| Popis: |
The main aim of this thesis is to identify those features which make the Gaelic of Islay distinctive and on the basis of those features establish the relationships which exist between the Gaelic of Islay and other dialects of Gaelic, particularly those which are found within Argyll and Arran. The thesis begins with a general account of the history of Islay and the village within Islay chosen as the location for most of my fieldwork: Portnahaven. Particular attention is paid to the history of Gaelic speech within the island and the historical relationships which existed between Islay and neighbouring island and mainland districts of Scotland and Ireland. The second chapter contains a basic phonology of the Gaelic of Portnahaven. The consonant and vowel phonemes of Portnahaven are identified and an account is given of their normal phonetic realizations. An account is also given of the effects of lenition and nasal mutation on consonants in word-initial position. The third chapter consists of a lexicon collected in Portnahaven. Some 2,000 lexical items are included with their phonetic realizations. A large proportion of items selected for inclusion in the lexicon are those which are unusual, those which take unusual forms, those used in an unusual fashion or those with unusual pronunciations. In the final chapter, an attempt is made to establish Islay's closest dialect affinities. This is done by choosing a selection of items and features common throughout Islay and establishing the extent to which they are found within other districts of Argyll and Arran, and where feasible, in the rest of the Gaelic-speaking world. The findings show that Islay not only has close dialect affinities with the neighbouring Scottish islands and mainland districts of Gigha, Kintyre, Jura, Colonsay, Arran and Knapdale, but also with Ulster and in particular with Rathlin and the Glens of Antrim. |
