Mitch with the same meaning is still used in the Westcountry, even amongst my generation. sjc
I'm no linguist, so I dont know where the following should be added to this article. My parents are Irish, and here are some expressions they use:
- the word yoke is sometimes used where the word thing might be used in standard English.
- e.g. "what's that yoke for?"
- the word mind is sometimes used for the word remember.
- e.g. "I mind when I was a boy"
I've never heard that usage. It is used for "take care/of" - "Mind yourself crossing the street", though I'm not sure that's an exclusively Irish usage. -- Jim Regan 16:20 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)
- "mind" meaning "take care" is famously English. On the London Underground you continuously hear a recording of "Mind the gap" as you step on or off the train. Hippietrail 06:11, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Article written by a CS student, so it was!
I can't figure out where to add to this article either, so here goes (should be familiar to British viewers of Father Ted):
- ye is used for the second person plural
- feck, means steal, or rather "take without permission", and is used as a euphemism for the word "fuck"
- lad is used as a euphemism for penis
- eejit is a mis-spelled, mis-pronounced version of idiot
- The "a" is father is generally pronounced fah ther or fah der rather than faw ther
- gobshite means fool
- Many words also in use in Britain, such as arse for ass, bollocks for testicles, shite for shit
Jimregan 13:46 Apr 26, 2003 (UTC)
- Contrary to the assumption that "fah ther" is a particularly Irish pronunciation, "faw ther" is a particularly American pronunciation which is not used elsewhere. Hippietrail 06:11, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
This USA-ian is baffled by the sentence "Irish English also always uses the "light l" sound." - how about an example? - DavidWBrooks 14:10, 2 Sep 2003 (UTC)
- The canonical example is "Film" which is pronounced as two syllables, almost fillum. (cf. Rhythm.) In RP english this is a monosyllable, almost fiwm. The w attempts to represent a dark l sound. Also "Bottle" keeps the light l by changing the t to a sound between t and k. Irish children often mispronounce this "bockle" when learning to talk.
Is there any particular reason that "mitch," of all the vocabulary available, is the only example included in this artcile? I'm not familliar with the language, but perhaps it could be made clear that this is an example, as opposed to being a particularly important word, which is how it looks now. BarkingDoc
The present tenses example is wrong. An bhfuil is just the interrogative form of ta. The example I would use is "Tá tú anois" vs "Bíonn tú gach lá" - you are now vs you be every day.
Alastair Rae 15:45, 7 Nov 2003 (UTC)
Craic (Crack) may well be from Scots and Northern English.
- I have removed the reference to "crack" because I believe it not to be derived from Irish ("craic", like "sessiún", is a recent gaelicisation). I think I have seen Jane Austen use "crack" in the sense of lively conversation, and there are usages like "wisecrack" in non-Hiberno English. It is, however, clearly a feature of Hiberno-English, just not of Irish-language origin. BrendanH 09:09, 31 Mar 2004 (UTC)
In my experience of living with Irish expats in the last couple of years, the most stand-out Irishisms I notice are "after" as mentioned, plus "your man" to refer to any specific male person, and "the last day" to mean yesterday. Hippietrail 06:11, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Amn't I?
Just to make a comment about everyday usage of Irish English that is not yet mentioned here:
The often rhetorical phrase "Amn't I?" is widely used in everyday speech.
It is a contraction of "Am not I?" or "Am I not?" and is generally a used to reinforce a statement of fact or opinion.
-Where have you been? -Doesn't matter, I'm here now anyway, amn't I?
or
-look at me, mammy, I'm really getting tall, amn't I?
In standard English this is usually spoken as "aren't I?"
However note that the use of "aren't I?" is generally particularly grating to Irish ears.
Why this difference exists is unknown (to me) but may be due to the illogicality of placing a singular subject (I) with a plural verb (are).
- If this be true, seems like the Irish got this right. "Amn't I" or "ain't I" appears more appropriate than "aren't I". Pædia | talk 15:26, 2004 Apr 29 (UTC)
I remember, if I used this contraction as a child, my mother, who was ever-so-slightly Anglo (her family had only been in Ireland since the 16th century), would always correct me with the phrase "an almond is a nut". ;-) Blorg 11:33, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Amn't I? (2)
Interestingly, it's also very common in Dublin (mostly in working-class areas) to use "amn't I not?", ie a double negative, instead of "Am I?"
Example: I'm not working tomorrow, amn't I not?
--Attila the Pooh 09:42, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- <Shakes head>. "Dubliners." In theory, there could be entire sections on Dublin and Cork Hiberno-English! Also some Limerick terms, "sham" (mate?), "c'mere I want ya" (in a nasal whine), "I'll bust the head/chops off ya"/"c'mere I'll bust ya", "You lookin' at me?"/"What you lookin' at". Charming Hiberno-English. I'll add it later - or someone else can. Zoney 12:56, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I've never heard "amn't I not": admittedly most of my 8 years in Dublin was not spent in working-class areas. It sounds like a childish blunder (i.e. how the rest of the world views "amn't I"). Does this also mean "aren't you not" and "isn't it not" are found? In which case it's a separate subheading. Joestynes
Irish (English)
True, 'Irish' almost always refers to Irish Gaelic. However, American references Merriam-Webster Online and American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed.) list as Gaelic or English. If Oxford is the authority in Ireland, then we maybe could exclude 'Irish'. Cheers, Pædia | talk 15:16, 2004 Apr 29 (UTC)
Them for those
What about a reference to the use of "them" instead of "those"? "Look at them houses over there"
And the use of the word "lamp" to mean look? "Lamp dem houses over dere like." Ok, perhaps lamp is only a Cork thing.
- ...I suspect you're right. The variety of accents and lingo around Ireland is nothing short of insane. I was down in Kerry recently, and attempted to have a conversation with a local - both of us had quite a hard time understanding one another! I'd have found it no less effort to interpret, were he speaking Irish. Zoney 23:43, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Yer man/wan
Yer man (your man) and Yer wan (your one) are used in referring to an individual known by the party being addressed, but not being referred to by name. The nearest equivalents in colloquial English usage would be "whatsisname" and "whatsername".
Or maybe "you know who"? -- SS 15:49, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Page move
Any particular reason for the page move from Hiberno-English to Hiberno-English language? zoney ▓ ▒ talk 12:04, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- Gilgamesh has done this to all the "major English dialects" and is discussing it with others who don't agree on his talk page. I don't think I like it myself, after all, all these dialects are not independent languages in themselves but dialects, and so the page titles really don't sit well IMHO. Blorg 12:42, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Whenever
Another peculiarity I've noticed in Northern English is the use of "whenever" instead of "when". In the South "whenever" implies a continuing reaction or emphasis, for instance "Whenever I went out without an umbrella, it always rained". But in the North you hear things like "The roads were safer whenever I was young". --Attila the Pooh 10:58, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)