From The Peopling of New York City

Contents 1 Gaeilge 2 Written Language 3 Irish In New York City 4 References

Gaeilge

When people think about spoken Irish, they think of people (probably wearing green) speaking English with an accent. However, Irish, better known as Irish Gaelic or “Modern Irish” is from the Indo-European language family and is an actual language historically spoken by people in Ireland. Although the number of competent speakers remains in the minority (42%) according to the population census in 2006, Irish is still the official language of the Republic of Ireland. ^[1] Of the 42%, 538,283 (32.5%) speak Irish on a daily basis (taking into account both native speakers and those inside the education system), 97,089 (5.9%) weekly, 581,574 (35.1%) less often, and 412,846 (24.9%) never. 26,998 (1.6%) respondents did not state how often they spoke Irish. Monolingualism is now restricted to a handful of elderly on Gaeltacht regions as well as mother-tongue speakers of Irish under school age.In the Caighdeán Oifigiúil (the official written standard) the name of the language is Gaeilge (Irish pronunciation: [ˈɡeːlʲɟə]), which reflects the southern Connacht pronunciation.^[2] Irish is the main community and household language of 3% of the Republic's population (which was estimated at 4,422,100 in 2008). Irish was no longer the main community language in the remaining parts of the official Gaeltacht. However, since Irish is an obligatory subject in schools, many more are reasonably fluent second-language speakers.

Written Language

To the untrained eye, the Irish written language can seem like a blob of round-shaped characters. The Irish uncial alphabet, or the Gaelic Script, originated in medieval manuscripts as a variant of the Latin alphabet. It was used for printing Irish until quite recently and is still used on road signs and public notices throughout Ireland. ^[3] However, the Gaelic Script is rarely used in literary unless the text calls for a "traditional" form of writing.

Irish In New York City

In New York City, the majority of the Irish immigrants speak English, especially the successive generations of Irish-Americans, with few native speakers of Irish. The Irish language was replaced by English as the primary language spoken by the people during the late 1800s, after the mass immigration from Ireland due to the Potato Famine. The fact that immigrants spoke English is what separates the Irish from other immigrant groups. Albeit New York can boast of the most Gaelic speakers in the United States, Irish is still on its way to becoming extinct due to the lack of use.^[4]

References

1. ↑ a b "Census 2006 – Principal Demographic Results" (PDF). Central Statistics Office. http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/Final%20Principal%20Demographic%20Results%202006.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
2. ↑ Irish Language
3. ↑ Irish Written
4. ↑ Obama Irish Extinct

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