Talkin’ Different: Linguistic Diversity and the Irish Traveller Minority

The Irish Travellers are one of Ireland’s oldest minorities, a minority who have frequently lived on the margins of the majority or settled community. This volume explores linguistic change amongst this cultural group with a particular focus on the influence of the educational system. This book analyses whether increased attendance by young Traveller women in secondary education is influencing long-term change in linguistic usage and speech patterns. The tendency for convergence/non-convergence to the settled community’s speech patterns is analysed as is the question of whether such speech variations are a strategy for survival in the school environment. This study is based on an analysis of both naturally-occurring conversation and speech as explored within an informal interview setting.