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Newcastle Tyne and Wear

Approximate Population: 271,600

The dialect of Newcastle is known as Geordie, and contains a large amount of vocabulary and distinctive word pronunciations not used in other parts of the United Kingdom.   The Geordie dialect has much of its origins in the language spoken by Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, who were employed by the Ancient British people to fight Pictish invaders, following the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain in the 4th century.   This language was the forerunner of Modern English; but while the dialects of other English regions have been heavily altered by the influences of other foreign languages—particularly Latin and Norman–French—the Geordie dialect retains many elements of the old language.

An example of this is the pronunciation of certain words: “dead”, “cow”, “house” and “strong” are pronounced “dede”, “coo”, “hoos” and “strang”—which is how they were pronounced in the Anglo-Saxon language.   Other Geordie words with Anglo-Saxon origins include: “larn” (from the Anglo-Saxon “laeran”, meaning “teach”), “burn” (”stream”) and “gan” (”go”).  Some words used in the Geordie dialect are used elsewhere in the northern United Kingdom.

The words “bonny” (meaning “pretty”), “howay” (”come on”), “stot” (”bounce”) and “hadaway” (”go away” or “you’re kidding”), all appear to be used in Scottish dialect; “aye” (”yes”) and “nowt” (IPA://naʊt/, rhymes with out,”nothing”) are used elsewhere in northern England. Many words, however, appear to be used exclusively in Newcastle and the surrounding area, such as “Canny” (a versatile word meaning “good”, “nice” or “very”), “bait” (”food”), “hacky” (”dirty”), “netty” (”toilet”), “hoy” (”throw”) and “hockle” (”spit”).

House Share Newcastle Tyne and Wear

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