A chara, – Peter McGuire (“G’tweet? G’wan ourra that, say students”, June 6th) will be glad to know that members of the Irish language community have been arguing about a good Irish version of “tweet” for several years now. The official recommendation is “tvuít”, which is in line with the Irish phonological system, but most of us have gone with the ungaelicised “tweet” (“Tá Peadar ag tweetáil arís”). A creative rearguard insist on “giolcach”, however, since that’s what a bird actually does!
This will all come as news to the Department of Education, which assumes we don’t exist and simply makes up words to suit its presentation of Irish as an unauthentic and artificial second language. Its presentation is, alas, grist to the mill of uninformed journalists, who tell us without evidence that “Irish has always struggled to fit in with the popular kids” and who apparently see the language as little more than Peig and a few seanfhocail.
In fact, Irish is spoken vigorously across the country and around the world. We have our own cool kids, thank you very much, and don’t feel the remotest need to “fit in” with speakers of other languages. – Is mise,
BRIAN Ó BROIN, PhD, Department of English,
William Paterson University,
New Jersey, US.