Ulster Scots speech
Subtitle: a sociolinguistic study
By: Rona K. Kingsmore ; edited by Michael B. Montgomery ; with a foreword by James Milroy and Lesley Milroy.
Contributors: Montgomery, Michael, 1950-
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Tuscaloosa
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Scots language -- Social aspects -- Northern Ireland -- Coleraine.; Scots language -- Spoken Scots -- Northern Ireland -- Coleraine.; Scots language -- Dialects -- Northern Ireland -- Coleraine.; Scots language -- Dialects -- Ulster (Northern Ireland and Ireland); Scots -- Ulster (Northern Ireland and Ireland) -- Languages.; Coleraine (Northern Ireland) -- Social life and customs.
Description: This book examines phonological variation of the inhabitants of Coleraine, a small town in Northern Ireland. Its purpose is to identify some of the mechanisms involved in language change by focusing on one variety of Hiberno-EnglishUlster Scots - in a small urban community. Kingsmore concentrates in particular on the social and family networks of this urban working-class community and their influence on the status and stigma of competing nonstandard pronunciations.

The author identifies some of the innovators of phonological change and some social and linguistic barriers to change. This quantitative study focuses on the effect of gender on language variation and change. In addition, Kingsmore describes conflicting pressures between urban and rural varieties and examines the extent of influence of a larger urban center on a smaller urban center. Her sociolinguistic methodology is innovative and insightful.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [221]-236) and index.