The Unifying Aspects of Cultures

SECTION:

Standard Variations and Conceptions of Language in Various Language Cultures

Simone Zwickl (Univ. Heidelberg, D)
Language attitudes and ethnic identity across the Northern Ireland border

The formation of the political border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (1922) cut off three counties of the province of Ulster; they belong to the Republic of Ireland while the remaining six counties form Northern Ireland and are part of the United Kingdom. The border might have caused divergence, where at one time, there was something like a linguistic continuum. In Northern Ireland the sociolinguistic situation is complex in itself: Is the religious divide also a linguistic one? Can we believe informants, who tell us that they can easily recognise a Protestant from a Catholic just from the way they speak? What are the identities of the people? Do they consider themselves as Irish or British? What are their attitudes towards the Standard, local Standard and the local variety?

The research draws on data obtained in interviews carried out in two towns across the Northern Ireland border: Armagh city and Monaghan town. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were combined for analysis. The focus of the paper is on peoples' self-stated identity and their attitudes and it will show that social allegiances across the Northern Ireland border are more complicated than hitherto recognised. Some of the results reveal a Catholic/Protestant split, but other results show allegiances that do not follow denominational lines. Although it has long been known that there are two different states with two different regional standards and two different school systems, the relationship between the minority and the majority merges from this study as more important than the social variables for individuals. The results will contribute constructively to all ethno-linguistic debate in Northern Ireland as well as to a general discussion on attitudes in highly polarised societies.

THE UNIFYING ASPECTS OF CULTURES