Abstract
This chapter traces the changing geographies of the Irish language and considers how linguistics could learn from conceptual developments in relation to ‘space’ and ‘place’ in geography. Walsh argues that concepts such as ‘relational space’ aid understanding of the dynamism of the geographies inhabited by minority languages. He then considers the geography of the Irish language, focusing on the development of the concept of ‘Gaeltacht’ and the emergence of new spatial categories within the ‘language planning process’ launched in 2012. Although these are more fluid and dynamic than the static spatial conceptualisation of the past, Walsh criticises the new process for failing to engage with the possibilities offered by ‘relational space’ to analyse minority language use in the diffused networked society of late modernity.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to acknowledge the support of Dr. Mary Cawley and Dr. Marie Mahon of the National University of Ireland, Galway for their assistance with geographical sources. I extend thanks also to Prof. Máirín Nic Eoin of Dublin City University for her advice. The map was created by David Kelly of the Moore Institute, NUI Galway.
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Walsh, J. (2022). Changing Spatial Understandings of Minority Language Contexts: New Geographies of Irish. In: McLeod, W., Dunbar, R., Jones, K., Walsh, J. (eds) Language, Policy and Territory. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94346-2_16
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