Success or failure of irish
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 2:20 pm
I just finished Tomás Mac Síomóin, The Broken Harp, which makes an argument for why irish (he says) is failing based on genetics. He blames what you might regard as the usual suspects, but adds an interesting argument about "epigenetics," which is you don't know, is the study of how genes are expressed. One might have a gene or set of genes that incline one to, say, alcoholism, but they might not be strongly expressed and so the drinking problem never develops. In another, these genes might be strongly expressed; that is, and put in grossly simplified terms, they might be more inclined to produce a thirst in one man than another.
Mac Síomóin summons convincing evidence that trauma can change the way genes are expressed--disaster may literally drive you to drink--and that this change is heritable: children will inherit the same tendency to gene expression. I was and remain skeptical but he cites reputable work that confirms the idea.
So long decades of severe trauma (famine, occupation, war) have produced, in the irish, not only dngerous love for drink but also a mentality that inclines them away from irish, a colonial inferiority complex. It's worth a read--he's a very learned guy and he occupies an odd political position that is both extremely conservative and quasi marxist. A smart and interesting book even if unconvincing.
Much lighter and more optimistic is Darach O'Séaghdha's Motherfocloir, a witty and fond exploration of how irish forms expression and how these expression relate--or fail to relate-to English. O'Séaghdha loves language and has a delightful sense of humor. Although h makes it fun, I came away thinking irish would still be brutally hard to learn.
It is odd that irish is declining, given that it is so closely linked to nationalism
Note I'm an irish American and have no irish at all.
Mac Síomóin summons convincing evidence that trauma can change the way genes are expressed--disaster may literally drive you to drink--and that this change is heritable: children will inherit the same tendency to gene expression. I was and remain skeptical but he cites reputable work that confirms the idea.
So long decades of severe trauma (famine, occupation, war) have produced, in the irish, not only dngerous love for drink but also a mentality that inclines them away from irish, a colonial inferiority complex. It's worth a read--he's a very learned guy and he occupies an odd political position that is both extremely conservative and quasi marxist. A smart and interesting book even if unconvincing.
Much lighter and more optimistic is Darach O'Séaghdha's Motherfocloir, a witty and fond exploration of how irish forms expression and how these expression relate--or fail to relate-to English. O'Séaghdha loves language and has a delightful sense of humor. Although h makes it fun, I came away thinking irish would still be brutally hard to learn.
It is odd that irish is declining, given that it is so closely linked to nationalism
Note I'm an irish American and have no irish at all.