Watching TG4 recently, I've noticed that there's a lot of people who use English words when speaking Irish.

I've nothing against using English words (or words from any language) for new concepts, like new inventions or the like -- I'd actually prefer if the foreign spelling was maintained, so as no to misconstrue that the word has been "made up" from subcomponents which came from the Irish language.

But then you hear people using English words in the place of well-established Irish words. . .

Beidh mé ag babysiteáil
Tá sorry orm
Tá an bainne sa fridge
Is engineer mo dheartháir

Why did people begin doing this...? What sparks off this trend of a people polluting their own speech with words from another language?

Are there only certain places in particular where people speak such "Irish"? Next they'll be calling the language, "An tIrish"... but then again maybe the "t" is too Gaeilge-ish for them. . .

Well, it is nigh on impossible not to come into contact with English in Ireland now, so I suspect from Gaeltacht speakers it is the markings of a language shift to english only, not just normal loans, as the influx of loans is potentially massive, altho, there are kids with good Irish, and natives I have heard don't need loans for most contemporary contexts.

Among learners it is a sign of a small vocab set

it's natural for a language to import words for foreign things along with the foreign word. When I was learning
French, the word for 'babysitter' was 'babysitter.' And it was also before the AF got involved and tried to change "le walkman" to "le balladeur"

It doesn't necessarily indicate a weakness in the health of the absorbing language, it's just natural.

The danger comes when a culture has not had the opportunity to 'make it's own decisions' in many centuries, and virtually every technology, object and occupation people come across in a day are of foreign creation...and so are their names...

Níl le déanamh agaibh ach súil a chaitheamh ar chlúdach Stern na laethanta seo! Céard a thugtar ar meascán de Ghearmáinis is Béarla? Pas franglais, ar ndóigh, ach....?

Denglish, dar ndó!

Bíonn "English for Runaways" acu freisin (Englisch für Fortgeschrittene)

Bhí mé ag dornán dramaí a chuir i lathair ag Aisteoirí Bhreannain aréir.

Is san 19ú céad a cumadh iad, ag Tadhg Ó Concubhair (más buan mo chuimhne) i gCorca Dhuibhne.

Bhí an focal "siuráilte" san áit go mbeadh "cinnte" agamsa go flúirseach iontu.

Agus radharc an greannmhear de fear sibín ag brú Béarla bacach ar an sagart paróiste, agus eisean ag cur ina choinne...

But then you hear people using English words in the place of well-established Irish words. . .

Beidh mé ag babysiteáil
Tá sorry orm
Tá an bainne sa fridge
Is engineer mo dheartháir

Why did people begin doing this...? What sparks off this trend of a people polluting their own speech with words from another language?

That happens in all languages. 2/3 of English words are French or Latin. A friend of mine, linguist, from America, told me once that if he had to speak without using any French loanword... he wouldn't be able to speak!

About Irish, I'm not surprised that people use English words for babysitter, fridge, engineer. All these things are new things, and if these Irish speakers have not been in Gaelscoileanna, they haven't learnt the Irish new words that have been created to translate these modern concepts.
In French there are loads of English words as well, for technology end things like that. Anyway, engineer comes from French "ingénieur", and i think "fridge" comes from French as well (frigidaire).

Anyway, the thing that makes the originality of a language is the way people express things, idioms, and grammar. The origin of words isn't that important. There are more French and Latin words than Anglo-Saxon words in English, but English still is a Germanic language, it isn't Romance and the way it expresses things is completely different from French or Latin ones (except in my English writing maybe :-D ).
There has always been loanwords, even in Old English, Old Irish, Old French, Latin, etc.

Frigidaire was a brand name like SOS pads ( i use Brillo but still call it sos pads on the shopping list) that have become a general name for all refigerators at least here in the USA kinda like soda... works for all carbonated beverages not just soda water

And Walkman was a brand name for Sony and became generic.

don't forget Coke, Velcro, Pullman, Duct Tape, Q-Tips, White-Out, Baggies, Superglue, Saran, Band-Aids, Scotch Tape, Teflon, Kevlar, Xerox and Kleenex...even Zipper was a brand name in 1923

(Message edited by antaine on November 27, 2005)

(Message edited by antaine on November 27, 2005)

(Message edited by antaine on November 27, 2005)

Focal laidine a thug Engineer dúinn. Seachas sin, aontaím le Lughaidh.

Ach trí Shean-Fhraincis a tháinig sé. Is minic a bhíodh feidhm idirghabhálach ag an teanga sin.

Nach raibh focal nó dhó Béarla ag An Céitinneach ina mhórshaothar staire?

Agus má b'fhíor mo théacs scoile, bhí an Ghaeilge ag bradaíl focla Fraincise ó na Normainnigh. Ó mo náire Ise!