Description
Book Synopsis
Micheal O Siadhail considers modern Irish dialects against the background of their common grammar, providing a comprehensive overview for Celticists and general linguists with an interest in dialectical comparison.
Trade Review
"This carefully crafted book, the product of tremendous labour, should earn Ó Siadhail the thanks of the linguistics community. It has always struck me as odd that, given the extensive historical and descriptive studies of Irish, the language plays such a small part in theoretical linguistic discussions. The part it does play is principally in the arena of syntax, although that is certainly the area with the shortest tradition: the phonology and the morphology of the language are relatively ignored. This book certainly has the potential to reverse that situation by offering linguists of all stripes an excellent guide to the intricacies of Modern Irish." Language
"...Ó Siadhail has done a splendid job." C.M. Adderley, Language Quarterly
Table of Contents
List of tables; List of figures; Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Phonology: 1. Introduction to Phonology; 2. The syllabic system; 3. The vowels; 4. The semi-vowel and consonant systems; Part II. Morphology: 5. Introduction to morphology; 6. General morphological rules; 7. The noun; 8. The verb; Part III. Syntax: 9. Introduction to Syntax; 10. The copula; 11. Complementation and modal and auxiliary verbs; 12. Non-complemental subordination and marginal syntactic features; Glossary; References; Index of Irish words.
