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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 291

Part of Session 181: Folk linguistics and society (Other abstracts in this session)

The Irish Traveller language and culture - A discussion of folk-beliefs

Authors: Rieder, Maria
Submitted by: Rieder, Maria (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)

The Irish Traveller community is at heart a nomadic minority group, who have had to go through substantial cultural, economic and social changes in the course of the last century. These changes have naturally had an impact on language use: Their heritage language Cant, a combination of the Travellers’ own lexical items with Hiberno English morphosyntax, has, since our earliest records dating from the late 19th century, traditionally fulfilled clear functional purposes in Traveller-related situations. In the course of the last century, a slow decrease in functions and use could be observed, with Traveller English taking over in more and more contexts. This paper explores the impact of Irish Traveller folk-beliefs on the use and development of their heritage language, as well as views concerning the relationship between language, culture and identity.

The data supporting this paper stems from a two-year ethnographic project among the Traveller community, and consists of ethnographic fieldnotes and semi-structured, audio-recorded focus group interviews conducted with a group of Travellers of mixed gender, age and social background. A combination of the analytical methods of ethnography, conversation analysis and critical discourse analysis facilitates both paying attention to the detail, and linking opinions and expressions to the macro social and political situation.

Among the research findings arising from the data, the amount of use and the importance that Travellers ascribe to Cant today in contrast to the past is found to be parallel to how participants view the development of their cultural and social identity. Cant is often described as synonymous with culture, and a decline of culture is believed to entail the loss of language. As to today's language use, Travellers typically judge their variety of English as “not different” from settled people, and Cant as “not that important” and “not used anymore”. This paper explores the consequences this view may have in terms of language transmission, language use, as well as transmission of cultural values, and the impact this may have on the self-conception and cultural self-confidence of the community.  

Besides folk-views in regard to the - in many ways observable -  paralleled linguistic and cultural development, this paper also discusses data observations revealing a discrepancy between folk-beliefs in regard to Cant use and the actual use of the language. Cant has often been described as a secret code by Travellers and researchers. The interpretation of what is NOT said or may - intentionally or not - be hidden, presents a clear challenge in regard to data analysis. An ethnographic analysis of the particularities of the community is paramount for overcoming these difficulties, as well as necessary for avoiding interpretation from the researcher’s personal background.   

In conclusion, this paper presents a clear example of the deep connection between folk-beliefs, cultural and linguistic characteristics and development, and identity: The use and development of a language depends very much on the value attached to it, and the nature of expressed folk-beliefs reveal much about cultural and individual identity.