XVI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2024

Firstly, it is essential to provide a definition of the Geordie Northern English dialect and to establish its significance for a comprehensive understanding of this study.

• Geordie is a dialect spoken in the Northern English region of Tyneside, encompassing south Northumberland and northern parts of County Durham. The language is believed to have its roots in the Anglo-Saxon settlers who arrived in the area as mercenaries to combat Pictish invaders after the Roman rule ended in the 5th century. These settlers, known as the Angles, came from the border region between Denmark and Germany. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms emerged during the Dark Ages, they spoke variations of Old English, leading to the development of a distinct "Northumbrian" Old English dialect in Northern England and the Scottish borders area, which was dominated by the kingdom of Northumbria at the time.

Over time, the Geordie dialect was influenced by Irish migrants from the early 19th century onwards, as well as Scottish admixture. In more recent years, from the 20th century to the present day, the North East area has seen an influx of migrants from around the world. The term "Geordie" has uncertain origins. One theory suggests it is a diminutive form of the name George, a common name among pitmen. Another theory dates the word back to the early 18th century when people from Newcastle declared their support for English kings George I and II, in contrast to the rest of Northumberland's population, who backed the Scottish Jacobite rebellions.

Although Geordie is seen as a dying dialect by many, research provides different results. Dr. Joan Beal (BBC 2005) believes that Geordie dialect has a future, and reveals that these rumors have been around for centuries. A study by Paul Kerswill, professor from University Of Lancester, shows that Geordie will be more popular in later years. His article published by the Economist (2011) explains that the dialect is becoming stronger, and will be spoken more widely in the upcoming decades.

Now we will talk directly about the linguistic components of this accent, namely the phonetic distinctive features.

Linguistically, Geordie greatly varies from other English Dialects. This section will discuss the differences between Geordie and RP consonants, vowels, vocabulary and grammar.

According to the British Library, the English language has 24 consonants; however, Geordie dialect has a few distinct charactericstics. One of such features is glottalization of /p/, /t/, /k/. Whenever /p/, /t/, /k/ are between vowels in words or across the words, they might be skipped and a sound similar to a pause is produced. Glottalization is evident in words such as <happy>, <lucky>, <matter>, and in phrases as “drop it”, “take it there”, “cat and mice”. Another consonant feature that makes Geordie distinct is uvular /r/, which happens when the sound /r/ is produced at the back of throat (similar to /r/ of French and German). Even though it is said to be rare today, it still may be heard in the speech of older people. Examples of uvular /r/ include words such as <red>.

Regarding the vowels, Geordie characteristics may be classified into two groups; one of them is the remnants of Middle English, and the other is accidental transformations. According to Amaro (2015), Geordie preserved four Middle English vowel features:

 Geordie preserved the Middle English /u:/, which evolved to /ɑu/ in RP. Thus, the word <about> in RP is pronounced /ә’baut /, but /ә’bu:t / in Geordie. However, sometimes the Middle English /u:/ is pronounced as /ɪә/, in words such as <boot> /bɪәt/. Geordie maintained the Middle English /u/, which is pronounced in RP as /ʌ/. Thus, in Geordie, the words <could> and <cud> are homophones, pronounced as /kud/, but they have different pronunciations in RP (/kud/ and /kʌd/).Middle English /ɪ/ has transformed into /aɪ/ in RP, but it is produced as /i:/ in Geordie, when a vowel is followed by a fricative sound. In Geordie, <right> in Geordie is pronounced as /ri:t/, but as /rait/ in RP.

 It is important to mention that with different pronunciation Geordie dialect has a different spelling as well. Thus, the English word <about> is spelled <aboot> in Geordie.

Список литературы

1. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://geordiedialectsite.wordpress.com/introduction-2/ (дата обращения 21.01.24)

2. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geordie (дата обращения 21.01.24)

3. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/geordie (дата обращения 21.01.24)

4. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://mr-dialect.com/en-gb/geordie-accent-exploring-the-richness-of-newcastles-dialect/ (дата обращения 21.01.24)