Geordie: Encyclopedia II - Geordie - The Geordie dialect

Geordie - The Geordie dialect

Geordie derives much less influence from French and Latin than does Standard English, being substantially Angle and Viking in origin. The accent and pronunciation, as in Lowland Scots, reflect old Anglo-Saxon pronunciations, accents and usages.

Pronunciation of personal pronouns differs markedly from Standard English: Geordies use "yous" (IPA: /juəz/) for plural "you", "me" (/mi/) for "my", "uz" (/ʌz/) for "me", "wor" for "our". The word "wor" is sometimes placed before the given name of the person being the subject of conversation to denote that they are a family member, for example "wor Allan" or "wor da" (father). It is also quite common for Geordies to use the word "man" for both men and women, as in "howay man" (meaning "come on you"), or even "howay man woman"!

Vowel sounds are also quite unusual.

• "er" on the end of words becomes "a" (/æ/) ("father" is pronounced "fatha", both "a" sounds as in "hat").
• Many "a" sounds become more like "e": "hev" for "have" and "thet" for "that".
• Double vowels are often pronounced separately as dipthongs: "boat" becomes "boh-ut" and ""boot"" becomes "bee-yut".
• Some words acquire extra vowels ("growel" for "growl", "cannet" for "can't"). This property of the dialect has lead Geordie to be known for putting as many vowels as possible into a word.
• The "or" sound in words like "talk" becomes "aa" ("walk" becomes "waak"),
• "er" sounds in words like "work" becomes "or".
• The "ow" in words like "down" or, most famously, "town" becomes "oo", hence "the Toon" meaning Newcastle. (In Wearside, the "oo" in words like "cook", "book" or "look" becomes "uu", although this accent has come to be known as Mackem, not Geordie.)

A Geordie joke that illustrates some of the above goes as follows:

Geordie - Vocabulary

Geordie also has a large amount of vocabulary not heard elsewhere in England, though some are shared with Scots. Words still in common use today include:

• canny for "pleasant" (it should be noted that the Scottish use of canny is often somewhat less flattering),
• hyem for "home",
• deeky for "look at"
• divn't for "don't",
• bairn/grandbairn for "child/grandchild",
• hacky for "dirty",
• gan for "go".

Howay is broadly comparable to the invocation "Come on!". Examples of common use include Howay man!, meaning something like "come on" or "hurry up", Howay the lads! as an encouragement for a sports team, or Ho'way!? (with stress on the second syllable) expressing incredulity or disbelief. The word hyem for "home" is inherited from the Old Norse language. The word tab for "cigarette" is thought to derive either from Ogden's Tabs, a once‐popular brand of cigarettes, or more simply as a diminuation of tobacco (the name of which is derived from Spanish 'tabaco').

Geordie commonly uses the word aye meaning "yes", which is also found in most Scottish dialects. By contrast, a Geordie might say na for an emphatic or dismissive "no".

Much of the vocabulary contains elements inherited from Old English that have been lost in Standard English, as the north was comparatively less affected by the Norman conquest. Pronouncing Old English with a Geordie‐like accent, rather than the more commonly recommended German, results in a form more comprehensible to those with knowledge of the meaning of Geordie vocabulary. When a Geordie uses the word larn for teach, it is not a misuse of the English word "learn" as often thought; the word is derived from the Anglo Saxon word læran, meaning "to teach" (compare German lehren with identical meaning).

In Standard English, where one would say "to be able", in Geordie, "te can" (from Old English "cunnan", "to know") is used in its place. Though "can" is used in Standard English, it does not appear there in infinitive form.

It is said that the Roma influenced some of the Geordies' words eg. charva is an old word meaning child in Roma and used by Geordies to describe troublesome people. The word gadgie for man is derived from the similar sounding Roma word for a non-Roma. The word for dog is jugal which, again, derives from the Roma word originally meaning jackal. There is a high percentage of people with Roma origins in the North East.

Newcastle hosts a large travelling fair, the "Hoppings", which has been held annually on the Town Moor every year for over a century. Although organised by, and attended by travelling showmen (showman), there are a number of Roma at the main entrance to the fair.

The region also has seen Italian immigration, particularly in the 19th century. As a consequence, some slang words like netty, meaning a toilet or bathroom, have been linked to a corresponding Italian word, in this case cabinetti.

"Geordie" is also sometimes used to describe the distinctive dialect of the people of Northumbria. However strictly speaking, South East Northumberland (the mining area bordering Tyneside) has its own similar, but distinctive dialect known as Pitmatic.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Geordie dialect", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki