LL-L: "Nationality" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 08.OCT.1999 (01)

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From: James Parsley <parsley at highbury.fsnet.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L: "Nationality" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 07.OCT.1999 (03)

Pepijn,

This brings up the interesting idea of why one says, for example, the
"Northern Ireland team" but the "Irish team". The adjective from "Ireland" is
obviously "Irish", yet the adjective from "Northern Ireland" remains "Northern
Ireland". So one talks of "Irish Rail" yet "Northern Ireland Railways", the
"Irish Tourist Information Office" yet the "Northern Tourist Board" and so on.

While I would always point out that Ulster (i.e. the north of Ireland) was
always culturally quite distinct from the rest of Ireland (hence the quite
distinct accent, both in Gaelic and English), the province of "Northern
Ireland" formed out of six NE counties only came into being in 1921.
Could this be the reason that English speakers avoid using a separate
adjective?

One would say, for example, that "shepherd's pie is a typically northern
English dish" (though perhaps more likely "dish from the north of England"),
so I suppose if one is referring to the geographical north of Ireland rather
than the political entity, one would refer to "northern Irish" - for example
"General Montgomery was born in London of northern Irish stock" (which I read
in a recent encyclopedia).

There may, of course, be a link with Dutch vs. Netherlands (the issue here is
further confused by the use of "Ulster" - somebody from Northern Ireland is
nearly always referred to as an "Ulsterman" except in the most formal of
situations, where of course "Northern Ireland man" is preferred to "Northern
Irishman").

One to ponder, misschien?
Groeten/Regards,
-------------------------------
Ian James Parsley
http://www.gcty.com/parsleyij
"JOY - Jesus, Others, You"
REPLY NOT WORK? TRY:
parsleyij at hotmail.com

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