spoken cOncurrently iu
he same country. 10 was so when
French and English came together. after
he Norman conquest. during which peri
,d OF contact the English language un-
lerwent far greater changes than IL had
.ver done before, or has ever done since.
I'm such circumstances language |
,hauges not only ln form, but also in
construction and iliom. This latter may
De- Illustrated by the so-called pigeon
English, spoken in China. where mer-
'hant. who had a rude sort OF sprach-
sefuchl. as the Germans say. put up. out
II his store-door. his sign-board. with
his legend: Groceries for sale retail
md whole-tail," An illustration OF the
node Of utterance may be found I'm the
Inherent difficulty he native German en-.
COUNTERS I'm the pronunciation Of words
UGH as then. they. etc. which he gen
rally pronOunces ven. zey. simply be-
ause this Is the nearest he can come
o il in his unstudied utterance His
anguage has not that sound. and his
node Of utterance Is different. our UNI
tudied pronunciation Of the German gut
ural sounds. such as that in the name OF
heir celebrated musician Bach. strikes !
he Germans as equally amusing
SO. when the Irish began to pronounce
f.sE - al 80 I
hey encountered similar difficulties. as.
or instance In the denfal combinations |