SIGNS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY

We’ll speak about the following Signs of national identity: names, clothes, musical instruments and some characteristics.

NAMES

- The prefix Mac or Mc in surnames (such as Mc Call, Mac Carthy, MacDonald) is often either ( Welsh/ Scottish) or ( Irish/ English).

- The prefix O (as in O'Brian, O'Hara) is distinctly Irish.

- A very large numbers of surnames (for ex. Davis, Evans, Jones, Morgan, Price, Williams) suggest ( Welsh/ Irish) origin.

- The most common surname in both England and Scotland is actually "Smith".

- There are also nicknames for Scottish or Irish and Welsh men. Welsh or Irish person might refer and address a Scottish friend as ( “Jock”/ ”Nick”) whatever his first name is.

- Irish men are called "Paddy" or "Mick"

- and Welsh men are known as "Taffy".

If the person is not a friend the nickname may sound rather insulting.

CLOTHES

The kilt, a skirt with tartan pattern worn by men is a very well-known symbol of

( Scottishness/ Welshness) (though it is hardly ever worn in everyday life).

INSTRUMENTS

The harps is an emblem of both ( Wales and Ireland/ England and Scotland). The bagpipes are regarded as distinctively ( Scottish/ English) though a smaller type is also used in traditional Irish music.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 2095