Abstract
This paper presents a dialectometric analysis of Scottish Gaelic morphology, with a focus on the noun phrase, using previously unpublished data from the Linguistic Survey of Scotland. Fifty-five morphological features were extracted across 201 survey points, and the data subjected to a variety of analyses, including cluster analysis, regression, and correlation analysis. We establish that the Gaelic noun system shows robust diatopic (i.e. geographical) variation; this challenges previous assertions in the literature, which describe Gaelic morphosyntax as geographically uniform. In addition, we argue that our dialectometric results provide an insight into the grammatical structure of the language that is not easily achievable through the analysis of individual varieties. In particular, we argue that the results highlight a dissociation between morphological categories such as case and gender and their morphophonological exponents, which are particularly complex in Scottish Gaelic. The paper thus serves as a proof of concept for the use of dialectometric findings in a theoretical context.
Highlights
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language currently spoken by about 57,600 individuals in Scotland (National Records of Scotland 2015)
This paper presents a dialectometric analysis of Scottish Gaelic morphology, with a focus on the noun phrase, using previously unpublished data from the Linguistic Survey of S cotland
We demonstrate that at least some of the variation observed in Scottish Gaelic morphology shows no obvious connection to patterns of attrition
Summary
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language currently spoken by about 57,600 individuals in Scotland (National Records of Scotland 2015). The greatest concentration of speakers today is in the Outer Hebrides, a group of islands off of the west coast, Gaelic was the predominant language over much of the mainland Highlands until quite recently (Withers 1984). Various regional- and single-dialect studies exist, but the Linguistic Survey of Scotland ( “LSS(G)”) is the only broad documentation effort to date. The LSS(G) was conducted in the mid 20th century (Bosch 2006), when speakers still could be found across most of the traditional Gàidhealtachd (the Gaelic-speaking area). Despite the availability of dialectal data, the language’s overarching patterns of diatopic variation remain poorly understood. Available studies are confined mainly to phonetic and phonological variation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
