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Geordies - Who Are We?
Believe it or not we get asked this all the time here at Newcastle-Online.com,
who exactly are Geordies and what exactly is a Geordie? Read on...
1. A native or inhabitant of Newcastle
Upon Tyne, England, or its environs.
2. The dialect of English spoken by Geordies.
Geordie
Geordie refers to a person originating from Tyneside and the former
coal mining areas of Northern County Durham or the dialect spoken
by such people. There are a number of rival theories to explain how
the term came about, though all accept that it derives from a familiar
diminutive form of the name "George".
In recent times Geordie has also been used to refer to supporters
of Newcastle
United football club no matter their origin, including people
from outside the traditional area.
Derivation of the term
One explanation is that it was established during the Jacobite Rebellion
of 1745. The Jacobites declared that the natives of Newcastle were
staunch supporters of the Hanoverian Kings, in particular of George
II during the 1745 rebellion. This contrasted with rural Northumbria,
which largely supported the Jacobite cause. If true, the term may
have derived from a popular anti-Hanoverian song, which calls the
first Hanoverian king "Geordie Whelps", meaning "George the Guelph".
The Tyne Bridge
An alternative explanation for the name is that local miners used
"Geordie" safety lamps designed by George Stephenson, rather than
the "Davy Lamps" designed by Humphry Davy which were used in other
mining communities.
The term Geordie is often used to cover all the peoples of the North
East of England, though this usage is generally confined to people
from other parts of the United Kingdom, and is regarded as incorrect
by North-Easterners themselves, who use the term exclusively to mean
persons from Tyneside. People from Wearside are termed Mackems, whilst
natives of Teesside are generally referred to as Smoggies.
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, like in Lowland Scots, reflect old Anglo-Saxon
pronunciations, accents and usages.
Personal pronouns differ markedly from Standard English: Geordies
use "youse" for plural "you", "me" for "my", "us" 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" (c'mon you).
Vowel sounds are also quite unusual. "er" on the end of words becomes
"a" ("father" is pronounced "fatha", both "a" sounds as in "hat").
Many "a" sounds become more like "e": "hev" for "have". Double vowels
are often pronounced separately: "boat" becomes "boh-ut". Some words
acquire extra vowels ("growel" for "growl", "cannet" for "can't").
The "or" sound in words like "talk" becomes "aa", while "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".
Geordie also has a large amount of vocabulary not seen in other English
dialects. Words still in common use today include "canny" for "pleasant",
"gadgie" for "man", "hyem" for "home", "divn't" for "don't", "bairn"
and "grandbairn" for "child" and "grandchild", "hacky" for "dirty",
and "gannin" for "going". "Howay" is comparable to the French "voila",
in taking almost any meaning depending on context. Examples of common
use include "Howay man!", meaning something like "come on" or "hurry
up", "Howay the lads!" meaning "well done", or "Howay!?" expressing
incredulity or disbelief. When a Geordie uses the word "larn" for
teach, it is not a misuse of the English word "learn"; the word is
derived from the Anglo Saxon word "laeran", meaning to teach.
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.
More
Geordie Links
Notes: This article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia
article
"Geordie". |
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