"IRISH."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 289, 6 December 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

"IRISH."

THE REAL BROGUE. MENACE OF GAELIC.

!•: • I (By OLIVER IRELAND.)

It is over thirty years since I made actual acquaintance with Ireland and the Irish. During my stay in the country I learned to love its people, particularly its peasantry. As an Englishman with a natural reverence for and appreciation of my mother tongue, 1 was greatly interested in its use by the Irish people. The local accent was of no importance, as accent 'is generally an accident of locality. But there- were two things which particularly,called for notice. One was the quaintness of some words and phrases. The other was tue English writers to give a true rendering of °the language as it was spoken, at least in that part of the countiy in which I was staying. The Iri.shnVEtn of the music-hall stage seenud to be theii source of , inspiration. With regard to unusual words there- are two which cling to mv memory, as they puzzled me for some" time. They are "foo paw", and "muslia." The first seemed somehow connected with the "fee fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, I'll have his bones for my stepping-stones, and his blood for my morning dram,? which was "part of a : local becltime story for children. Inspiration rather, than researchrre.v.eafeivjthcin both to me as due to the long and intimate connection of Ireland with France. > "Foo paw" is surely a mispronunciation of "faux pas," and "muslia" of "m'sieur." Among the peasantry a clucky fowl was always a "clockin 1 bin," and personal measurements ' of height were either "in. me stockin' feet," or "in me boots." The impression conveyed by this was a dilleience almost amounting to feet, and not merely an inch or two. Not "Oireland." With regard to English renderings of the Irish brogue, we must admit at once that it has "to be brought within the understanding of English readers. This would be practically impossible if the delightful Irish pronunciation were rendered phonetically. Still, one or two forms of rendering which have become stereotyped ought to be pointed out, if not altered henceforth. The commonest i». the introduction of "o" in "Oireland,' "toime," "foine" and similar words. This is all wrong. It was one of the fiist things I noticed, and I always regarded myself as a sole discoverer until I read Bernard Shaw's "John Bull's Other Island." A few explanatory words will help to make things clear in this, respect. ' The Irish, for some reason I am unable to fathom, but which may have to do with their native language, persistently use the sound of the letter e, and tli'ey make its introduction into English words the effect of a hyphen. Thus "Irish" becomes, not the stupid, meaningless "Oirisli" but "I-erish. "Time" and "line" are "ti-em" and "fi-en." In a word like "here" the same thing happens. It becomes "he-er." It cannot be a mere transposition, though it has the appearance of it when we note that "sa-ev" is the sound given to "save." This fondness for "e" may account for the suffix the "lerish" commonly used to denote a sort of affectionate,. diminutive "een," pronounced "yeen." "Shoneen" is little John, "boneen". is a iitle jig. In my ignorance of Gaelic I can only suggest that because and if it is demanded in that language, the use .of "h" after, "d"' and "t" in English words is a direct transference of word construction. Hence we have "butther" and inatther" and "murdher." There remains one word by itself which- always' irritates me When used in "Oirisli" conversations, namely, "ve." I'have never-yet .known an Irishman to pronounce-it as-English people think lie. tloes. What he does say is "yeh," with a very short "e." "Yiz" is quite common, as "Hllwat are yiz doin'?" Which brings me to the aspirates. Irish people emphasise these in a way which must be an offence and a reproach to English people. I have ail idea that Shaw makes this clear in the dialogue I have already referred to. Competition of Gaelic. It is, I know, the aim of very sincere and patriotic Irishmen to make Erse or Gaelic altogether supplant English for use as a language in Ireland. Should this ever co.ne about, not Ireland and not England will be impoverished, lint the whole world. Irish writers have enriched our' literature, through the fluent, delicate and masterly way they have used our language. - True, their inspiration has not often,been their own country or their own people, lint litera- , ture, like music, should know no frontiers. Above all, wo shall lose "the j brogue," which, so long as it remains , unconscious, will ever be a deljglit to , those who hear it. It certainly warms ] my heart to recognise it occasionally in 1 NeW Zealand. a