Varieties of English: Dublin English

Abstract

The present paper gives a description of phonetic and morphosyntactic features that make Dublin English distinct from other varieties of Irish English. The English language has been present in Ireland since the twelfth century, and Dublin is the only place where the language persisted without a break from that century on. As the language was brought to the island by different settlers and it evolved in an independent way from other English varieties and with the influence of the native language of Ireland, different varieties of Irish English can be found in the country. Concerning Dublin English, the English language here has changed and different varieties can be found within the city. As it is the capital city of the Republic of Ireland and it has economic power and international relations, some speakers have started to modify their speech so as to bring it closer to standardised forms of the language. For the same reason, Dublin English can also work as a standard for some speakers taking into account the prestige of the city. The purpose of this paper is to describe the phonetic characteristics that make the different varieties of Dublin English distinct, as well as to present some of its key morphosyntactic features. The changes in pronunciation are mainly motivated by sociolinguistic factors, and this issue is also explained in this work. For this reason, opinions of native speakers of Dublin English on some of its distinctive variables are presented. For a better understanding of how these new varieties arise in Dublin, some important notions that lead to their development will be introduced –supraregionalisation, vernacularisation and dissociation of the language–. Finally, after going over these notions, Dublin English and its different varieties will be introduced, as well as their distinctive features and the Dublin Vowel Shift.