Palatalization in Dublin Irish: The Extent of Phonetic Interference

This paper focuses on palatalization in Irish spoken by Dublin-based bilinguals with English as their first language. It has already been pointed out that English phonetics affects Irish speakers even when Irish is their first language, especially in case of palatalization. The extent of English influence on palatalization in Dublin Irish and the possible reasons behind its inconsistent use acquire special prominence not only in terms of phonetics, but also because in Irish palatalization performs phonological functions.