A corpus-based and lexicographical analysis of Irish expletives in Irish English

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse four different expletives in the Irish English variety, following a semantic and pragmatic approach. Thus, this paper observes the connection between individual expressiveness and Irish identity, through the use of Irish expletives. These pejorative terms are loanwords borrowed from Irish into Hiberno-English in the Republic of Ireland. The analysed terms belong to the semantic fields of geography, scatology and sex. Through a corpus-based analysis and lexicographical treatment, this paper identifies and examines these terms regarding the following parameters: degree of frequency, semantics, etymology and pragmatic move.

Keywords

• expletive
• pejorative
• identity
• expressiveness
• irish
• improperios
• peyorativo
• identidad
• expresividad
• irlandés