Esszet wrote:
Ah, now I see. Still, once Irish is restored to its rightful place as the primary language of Ireland, the Caighdeán is pretty much going to take over, it's what happens with standardized languages these days. What do native speakers think of people who do speak the Caighdeán but speak it very well? And once again, is it déanamh an ruda or an rud?
I doubt that would ever be the case. If Irish had never lost its primary language status, it's more likely that a native dialect (most likely Connemara) would have become the actual, spoken standard, with the other dialects mixing in to some degree. With the current situation, if Irish were to somehow regain its primary status, it's likely that "Urban Irish" would influence whatever were to become a recognized "standard, with the Caighdeán, if it remained at all, remaining as a purely academic standard.
Remember that NO ONE can actually speak the Caighdeán, as it doesn't address pronunciation...therefore every pronunciation choice is going to reflect one dialect or another. Same thing with expressions. For example, how do you greet someone? How do you say "come here"? Do you call your dog a madra, a mada, or a madadh? These are all dialect choices (and, unsurprisingly, all allowed under the Caighdeán).
I would say that most learners at least start by learning a mixture of dialects, and that's fine. It will mark you as a second-language-learner but, to be honest, our accents already do that. My usual advice to learners is to focus on learning the nuts and bolts of the language first, and then specialize if you want to.
As for what native speakers think, I'll leave that to them to answer that. I do know that in some Gaeltachts, native speakers are uncomfortable speaking Irish with any outsider,, regardless of dialect.
Redwolf
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