The vocabulary of any language changes considerably over time. Although core words can remain relatively stable over the centuries, others are borrowed or invented, the meaning of some drifts in unexpected directions, many fall out of use and come to be seen as strange relics of the past, certain terms have very short life-spans as they spring up in response to fashion or fade. Over the last millennium, the lexicon of Irish has lost and gained a fascinating array of words and phrases. This talk covers just a few of these, which not only illustrate the richness and ingenuity of the language but also offer glimpses into what Irish-speakers gleaned from contact with other peoples, how they played with and actively shaped their own language, how they responded to social and technological change and what words they needed to express the everyday business of life.

This will be an online event hosted via Zoom. Registration is required. Attendance links will be delivered via email on the day of the event.

About our speakers

Dr Sharon Arbuthnot has worked as a researcher and lexicographer on the electronic Dictionary of the Irish language (eDIL) and, more recently, Faclair na Gàidhlig. She has research interests in early glossaries, the vocabulary of late-medieval Gaelic medicine and in rare and unusual words. Her publications are mainly in areas of medieval language and literature, including an edition of the medieval Irish text ‘The Fitness of Names’ (Cóir Anmann), and she is co-editor of the forthcoming Gaelic Finn Tradition II.

Prof Máire Ní Mhaonaigh is Professor of Celtic and Medieval Studies at the University of Cambridge and currently chairs the Board of the School of Celtic Studies of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. She has written extensively on medieval Irish literature and history and on Ireland’s place in the wider world. Her books include Brian Boru: Ireland’s Greatest King?, as well as a co-authored volume on Norse-Irish relationships, Norse Gaelic Contacts in a Viking World.

Prof Gregory Toner is Professor of Irish at Queen’s University Belfast. His many publications range across Irish language, literature and place-names, including two volumes in the Place-names of Northern Ireland series, and an edition of the medieval Irish text ‘Da Coca’s Hostel’ (Bruiden Da Choca). He has a particular interest in digital scholarship in Celtic Studies and is the editor of the electronic Dictionary of the Irish language project (www.dil.ie).