Present-dayIrish has numerous loanwords from English. The native term for these isbéarlachas (Irish pronunciation:[ˈbʲeːɾˠl̪ˠəxəsˠ]), fromBéarla, the Irish word for the English language. It is a result of language contact andbilingualism within a society where there is a dominant,superstrate language (in this case, English) and a minoritysubstrate language with few or no monolingual speakers and a perceived "lesser" status (in this case, Irish).
Anglicisms exists in many forms, from the direct translation of English phrases to the common form of creating verbal nouns from English words by adding the suffix-áil (this is also used to form verbs from native roots, such astrasnáil, "cross over", fromtrasna "across",tuigeáil (Connacht,Ulster) "understanding" (Munstertuiscint), fromtuig "understand", and so on).[1][2]Táim ag runáil go dtí an siopa ("I'm running towards the shop") is an anglicism, as "runáil" is a verb created from the English word "run" with the Irish suffix-áil attached; the traditional Irish for this would beTáim ag rith go dtí an siopa.[3]
Calquing also occurs; it is calledbéarlachas in Irish[4] and describes when an English phrase is literally translated into Irish, even though an equivalent Irish phrase already exists.[5] An example of this is "Moilligh síos" ("slow down" –moill "delay" +síos "downwards", calqued from English), instead of the more traditionalMaolaigh ar do luas ("reduce your velocity"), or simplyMaolaigh! ("Slow down!").
Semantic loaning occurs too with the meaning of some terms being broadened to match English. An example isoráiste, originally meaning theorange fruit but also being used to describe to the colour.
Many words that are commonly thought by "purists" to be anglicisms have been a part of the Irish language for a long time, and have become "nativised". At the same time, certain words that are sometimes assumed to be from English are actually fromNorse orNorman French, and as such are not true anglicisms. For example:
coinneal: "candle" (both ultimately from Latincandēla)
páipéar: "paper" (páipér; both words derive from Old Frenchpaper, papier)
Other words are 'early anglicisms', having entered the language in the 18th and 19th centuries:
praghas: "price" (also possibly from Norman Frenchpreis,pris)
dabht: "doubt" (the Irish words are:amhras,gó)
The wordpéint may have been borrowed directly from English "paint" or from Old Frenchpeint. The verbpinntél ("to paint") appears in someOld Irish works.[6]
Other words are actually Celtic roots that have entered English:
peata: "pet (animal)" (entered English from Scottish Gaelic, from Middle Irishpet[t]a; possibly from Frenchpetit "small", or Brittonic*petti- "thing, piece")[12]
iarann: "iron" (both words ultimately derive from Proto-Celtic*īsarnom, "iron")[13]
The wordród ("road, route"), most commonly seen iniarnród (iron road, i.e.railway) is actually derived from Old Irishrót (fromro-sét, "great path", orrōut, "distance, length") and is not a borrowing of Englishroad, although it may have been influenced by the Old English rootrād ("riding").[14][15][16][17]
Oigheann, the Irish word for "oven", is not derived from the English; it comes fromMiddle Irishaigen ("cooking-vessel, pan"), from Celtic root*aginâ ("vessel"). Englishoven is from Old Englishofn, from Proto-Germanic*uhnaz.
Domhan ("world") is derived from a Celtic root*dubnos, meaning "deep"; it is not related to Englishdomain, which is ultimately fromLatindomus, "house".[19][20]
Words used for foreign inventions, imports, and so on, where a native Irish word does not exist, are often amacaronic import as well. These are strictly speaking not anglicisms, but examples of loans from foreign languages. In some cases an Irish word has been developed, and in others it has not. This has been a characteristic of word development in the language for as long as written records exist, and is not limited to anglicisms. In some cases the original Irish word is no longer known, or has a different meaning within the same semantic field:
In some cases, the foreign loan has an official pronunciation in Irish, and a colloquial one based on English; the colloquial form is an anglicism, while the official form is aGaelicisation of the foreign word:
The most striking forms of anglicisms, however, are the names of the letters of the alphabet—the vast majority of which are normally said in the English way, except for⟨a⟩—as well as the use of words such asbhuel ("well"),no ("no"),jost ("just"), andálraight ("all right" – forgo maith). Such words are used with their English syntax in Irish:
Bhuel, fanfaidh méjost anseo, dhiúnó, go dtiocfaidh tú ar ais.
Well, I'll just wait here, you know, till you come back.
'bhFuil túálraight ansin, a bhuachaill? -No, nílim álraight anaonchor.
Are you all right there, lad? - No, I'm not all right at all.
Letters that are not traditionally used inIrish orthography occur (such as⟨j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z⟩, as well as⟨h⟩ at the beginning of words), though in older English loans the foreign sounds have beengaelicised:
jab: job (besidepost from French,obair from Latin)
w > bh / v:bhálcaereacht,válcaereacht "strolling, walking"
Most words that begin with⟨p⟩ in the language are also foreign loans, as⟨p⟩ did not exist in prehistoric or early Old Irish (such aspóg "kiss" (Old Welshpawg, Latinpacem "peace"),peaca (Latinpecatum "sin").
