Thesis: Scr íobh na nDaoine...

[Clyde Owens]

great job. 
clyde> Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:28:43 -0600> From: brian at GAEL-IMAGE.COM> Subject: Thesis: Scríobh na nDaoine...> To: CELTLING at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG> > Colleagues,> > I am pleased to announce that I recently completed and defended my > master's thesis in linguistics at Northeastern Illinois University, a > copy of which is available at: http://www.gael-image.com/DoyleThesis-Dec2008.pdf > .> > I have copied below the title and abstract.> > Best regards,> Brian Doyle> Chicago, IL> > -----> > SCRÍOBH NA nDAOINE:> Orthographic Variation, Ideology,> and Literacy Practices in Irish> > Irish is an endangered Celtic language with official status in the > Republic of> Ireland and the European Union. This study describes the historical > development and> grammatical foundations of Irish orthography, the reform and > standardization of> which became the focus of intense political debate starting in the > late 19th century.> Between the years 1945 and 1972, a series of new spelling, grammar, > and script> standards were released by the Irish government and implemented in the > Irish> educational system. Prompted by personal exchanges with some members > of Chicago’s> Irish-language speech community who express a degree of unfamiliarity > with or> dislike of these standards, a survey was conducted that sought to > measure 43 subjects’> preferences for three discrete aspects of Irish writing: 1) classical > vs. simplified> spelling; 2) Gaelic vs. Roman type; and 3) the use of Hs vs. overhead > dots to mark> lenition. By isolating and measuring preferences for each of these > three orthographic> variables, the survey sought to deconstruct the “abrogationist” and > “appropriationist”> frames identified by Ó Conchubhair (2003) and determine which, if any, > aspects of> orthographic variation remain salient today. Subjects’ preferences > were analyzed in> relation to age, gender, education, and childhood residency in the > gaeltaċt to determine> to what degree orthographic variation may serve to differentiate > speech communities.> Analysis of the survey results supported the identification of two > underlying factors,> spelling preference and script preference, and found a significant > correlation between> higher levels of education and preference for Roman script using Hs to > mark lenition.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/celtling/attachments/20081119/f389b53c/attachment.htm>