NORTHERN IRISH ENGLISH

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 700+ words | Copyright

NORTHERN IRISH ENGLISH. English used in Northern Ireland, of which there are four varieties: (1) ULSTER SCOTS, also known as Scotch-Irish, brought to the area in the 17c by Lowland Scots. It is the most northerly variety, found in Antrim, Down, Derry/Londonderry, and in eastern and central Donegal in the Irish Republic. (2) ANGLO-IRISH or ULSTER ENGLISH, introduced by 17c settlers from England. It stretches northward from Bundoran in the west to Dundalk in the east, has much in common with southern Anglo-Irish, and has been influenced by Ulster Scots. (3) HIBERNO-ENGLISH, influenced by GAELIC. It is most widely found in rural Armagh, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone. There is a further pocket in the Glens of Antrim, where Irish Gaelic was reinforced by Scottish Gaelic and survived into the 1940s. (4) The distinctive speech of BELFAST. See IRISH ENGLISH, L-SOUNDS.

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TOM McARTHUR. "NORTHERN IRISH ENGLISH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "NORTHERN IRISH ENGLISH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-NORTHERNIRISHENGLISH.html

TOM McARTHUR. "NORTHERN IRISH ENGLISH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-NORTHERNIRISHENGLISH.html

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