I think the issue here is that they're not learning it to use it. They're learning it to study as linguists. There's really quite a bit of difference between the two, and I doubt they're ignoring y'all for any rude reason. It's honestly they just don't care, unless y'all are native speakers. It's the difference between having an academic interest, and an interest in learning and using. Just because you have one doesn't necessarily mean you have the other. In fact, there's even been linguists who've said language extinction might be a good thing overall.

Which suggests to me that they're harming the language, rather than helping to preserve it.

Redwolf

I disagree there. They're under no obligation to make their studies available to the public. Just because they decide not to doesn't mean they're hrming Irish. I mean, honestly, how much could the general Irish learner learn from a paper about how minimalism helps solve problems of Irish word order?

Now, I realize this one involves speech, but the terminology and all that will still most likely be over the heads of most learners. I mean, a quick look at Duolingo shows many don't know how to express the surface or underlying forms of phonemes.

But I really don't suggest how them only studying and interacting with natives (they're not trying to learn the language, bt study it) means they're harming it. It seems much more likely they're just not promoting it, which isn't the equivalent of harming it.

The fact that they're going around telling people here that the language is all but dead is harmful to it, in my opinion. I had to do a great deal of talking to persuade the interviewer otherwise, and I'm still not sure he believed me.

At issue isn't a paper, but ultrasounds demonstrating how native speakers articulate broad and slender consonants...something that could be invaluable for teachers of the language.

Redwolf

Yeah but we know how the distinction is made and how to teach them.

The study would be valuable for mapping the range of variance and for dynamic models of flowing speech

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

By the way, where does this idea that Irish is 'the oldest language' come from?

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

I love Irish, but among academic circles it is considered dying. The Gaeltachts are getting smaller and smaller all the time. in fact, last time I was in Carraroe, my teacher cut a map of the Gaeltacht to show us the true Gaeltacht from the government 'official' one. Now, I believe it can have a resurgence with proper teaching methods (and I'm going to research that aspect of sciolinguistics in my masters, hopefully), but it's hard to say it isn't dying.

Also, the ultimate thing is a paper detailing their research and results. Also, the more important part they're under no obligation to release it. If they decide to, great; if not, they're still not 'harming' the language - it's a resource (good/fluent) teachers have effectively worked without before, and it won't change anything just because they don't release it.

Yes, and no. They are all part of the same tree, certainly. But it is a bit simplistic to say they are all equally old.

When you consider the individual branches on the tree, ones that have branched off earlier and been less under the influence of others for longer can generally be considered "older".

Not to confuse language with either culture or genetics, but this view parallels the way we consider genetic and cultural lineages as older the further back that they have branched off from other similar lineages.

Modern Australian culture (post 1788) is considered younger than Modern American culture (c 1642) even though both have roots in European culture. (At 40,000 to 60,000 years old, Australian Aboriginal culture is truly ancient.)

The Australian English dialect is younger than the American dialect. In fact, Australian English has very few subdialects as it had little time to evolve them before radio and television came along to "standardise" them.

Irish branched off and became distinct from other languages long before Latin and Greek became popular. That's not to say that other languages haven't influenced it in the meantime but it has been largely free from direct influences by neighbours until relatively recently, and in that time has developed (and even redeveloped) quite a few its own peculiarities. The insularity of its development has helped make it very distinct indeed.

English by contrast only branched off from other Germanic diealects in the 400's and has been significantly influenced by the Norman invasion in the meantime - a very young language by any comparison.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).