Oileán Chléire, áit an-éagsúil ar fad a bhuachaill, ach faraor is beag Gaoluinne a chloistear ann a thuilleadh. Ach le sin ráite, thugas géamh chuin Oifig a' phoist lá agus bhí comhrá agus caint dea-Ghaelainneach agam le fear a bhí dea-Ghaelainneach leis. Ní raibh mórán eile sochas na "Gaelcholáistí Samhraidh"

I think it was Lughaidh that said "of course there were dialects". Apologies Lughaidh I don't know how to quote inside a quote. I remember learning that when Irish was the main language of the country, but a long time ago, that there were in fact no dialects. I have no evidence to substantiate this, but tá sé ar chúl mo chinn agam go láidir, n'fheadar canathaobh? Any ideas?

ins an teangaidh sgríobhtha liteartha cha bheadh mórán riantach do na canamhaintí, sin an méid. Ach ní h-ionann sin is a ráidht nach rabh canamhaint ar bith ó thaobh na teangtha labhartha dó. Níl teangaidh ar bith ann nach mbeadh canamhaint ar bith innti (fiú teangthacha ríomhaireachta! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect_%28computing%29). Agus fad ó shoin, nuair ba deacair do na daoiní taisteal, tuighe nach mbeadh duifreacha ó áit go h-áit?
Ach bhí caighdeán an ama sin réasúnta láidir agus cha sgríobhfadh na sgríbhneóirí ina gcanamhaint, sin an méid.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Tá Gaoluinn dea-chumtha, dea-scríte agat a chara, seanslí, bródúil.

Nílím ar aon dul leat, áfach, fiú, ní aontaím leat in aon chor. Táir a' féachaint siar ar theangain gan trácht ar theangain ag féachaint aniar. Ní thosnaíonn teangacha i gcanúintí. Tagann na canúintí ar ball beag éigint eile nuair a thá briseadh de shaghas éigint tagtha. Ní thuigim an snáith a thugais, cé gur chonac air...fós ní tuigeadh dhom é. "Teanga Ríomhaireachta" ? Ní dóigh liom go raibh caighdeán ann ach teanga an uair san. Níor thánaig an Ghaoluinn ar an bhfód i ngiotaí, níor tháinig sí i bpíosaí ach an oiread. D'éabhlóideadh í, tháinig na canúintí níosa dhéanaí

bidheann briseadh ann ón lá a labhrann níos mó ná duine amháin an teangaidh. Agus ar rugadh 'n Ghaedhlic i gcloiginn duine amháin? Char rugadh. Bhí cuid mhór daoiní a' labhairt Gaedhlice ón tús agus sin an tuighe a rabh éagsamhlacht i gcomhnaidhe ins a' Ghaedhlic agus ins na teangthacha eile fosta. Tuighe nach mbeadh éagsamhlacht sa teangaidh in Éirinn, i n-am a rabh coillte ar fud na tíre agus treibheannaí éagsamhla a' troid le chéile agus gan ach giota beag bealaighe agus slighteach fríd a' tír? agus gan ag na daoiní ach beathaigh, carbaid agus cairteannaí adhmaid, nuair nach mbeadh siad a' gabháil do shiubhal cos! Tuighe a labhairfeadh na daoiní sine uilig ar a' dóigh chéarna, ó tharla nach labhairfeadh siad le chéile am ar bith?



teisteánann sin go mbidheann éagsamhlacht ins na teangthacha siocair go bhfuil na daoiní éagsamhail. Cha labhrann na daoiní ar a' dóigh chéarna siocair go bhfuil siad difreamhail agus níl siad ag iarraidh bheith cosmhail go h-iomlán. Tá canamhaintí i dteangthacha saordha, tá canamhaintí i dteangthacha a h-athbheóthaigheadh fosta (Eabhrais...). Rud nádúrtha atá ann.



tháinig: tháinig treibheannaí éagsamhla, pobail éagsamhla, as ceanntracha éagsamhla. Ní duine amháin a chruthaigh 'n Ghaedhlic lá eighineacht agus a theagasc do na daoiní eile í. Bhí sí á labhairt ag cuid mhór daoiní ón tús, as áiteacha éagsamhla.



Cha dtig leat sin a dhearbhughadh. Ach tá a fhios go rabh éagsamhlacht sa t-Sean-Ghaedhlic sgríobhtha cheana féin, gidh nach rabh sé gomh soilléir agus atá na canamhaintí anois - siocair go rabh caighdeán eighineacht ansin, agus nach sgríobhfadh na daoiní mar a labhairfeadh siad. Ach tchíthear duifreacha, tá foirm mhalartacha ann i Sean-Ghaedhlic. Amhanc ar an t-Sean-Bhéarla fosta, a labhairfí ins an ré chéarna: canamhaintí uilig go léir. Amhanc ar an t-Sean-Fhrainncis: canamhaintí uilig go léir. Sean-Ghearmáinis... teangthacha Rómánsacha... Tuighe a mbeadh sé difreamhail i n-Éirinn?

Léigh A Grammar of Old Irish le R. Thurneysen, lch. 12 (§16) agus tchífidh tú nach mise amháin a shíleas sin.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I find that concern over using the "proper" dialect is a huge barrier to many people using the Irish they have because some of the language they know is considered by some people to be "wrong". I have witnessed occasions when people were sneered at because they only had Gaeilge Scoile.

Some points:
The language spoken in Conamara today is slightly different to the language spoken there in the 40s and 50s. Words that I learnt as a boy are no longer used and other words have been introduced. I think that that is quite proper because if a language doesn't change and evolve then it will die.

Personally, I dont care what dialect you use or how badly you speak Irish, just use it and eventually things will fall into place. I do agree that the Caidhdeán is a dog's body but if it gives people a taste for the language then I dont see what the problem is.

I have spent time in the Conamara Gaeltacht, the Munster one (around Ballingeary) and Na Dúinne in Ulster. Each of these places have differences of language and grammar but a half-hour in any of them will sort out the -amar and the -amuid. I have never found a difference in dialect to be a handicap as I guess that 80% of the language is used throughout the country.

If you speak to a person from Glasgow or the north of England you may find it difficult to understand them at first because of their use of local words and phrases. But they are speaking English - it is just slightly different to your version.

Spain seems to have much the same problem. I spend a lot of time in Mallorca. Castillian is the "official" language but most people on the island speak Mallorcan (an offshoot of Catalonian) or that other argot (a mixture of Spanish and French). They have the same attitude to Castillian as some Irish people have to Irish i.e the official language is somehow inferior to the dialect they use. Some French people have much the same attitude to Parisian French.

The bottom line as far as I'm concerned is that language allows you to communicate and if it is understood by the person you are talking to then it has done its job.

a hobbyhorse well-ridden!

Dialect
Oxford English definition, (Obviously biased)
n. form of speech peculiar to a particular region; subordinate variety of a language with non-standard vocabulary, pronunciation, or idioms.
Ignoring the political bias in the definition, a dialect is a living variant subset of a language, and a language SHOULD be the superset of ALL dialects.
If the so-called language is NOT a superset of ALL dialects, then it is just another dialect.
British English, American English, and Australian English are all dialects.
The SUPERSET does not exist as a standard anywhere.
Likewise in Irish.
The standardised dialect does not qualify as the universal superset, so it is only a dialect.
Le meas,
Deghebh.

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Is mise, le meas, Deġeḃ.
Is Sasanaċ mé.
Tá beagán Gaoluinn agam.
As Béarla:
I see things differently.
I see things other people can't see.
Sometimes what I see is not there.
Some people call me crazy, and some of them are right.

the problem is: why is the Gaeilge Scoile different from all natural dialects?..... If natural Irish were taught in schools, everybody would be happy, I think. Gaeltacht people have no problem talking with people who speak another real dialect, it is artificial Irish that they don't like, in my opinion.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Nílim ar aon dul leat in aon chor. Tá do mheas lochtach. Cé mhéad canúintí ata ann de Bhéarla in Éirinn anois?

Níl mo mheas lochtach. Muna bhfuil an ceart agam, teisteáin domh cá h-áit a dteárr mé (agus Rudolf Thurneysen) meancóg.



cá bhfios domh? agus goidé 'n bhaint eadar sin agus an t-adhbhar atá muid a phléidhe?

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne