Native and Natural: Aspects of the Concepts of 'Right' and 'Freedom' in Irish (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780268034771)

Peter McQuillan analyzes a number of key words in the Irish language--duchas, duthaigh, dual, and saoirse--along with derivatives and associated terms in order to reveal their relationships to historical and cultural texts. He demonstrates how the pragmatic, semantic, and syntactic range of these terms evolved over time in relation to differing historical conditions, thereby underscoring characteristic features of the Irish language and of Irish cultural attitudes, practices, and experiences. McQuillan establishes affiliations between these ranges and the sometimes catastrophic changes that beset the culture in which these concepts played such a defining role. The discussions are situated within the linguistic-anthropological theories of Boas, Sapir, Whorf, Voloshonov, Pierce, Saussure, and other scholars, such as Silverstein and Wierzbecka.

Author: Peter McQuillan
ISBN-10: 026803477X
ISBN-13: 9780268034771
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Language: English
Published: 05/15/2003
Pages: 296
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.16h x 6.22w x 0.84d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2005 pg. 1816