Although the United Kingdom is said to be slightly smaller than Oregon, there are many different accents and dialects to be found. (An accent being the way someone pronounces words, whereas a dialect also includes changes in actual vocabulary.) Like many Brits, I can often tell if a person is from my hometown, or from a town ten miles away, when he or she speaks.
I was born in the far north east of England and one of the regional accents there is Geordie. The major city is Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the accent is only spoken around the River Tyne area, on both sides of the river; a few miles further north and you’d be said to have a Northumbrian accent and a few south and you’d be a Mackem, from Sunderland. My people are called Geordies and there is both an accent and a dialogue.
If I were to say to you “Am gant the bog”, would you have the foggiest idea what I meant? (Se
e below*) Not having been affected much by the Norman invasion of 1066, when the “official” language became French for a while, the dialect remains very close to the Anglo Saxon languages of the early centuries. Some dialect words, like “hyem” for home and “bairn” for child, come directly from the Old Norse language, while others like “hacky” for dirty and “scran” for food, have less clear origins. All are still in everyday use on Tyneside, indeed parents calling their children inside for bath time can often be heard screaming “Gerrinside ya hacky!”.
The Geordie accent is also very distinct, with a sing-song lilt and strong vowel pronunciation. When spoken very quickly, it is often difficult for other English people to understand Geordie. There are two web sites I recommend if want to see and hear Geordie in action. The first is the Geordie translator, (www.geordie.org.uk) where you can type in a sentence and then get the Geordie version, which can sometimes be quite different:
For example “I have lost my mother” translates as “Aa've lost me mutha” which seems fairly straightforward, but “Who on earth are you talking to?” looks slightly more complicated – “Whee on earth are yee taakin te ?”. If someone is asking you how you are, you’re likely to hear “Y’alreet pet?” My American husband says he’s good for one pint and then has to give up!
The BBC also has a great web site which lets you listen to a huge variety of British accents:
At the beginning of 2009 I posted a poem in the Geordie dialect. It went something like this (picks up guitar).
Oh yes, the translation - * I am off to the restroom. (Gannin’ being the dialect word for going, and bog meaning toilet.)
See yiz al leeyata. (See you all later).
