Ulster Irish ( ga, Gaeilig Uladh, IPA=, IPA ga=ˈɡeːlʲɪc ˌʊlˠuː) is the variety of Irish spoken in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

. It "occupies a central position in the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...

world made up of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

". Ulster Irish thus has more in common with

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

and Manx. Within Ulster there have historically been two main sub-dialects: West Ulster and East Ulster. The Western dialect is spoken in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrcon ...

and once was in parts of neighbouring counties, hence the name Donegal Irish. The Eastern dialect was spoken in most of the rest of Ulster and northern parts of counties Louth and Meath.

History

Ulster Irish was the main language spoken in Ulster from the earliest recorded times even before Ireland became a jurisdiction in the 1300s. Since the

Plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

, Ulster Irish was steadily and forcibly replaced by English. The Eastern dialect died out in the 20th century, but the Western lives on in the

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially reco ...

region of County Donegal. In 1808,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

natives William Neilson and Patrick Lynch (Pádraig Ó Loingsigh) published a detailed study on Ulster Irish. Both Neilson and his father were Ulster-speaking

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

ministers. When the recommendations of the first Comisiún na Gaeltachta were drawn up in 1926, there were regions qualifying for Gaeltacht recognition in the Sperrins and the northern

Glens of Antrim The Glens of Antrim,Logainm.ie
(

Rathlin Island Rathlin Island ( ga, Reachlainn, ; Local Irish dialect: ''Reachraidh'', ; Scots: ''Racherie'') is an island and civil parish off the coast of County Antrim (of which it is part) in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's northernmost point. ...

. The report also makes note of small pockets of Irish speakers in northwest

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifn ...

, southeast County Monaghan, and the far south of

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

. However, these small pockets vanished early in the 20th century while Ulster Irish in the Sperrins survived until the 1950s and in the Glens of Antrim until the 1970s. The last native speaker of Rathlin Irish died in 1985.

Lexicon

The Ulster dialect contains many words not used in other dialects—of which the main ones are Connacht Irish and Munster Irish—or used otherwise only in northeast Connacht. The standard form of written Irish is now ''

An Caighdeán Oifigiúil (, "The Official Standard"), often shortened to , is the variety of the Irish language that is used as the standard or state norm for the spelling and grammar of the language and is used in official publications and taught in most schools in th ...

''. In other cases, a semantic shift has resulted in quite different meanings attaching to the same word in Ulster Irish and in other dialects. Some of these words include: * is used to mean "to think" as well as "to make" or "to do", ''síleann'', ''ceapann'' and ''cuimhníonn'' is used in other dialects, as well as in Ulster Irish. * or (West Ulster), "look" (elsewhere , and ; this latter means rather "try" or "attempt" in Ulster) * "opinion", southern ''tuairim'' - in Ulster, ''tuairim'' is most typically used in the meaning "approximate value", such as ''tuairim an ama sin'' "about that time". Note the typically Ulster derivatives ''barúlach'' and ''inbharúla'' "of the opinion (that...)". *, "road" (southern and western and (cf. Scottish Gaelic , Manx ), and "way"). Note that alone is used as a preposition meaning "towards" (literally meaning "in the way of": = "he looked towards the sea"). In the sense "road", Ulster Irish often uses ''bealach mór'' ("big road") even for roads that aren't particularly big or wide. *, "minute" (elsewhere , , , etc., and in Mayo Gaeltacht areas a somewhat halfway version between the northern and southern versions, is the word "móiméad", also probably the original, from which the initial M diverged into a similar nasal N to the south, and into a similar bilabial B to the north.) *, "when?" (Connacht ; Munster , ) *, "what is?" (Connacht ; Munster , , , Scottish Gaelic ) *, "cabbage" (southern ; Scottish Gaelic ) *, "weir" (Connacht , standard ) *, "I hear" (southern , but is also attested in South Tipperary and is also used in Achill and Erris in North and West Mayo). In fact, the initial ''c-'' tends to be lenited even when it is not preceded by any particle (this is because there ''was'' a leniting particle in Classical Irish: yielded in Ulster) *, "hard"-as in difficult (southern ), "tough" *, "close" (southern and western ; in other dialects means "to move in relation to or away from something", thus = to shirk, = to close in) although druid is also used in Achill and Erris *, "cattle" (southern = "one head of cattle", ''beithígh'' = "cattle", "beasts") *, "wings" (southern ) *, "about, under" (standard , Munster , and is only used for "under"; and = "about"; = "about" or "with regard to") *, "lazy" (southern and western , = "false, treacherous") although falsa is also used in Achill and Erris *, "seagull" (standard ) *, "also" (standard ) *, , , , , "Irish" (standard and Western , Southern , Manx , Scottish Gaelic ) although Gaeilg is used in Achill and was used in parts of Erris and East Connacht *, "gate" (standard ) *, "short" (southern ) *, "calf" (southern and ) although gamhain is also used in Achill and Erris *, "boy" (southern ; means "child" in Connemara) *, "girl" (southern and ) *, "busy" (standard ) *, an adjective meaning "some" or "certain" is used instead of the southern . also means "certain" or "particular". * is used to mean "I hear, perceive" as well as "I feel" (standard ) but generally refers to stories or events. The only other place where mothaím is used in this context is in the Irish of Dún Caocháin and Ceathrú Thaidhg in Erris but it was a common usage throughout most of northern and eastern Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and North Roscommon *, "daughter" (standard ; Scottish Gaelic ) *, "news" (standard , but note that even Connemara has ''nuaíocht'') *, "soap" (standard , Connemara ) *, "youth", "young man", "boyfriend" (Southern = "gangly, young lad") *, "table" (western and southern and , Scottish Gaelic ) * is used to mean "I can" as opposed to the standard or the southern . is also a preferred Ulster variant. Tig liom and its derivatives are also commonly used in the Irish of Joyce Country, Achill and Erris *the word "wonderful" is used as an intensifier instead of the prefix used in other dialects. Words generally associated with the now dead East Ulster Irish include: * (feel, hear, perceive) - but also known in more southern Irish dialects *, more standardized ''ársaigh'' (tell) - but note the expression ''ag ársaí téamaí'' "telling stories, spinning yearns" used by the modern Ulster writer Séamus Ó Grianna. * (evening) *, more standardized spelling ''corraí'' (anger) * (sore) * (yet) * (cow) * (hurry) * (house) * (duck) In other cases, a semantic shift has resulted in quite different meanings attaching to the same word in Ulster Irish and in other dialects. Some of these words include: * "head" (southern and western ; elsewhere, is used to mean "skull") * "mare" (southern and western ; elsewhere, means "horse")

Phonology

The phonemic inventory of Ulster Irish (based on the dialect of

Gweedore Gweedore ( ; officially known by its Irish language name, ) is an Irish-speaking district and parish located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. Gweedore stretches some from Glasserchoo in the north to Croll ...

) is as shown in the following chart (see

International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...

for an explanation of the symbols). Symbols appearing in the upper half of each row are velarized (traditionally called "broad" consonants) while those in the bottom half are palatalized ("slender"). The consonants are neither broad nor slender. The

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...

s of Ulster Irish are as shown on the following chart. These positions are only approximate, as vowels are strongly influenced by the palatalization and velarization of surrounding consonants. Ulster Irish vowel chart

The long vowels have short

allophone In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...

s in

unstressed In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or sentence. That emphasis is typically caused by such properties as i ...

syllables and before . In addition, Ulster has the

diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech ...

s . Some characteristics of the

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

of Ulster Irish that distinguish it from the other dialects are: * is always the

approximant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce ...

. In other dialects,

fricative A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in ...

is found instead of or in addition to . No dialect makes a phonemic contrast between the approximant and the fricative, however. * There is a three-way distinction among coronal nasals and laterals: , as there is in Scottish Gaelic, and there is no lengthening or diphthongization of short vowels before these sounds and . Thus, while "head" is in Connacht and in Munster, in Ulster it is (compare Scottish Gaelic ) * is pronounced , unless beside when it is . * is realised . * Unstressed long vowels are shortened but not reduces to a schwa like unstressed short vowel. * is pronounced as if it is spelled ( or ) after consonants other than . This happens in Connacht and Scottish Gaelic as well. *- in unstressed syllables is always (this includes verb forms), as it is in the Scottish Gaelic dialect of Cowal and most of Sutherland. * Unstressed - is pronounced , , or . * According to Ó Dochartaigh (1987), the loss of final

schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...

"is a well-attested feature of Ulster Irish". This has led to words like being pronounced .PlaceNames NI: Townland of Moyad Upper
/ref> Differences between the Western and Eastern sub-dialects of Ulster included the following: *In West Ulster and most of Ireland, the vowel written is pronounced (e.g. ), but in East Ulster it was pronounced (e.g. as it is in Scottish Gaelic (). J. J. Kneen comments that Scottish Gaelic and Manx generally follow the East Ulster pronunciation. The name is pronounced in Munster and in West Ulster, but in East Ulster, whence anglicized spellings like Shane O'Neill and Glenshane. *In East Ulster, in the middle of a word tended to vanish and leave one long syllable. William Neilson wrote that this happens "in most of the counties of Ulster, and the east of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

". *In East Ulster, at the end of words (as in ) tended to be much weaker, e.g. may be pronounced and pronounced . Neilson wrote that this is found "in all the country along the sea coast, from

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

". *Neilson wrote was , especially at the beginning or end of a word "is still retained in the North of Ireland, as in Scotland, and the Isle of Man", whereas "throughout Connaught, Leinster and some counties of Ulster, the sound of is substituted". However, broad may become in the middle of a word (for example in "book").

Morphology

Initial mutations

Ulster Irish has the same two initial mutations, lenition and eclipsis, as the other two dialects and the standard language, and mostly uses them the same way. There is, however, one exception: in Ulster, a

dative In grammar, the dative case ( abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob ...

singular

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

after the definite article is lenited (e.g. "on the tree") (as is the case in Scottish and Manx), whereas in Connacht and Munster, it is eclipsed (), except in the case of ''den'', ''don'' and ''insan'', where lenition occurs in literary language. Both possibilities are allowed for in the standard language.

Verbs

Irish verbs Irish verb forms are constructed either synthetically or analytically. Synthetic forms express the information about person and number in the ending: e.g., "I praise", where the ending ''-aim'' stands for "1st person singular present". In this ...

are characterized by having a mixture of ''analytic'' forms (where information about

person A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

is provided by a

pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun ( abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not ...

) and ''synthetic'' forms (where information about number is provided in an ending on the verb) in their conjugation. In Ulster and North Connacht the analytic forms are used in a variety of forms where the standard language has synthetic forms, e.g. "we praise" (standard , being a back formation from the verbal ending and not found in the Munster dialect, which retains as the first person plural pronoun as do Scottish Gaelic and Manx) or "they would praise" (standard ). The synthetic forms, including those no longer emphasised in the standard language, may be used in short answers to questions. The 2nd conjugation future stem suffix in Ulster is (pronounced ) rather than , e.g. "I will bless" (standard ). Some irregular verbs have different forms in Ulster from those in the standard language. For example: * ( independent form only) "I do, make" (standard ) and "I did, made" (standard ''rinne mé'') * (independent form only) "I see" (standard , Southern ''chím'', ''cím'' (independent form only)) * "I give" (standard , southern ''bheirim'' (independent only)), or "I do not give" (standard only ), and / "I will give" (standard , southern ''bhéarfad''(independent form only)) * (independent form only) "I get" (standard ), "I do not get" * "I say, speak" (standard , "I do not say, speak", although is used to mean "I say" in a more general sense.)

Particles

In Ulster the negative

particle In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from ...

(before a vowel , in past tenses - Scottish Gaelic/Manx ''chan'', ''cha do'') is sometimes used where other dialects use and . The form is more common in the north of the Donegal Gaeltacht. cannot be followed by the future tense: where it has a future meaning, it is followed by the habitual present. It triggers a "mixed mutation": and are eclipsed, while other consonants are lenited. In some dialects however (Gweedore), ''cha'' eclipses all consonants, except b- in the forms of the verb "to be", and sometimes f-: In the Past Tense, some irregular verbs are lenited/eclipsed in the Interrogative/Negative that differ from the standard, due to the various particles that may be preferred:

Syntax

The Ulster dialect uses the present tense of the

subjunctive mood The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...

in certain cases where other dialects prefer to use the future indicative: : :Sit down here by my side, Séimí, till I give you some advice and tell you my story. The verbal noun can be used in subordinate clauses with a subject different from that of the main clause: : :I would like you to go there.

Notable speakers

Some notable Irish singers who sing songs in the Ulster Irish dialect include Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill,

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (; born 26 July 1959) is an Irish fiddle, Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk music band Altan (band), Altan, which she co-founded with her late husband Frankie Kennedy in 1987. To ...

, Róise Mhic Ghrianna, and

Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin Pádraigín Máire Ní Uallacháin () is an Irish singer-songwriter, academic, and former newsreader

. Notable Ulster Irish writers include

Micí Mac Gabhann Micí Mac Gabhann (22 November 1865 – 29 November 1948) was a seanchaí and memoirist from the County Donegal Gaeltacht. He is best known for his posthumously published emigration memoir ''Rotha Mór an tSaoil'' (1959). It was dictated to his ...

, Seosamh Mac Grianna,

Peadar Toner Mac Fhionnlaoich Peadar Toner Mac Fhionnlaoich (5 October 1856 – 1 July 1942; en, P.T. MacGinley), known as Cú Uladh (''The Hound of Ulster''), was an Irish language writer during the Gaelic revival. He wrote stories based on Irish folklore, some of the firs ...

Cosslett Ó Cuinn The Rev. Canon Cosslett Quin, in Irish Cosslett Ó Cuinn (Derriaghy, County Antrim, 27 February 1907 - 6 December 1995) was a priest of the Church of Ireland who translated the New Testament into Irish. Quin was born to Charles Edward Quin, recto ...

Niall Ó Dónaill Niall Ó Dónaill (27 August 1908 – 10 February 1995) was an Irish language lexicographer from Ailt an Eidhinn, Loughanure, County Donegal. He was the oldest of the six children of Tarlach Ó Dónaill and Éilis Nic Ruairí from Grial, Lou ...

, Séamus Ó Grianna, Brian Ó Nualláin, Colette Ní Ghallchóir and

Cathal Ó Searcaigh Cathal Ó Searcaigh (born 12 July 1956), is a modern Irish language poet. His work has been widely translated, anthologised and studied. "His confident internationalism", according to Theo Dorgan, has channeled "new modes, new possibilities, i ...

References

Bibliography

* (book & 2 CDs in the Ulster dialect) * (book & 2 CDs in Ulster dislect) * * * * * * * * *

Literature

* olklore, Arranmore Island * olklore, Ranafast* ovel, the Rosses* ovel, the Rosses* ovel, the Rosses *

ocal history, Gweedore Ocal or OCAL may refer to: * Öcal, Turkish surname * Öçal Öçal is a Turkish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (born 1959), Turkish musician * Özgür Öçal (born 1981), Turkish footballer {{DEFAULTSORT:Ocal Turkish-la ...

* utobiography, Ulster* olklore, East Ulster: Antrim, Rathlin Island* ilcar* ssays, the Rosses* ovel, the Rosses* nfinished novel, the Rosses* utobiography, the Rosses * olklore* hort stories* hort stories* ssays * utobiography, Inishowen * egends, Tyrconnell* istory, folklore, memoirs, the Rosses *

hort stories, the Rosses Hort may refer to: People * Erik Hort (born 1987), American soccer player * F. J. A. Hort (1828–1892), Irish theologian * Greta Hort (1903–1967), Danish-born literature professor * Josiah Hort (c. 1674–1751), English clergyman of the ...

* ife story, the Rosses* iography, essays, the Rosses* iography, the Rosses*

ocal tradition, the Rosses Ocal or OCAL may refer to: * Öcal, Turkish surname * Öçal Öçal is a Turkish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (born 1959), Turkish musician * Özgür Öçal (born 1981), Turkish footballer {{DEFAULTSORT:Ocal Turkish-la ...

* *

ravel book Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

* * * olklore, Gweedore* olklore, Gweedore * emoirs and local history, Tory Island/Magheroarty* olklore, Tír Eoghain * iography, folklore, the Rosses*

ocal history, the Rosses Ocal or OCAL may refer to: * Öcal, Turkish surname * Öçal Öçal is a Turkish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (born 1959), Turkish musician * Özgür Öçal (born 1981), Turkish footballer {{DEFAULTSORT:Ocal Turkish-la ...

* ythology, the Rosses *

ovel Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of ''minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community. Mourners In Judaism, the p ...

he Rosses He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

* ovel, the Rosses* utobiography, the Rosses*

* ovel, the Rosses*

hort stories the Rosses Hort may refer to: People * Erik Hort (born 1987), American soccer player * F. J. A. Hort (1828–1892), Irish theologian * Greta Hort (1903–1967), Danish-born literature professor * Josiah Hort (c. 1674–1751), English clergyman of the Chu ...