Hiberno-English | |
---|---|
Irish English | |
Native to | Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
Region | Ireland (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland); Great Britain (diaspora) |
Native speakers
|
4.3 million in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom (2012 European Commission) 275,000 L2 speakers of English in Ireland (European Commission 2012) |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
None (mis ) |
Glottolog | None |
IETF | en-IE |
Hiberno‐English (from Latin Hibernia: "Ireland") or Irish English is the set of English dialects natively written and spoken within the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).
English was brought to Ireland as a result of the Norman invasion of Ireland of the late 12th century. Initially, it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with mostly Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country. By the Tudor period, Irish culture and language had regained most of the territory lost to the colonists: even in the Pale, "all the common folk… for the most part are of Irish birth, Irish habit, and of Irish language". However, the Tudor conquest and colonisation of Ireland in the 16th century marked a revival in the use of English. By the mid-19th century, English was the majority language spoken in the country. It has retained this status to the present day, with even those whose first language is Irish being fluent in English as well.
Hiberno-English uses British English spelling and mostly British pronunciation standards but with many uniquely Irish elements as well. Modern Hiberno-English has some features influenced by the Irish language, and it also tends to be linguistically conservative, retaining older features no longer documented in the accents of England and North America.
Phonologists today often divide Hiberno-English into four or five overarching classes of dialects or accents:Ulster accents, West and South-West Region accents (including, for example, the Cork accent), various Dublin accents, and a relatively recent supraregional accent.