Irish Lexicography in Borrowed Time: The Recording of Anglo-Irish Borrowings in Early Twentieth-Century Irish Dictionaries (1904-1927)

A borrowing, in its most basic linguistic sense, involves the transfer of a lexical item from one language to another. Due to an ever-increasing global interaction, borrowings are becoming a regular linguistic effect, but are potentially problematic for the preservation of the lexical structure of languages. This impact is particularly felt in the case of minority languages, such as Irish, which has been subject to borrowings from English for several centuries. Despite it being a familiar pattern, the introduction of English borrowings has significantly influenced the Irish language and played a contributory role in shaping its current format. A benchmark for measuring the true status of borrowings in a language is the accreditation afforded to them in lexicography. The listedness of a borrowing in a dictionary is a formal acceptance of its existence and recognition of its permanency in a new linguistic environment. Dictionaries also act as gatekeepers in maintaining the lexical originality of the language and reflect inherent opinions towards the acceptance of foreign terms. This paper looks at the treatment of English borrowings in the three foremost Irish dictionaries of the early twentieth-century: An Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla [An Irish- English Dictionary] (1904) and (1927) by Patrick S. Dinneen and Lane's English-Irish Dictionary (1904) by Thomas O'Neill Lane. Both dictionaries offer a contrastive insight into the problem of recording English language items during a period synonymous with national renewal and a struggle for native linguistic identity.