The geordie dialect can be heard in the north east of England, in communities around the River Tyne (Tyneside), such as Newcastle and Gateshead. There are many geordie celebrities, including Eric Idle (Monty Python), Sting, Andy Taylor (Duran Duran), singer Cheryl Cole, Perrie Edwards and the comedy duo Ant & Dec. Talking with a geordie accent can be a fun way to hit your friends and expand your repertoire of accents. These steps will teach you how.
Steps
Step 1. Listen
Before you can speak a dialect correctly, you need to familiarize yourself with it. For some it will be easy to hear the dialect first hand; those who are unable to come into contact with a real geordie will be able to hear this dialect in films set in the area where it is spoken, such as "The Likely Lads" and "Billy Elliot".
Step 2. Learn the phonetic differences
Before studying new terms, learn to pronounce the ones you already know in a geordie accent. Below you will find some of the more common geordie mannerisms. To understand the sounds represented by the symbols used below, you may need to consult the International Phonetic Alphabet. At the page https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfabeto_fonetico_internazionale you can learn something about the AFI and listen to the different sounds pronounced.
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Vowels
- The suffix -er becomes / a /, so brother is pronounced brotha.
- The sounds / æ / often become / ɛ /, so sat will sound as a set.
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In words like walk the / o: / sounds like / a: / or / æ: /.
Note that the pronunciation of the word walk with the sound / o: / is British; the American one uses the sound / a: /
- / ə: / in words like work becomes / o: /, so work and port have the same vowel sound.
- / æu / in words like crown and / ou / in words like know becomes / u: /, so crown is pronounced croon and know is pronounced new.
- The / ɛ / often becomes / i /, especially in words that contain the diphthong ea, e.g. head. So head will sound like heed.
- The suffix -ing is pronounced / ən /, so talking sounds like talken.
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Consonants
- The / t / (which is usually used in American dialects) in words like "notice" takes the form of a glottal stop. So rather than saying the sound / t /, take a hard pause between the two vowel sounds.
- A final 'r' is not pronounced if it follows a vowel, which is typical of British dialects.
- Sometimes vowels are added between two successive consonants, usually when these are at the end of the word.
- Many consonant clusters are altered in both stressed and unstressed syllables. For example, "dew" sounds like "Jew". This process is called "Yod" -coalescence and affects the groups [dj], [tj], [sj] and [zj], transforming them into [dʒ], [tʃ], [ʃ] and [ʒ].
- These are just some of the phonetic differences between Geordie and other dialects. You can visit https://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/geordie/ for a more complete and extensive list, with audio pronunciations, grammar and lexical lists.
Step 3. Learn the lingo
At this point you can start building your geordie vocabulary. Go back to step 1 and start listening - the more you get used to the geordie vocabulary, the more you'll begin to notice its slang. It is better to grasp the words while listening to them - this way you will be able to acquire commonly used words in a natural way. Geordie has a large vocabulary, with unique words; some of these are simply formed by phonetic changes, while others are decidedly unusual. Here are some of them:
- a-one for "one"
- aught for "anything"
- aye for "yes"
- bairn for "child"
- champion for "great"
- gan for "go"
- loaning for "lane"
- mebbies for "maybe"
- somewhat for "something"
- tae for "to"
- There are many others, so never stop practicing and listening, in order to get to know this dialect more and more.
Step 4. Learn grammar
Geordie possesses a vast number of unique grammatical features that distinguish it from standard English. Here are some of them.
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Verbal Constructions
- Third person plural: is rather than are, and was rather than were.
- Mustn't have + past participle, rather than can't have + past participle.
- Past: as in place of came and done in place of did.
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Names and Pronouns
- Some nouns are not put in the plural, eg. 10 month ago.
- First person singular: us rather than me.
- Second person plural: youse rather than you.
- Reflexive pronouns: mysell, yoursell, hissell instead of myself, yourself, himself, and so on.
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Negative constructions
- Divn't rather than don't.
- I've not, you'll not rather than I haven't, you won't, and so on.
- Multiple negations, eg. didn't do nothing.
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Prepositions, Conjunctions and Adverbs
- For to + infinite, rather than to + infinite.
- I know as rather than I know that.
- No adverbial suffix, eg. quick and not quickly.
Talk Like a Geordie Step 5 Step 5. Practice
It may be a harmless dialect, but for some, learning it may be as difficult as learning a language, or it may be even harder as you have to reconceptualize the idea of a language you already know. Try to find a geordie friend who can correct you. The best way to practice is not to get out of character, so that you will be forced to think about the way you are speaking, until it starts to sound natural to you.
Advice
- Some Geordies also say "deen't" for "don't", eg. "Deen't do thaa you'll maeke os craesh!".
- Watch the film Billy Elliot. Not only is it a great movie, but most of the characters have geordie accents!
- Try using the replacement words that geordies use, for example: "aye" instead of "yes", "divn't nar" for "i don't know", "nar" instead of "no", etc. You can find an exhaustive list of geordie words and phrases on Wikipedia.
- Language goes hand in hand with culture. Learn more about Northumbria and mining communities, your findings may help you shed light on why a certain slang exists.
- Practice often, especially with words that are troubling you.
- Use words like Kawasaki and Chicken Tikka Masala for an authentic geordie accent.
- If you are hearing the geordie accent on television or in the movies, make sure it is a true geordie and not a poor imitation (not like the bad imitations of the Cockney accents).
Warnings
- Don't use your geordie with strangers or they'll think you're making fun of them.
- Note that there are divergent opinions on what exactly are the peculiar characteristics of a geordie; for example, some believe that only miners are geordie. Be careful not to offend anyone.
