The Pragmatics of Irish English

Irish English, while having been the focus of investigations on a variety of linguistic levels, has not often been researched on the pragmatic level. In the present volume, this imbalance is addressed by providing much-needed empirical data on language use in Ireland in the private, official and public spheres and also by examining the use of Irish English as a reflection of socio-cultural norms of interaction. The contributions cover a wide range of pragmatic phenomena and draw on a number of frameworks of analysis. Despite the wide scope of topics and methodologies, a relatively coherent picture of conventions of language use in Ireland emerges. Indirectness and heterogeneity on the formal level are, for instance, shown to be features of Irish English.

Anne Barron is Assistant Professor at the English Department at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität, Bonn, Germany.

Klaus P. Schneider  is Professor at the English Department at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität, Bonn, Germany.