BBC VOICES RECORDINGS · 2013-07-19 · paternal/maternal grandmother); nana; granny m partner wor lad#; old man; our man; me gadgie ... rain heavily hoying down; hoying ; pelting;

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BBC VOICES RECORDINGS http://sounds.bl.uk

Title:

Longbenton, Tyne & Wear

Shelfmark:

C1190/23/04

Recording date:

2005

Speakers:

Hall, Marshall, b. 1960 Newcastle upon Tyne; male; Editor ‘Newcastle Stuff’

Thompson, Sheila, b. 1939 Newcastle upon Tyne; female

Weaving, John Albert, b. 1938 Cramlington, Northumberland; male

The interviewees are all related and share a strong interest in local dialect. Marshall and his mother,

Sheila, and uncle, John, grew up in mining families.

ELICITED LEXIS

pleased chuffed (“chuffed to heavens”)

tired fagged; fagged out; tired; knackered, exhausted (of extreme tiredness); paggered#

unwell bad fettle (“in a bad fettle”); not too clever; not over [aʊə] clever (“you divvent* look over

[aʊə] clever to me”)

hot het (of self/weather); hot

cold cold ([kaːd] of self, [kaʊɫd] of weather, “I’m very cold [kaːd] today and it’s very cold

[kaʊɫd] outside”)

annoyed angry; aerated

throw thraw (“thraw it over there”); hoy○ (“hoy it over here”)

play truant skive (of school/work); wag off; knock it⌂1

1 OED (online edition) records ‘knock off’ in this sense but not ‘knock it’.

○ see English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905)

* see Survey of English Dialects Basic Material (1962-1971)

† see Dictionary of the Scots Language (online edition)

►see Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984)

# see Dictionary of North East Dialect (2011)

∆ see New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006)

◊ see Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010)

♦ see Urban Dictionary (online)

⌂ no previous source (with this sense) identified


BBC Voices Recordings

sleep kip; nap; ganning○ to me crib

◊ (used by “charvers” of ‘going to bed’, sounds “biblical”)

play a game none supplied

hit hard clout; belt; howk○ (used in past, “you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for

being naughty”); good hiding; ploat# (used in past, “I’ll ploat you if you’re naughty”)

clothes claes (“hae○ you got any clean claes?”)

trousers trousers; drawers (“they’re a fancy pair of drawers [dɹaːz] you got on there”, also used for

‘knickers’)

child’s shoe sand-shoes; dappers⌂, sand-daps

2 (used at school in past); training shoes, trainers, gym

shoes (modern)

mother mother (“where’s me mother?” used when younger, thought to be spelt ‘mutha’); me mam

(used when older)

gmother grandma (“grandma Weaving […] grandma Brown” used to distinguish between

paternal/maternal grandmother); nana; granny

m partner wor lad#; old man; our man; me gadgie

∆, me gaujo

► (Romani); me mate; boyfriend;

husband

friend marrow (Pitmatic, not as common now as in past); mate

gfather grandad; grand-da○ (“me grand-da Brown me grand-da Weaving me grand-da so-and-so”

used to distinguish between paternal/maternal grandmother)

forgot name thingummyjig∆; thingabob

◊, thingummybob

∆ (“oh you know, thingummybob you know him,

you know, thingabob” [θɪŋibɒb])

kit of tools tool-bag; tool-kit; tool-box

trendy flash Harry; spiv; charver (commonly used in Tyneside, thought to be Romani for “unruly

youth”); chav (modern, thought to be invented by media); scally (used in Liverpool);

scallywag; ned (used in Glasgow, thought to be “probation service term” for “non-

educated delinquent”)

f partner wor lass

# (of own wife); their lass (of other person’s wife)

baby babby○ (most common); bairn (suggested by interviewer, “bonny bairn”), toddler, kids, kid

(“wor/our kid” also used of brother/sister), nipper (of young child)

rain heavily hoying○ down; hoying

○; pelting; pelting down

1; chucking down

1; chucking it down

1

(“chucking it down with rain”)

toilet toilet; bog (used by boys in past); netty (“good Geordie word” common in past, less

common now)

walkway alley (“we’re ganning○ down the alley”); alley-way; path; ginnel (used in Leeds); the cut

(suggested by interviewer, used)

long seat couch (most common, “get your feet off the couch”); sofa (not used); settee (used

occasionally)

run water dyke; stream; bog

main room sitting room; lounge (used by “posh” speakers); parlour (used in past by “posh” speakers)

rain lightly drizzle (“it’s just drizzling”); spitting on○, spit on

○ (of starting to rain); spitting; “it’s putting

in”⌂, “it’s coming over bad”

○ (of imminent rain)

rich minted; spiv (used in past of rich male); well off

left-handed cowey* (also used locally for ‘rat’, also used by “charvers” for ‘ecstasy tablet’, e.g. “I was

pure cowied off me heid”); cack-handed (heard used)

2 OED (online edition) includes both ‘sand-shoes’ and ‘daps’ in this sense but not ‘sand-daps’.



unattractive ugly; minging, minger (used by “chav culture”, also used locally for ‘to smell’ e.g. “the

toilet’s minging”)

lack money skint; got nowt; potless

drunk off his head, mortal, mortal drunk, bad with the beer, off his heid○3

, paggered∆ (of extreme

drunkenness)

pregnant up the duff; up the spout (most common); up the stick; in the pudding club; up the pudding

club; expecting; preggers; “she’s gonna have a babby”

attractive bonny (common locally, of male/female, “she’s a right bonny lass, her”, “what’re ye

daeing†, bonny lad?” used locally as term of endearment to males); nice-looking (“nice-

looking lad, him”)

insane mad; off his trolley; off his heid○3

; mental; a nutter

moody moody; bad-tempered (“she’s a bad-tempered so-and-so she’s in a right mood”); in a bad

mood

ELICITED LEXIS

a one* = one (0:14:25 we used to play chucks that’s a thing with I think there was about five things on the

bottom (little square) uh uh bottom and you used to throw them up and get them on your hand and I don’t

know what you did with them after that (then you’d play onesies twosies threesies foursies and fivesies)

again you and you had to catch a one and things and were easily amused; 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’

written there actually ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’, yeah) (‘couch’ ‘couch’) aye, “get off the couch”, like (never

the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch”); 0:33:09 so we really came from a one

of these families, you know, and actually I liked it I’m glad I did)

aye = yes (0:51:45 (wh… what would you call a ‘hammer’ there’s there’s there’s a ‘mell’, isn’t there, and

things like that) there’s a mell, aye, or a hammer; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um

that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go

to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to

get some money for to for to go)

beetle drive = progressive dice game played for prizes at social and/or fundraising event (0:38:16 well they

didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives)

oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great)

blooming = euphemism for ‘bloody’ used as intensifier (0:20:49 (‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’

means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we? (‘minging’, yeah, “the

toilet’s minging”) (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”)

bonny lad = form of address used to males (0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “you all

right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the heid; 0:25:05

“what are ye daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’) (‘bonny lad’,

yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...]

it’s just a platitude, yeah))

canny = nice, good, great (0:56:47 (how would you explain um the meaning of the word ‘canny’ to

someone who wasn’t from round here?) ‘nice’ “they’re nice people they’re right canny, aren’t they?”)

canny# = quite, fairly (0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know)

which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’)

what have you never seen a canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))

charver = young person characterised by designer clothes and associated with anti-social behaviour

(0:16:58 a ‘lang cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of

3 English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905) records ‘heid’ in sense of ‘head’; OED (online edition) includes ‘off one’s head’ in

this sense.



Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and

neither do I of course)

chucks#4

= children’s game similar to ‘jacks’ (0:14:25 we used to play chucks that’s a thing with I think

there was about five things on the bottom (little square) uh uh bottom and you used to throw them up and

get them on your hand and I don’t know what you did with them after that (then you’d play onesies

twosies threesies foursies and fivesies) again you and you had to catch a one and things and were easily

amused)

clarts = thick mud (1:02:57 ‘clarts’ you’ll find that used in Norway (‘clarts’ ‘clarts’, yeah) ‘clart’

meaning ‘mud’ and ‘muck’ (a lot of people down south don’t know what ‘clarts’ mean) no, no idea what

clarts are, no (it’s just thick mud watery mud))

cowie⌂ = rat (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the

the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know

that, mam, and neither do I of course)

cowie(d) #

= ecstasy pill, to be under the influence of drugs (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat

(is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I

wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:17:11 if they’ve

had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was pure cowied off me heid” (yeah,

but I would think that’s more of a modern thing))

crib◊ = bed (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to

their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent wake

divvent wake us I’m in me crib”; 0:10:00 the young kids on Tyneside use ‘crib’ as ‘bed’ (do they I think

they just made that up))

cuddy = donkey, pony (0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause the light was too

severe for them) ’cause they were called ‘cuddies’ (yeah, and everybody used to go and pat them)

(‘Gallows’) […] I never heard that one before (yeah, aye, that’s what they called them ‘Gallows’ […] ‘pit

Gallows’))

dae† = to do (0:25:05 “what are ye daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny

lad’) (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them

attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah); 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um

that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go

to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to

get some money for to for to go)

droopy drawers = untidy, sloppy or miserable woman (0:53:21 ‘drawers’ would be for it would be for

‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have you got your drawers on?” (“drop your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’

they still say that to me yet)

Gallow(ay) = small, strong breed of horse (0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause

the light was too severe for them) (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’) (yeah, and everybody used to go and

pat them) ‘Gallows’ […] (I never heard that one before) yeah, aye, that’s what they called them ‘gallows’

[…] ‘pit Gallows’)

gan○ = to go (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to

their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent wake

divvent wake us I’m in me crib”; 0:34:07 “we’re ganning down the alley” the ‘cut’’s just a short one;

0:34:45 I mean you had to gan to the bog across the road; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you ganning to

‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I

was driving past the place where we used to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh,

‘The ’Tute’) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was

4 Iona & Peter Opie’s Children’s Games with Things (1999, pp. 56-172) includes several regional variants of this game,

including ‘chucks’.



called ‘the ’Tute’; 1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” he or she’d

know exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame”)

Geordie = person from / dialect of Newcastle upon Tyne (0:55:22 people outside the region think that

everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles

south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your heid off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems

although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems either; 1:01:56 the Tyneside

Geordie um there’s a lot of Scandinavian words in it)

gord# = hoop for barrel used as toy (0:12:50 we used to play with a gord a round uh metal hoop […] you

called it a ‘gord’ and then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go

along) (were they off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer

barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah))

grand-da○ = grandfather (0:39:26 me grand-da was smoking his pipe and me uncles were smoking their

tabs and then they’d be sitting there and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it

would sizzle))

hame○ = home (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” he or she’d know

exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame”)

happy as Larry = extremely happy (0:35:45 and they used to traipse off (ti… tights on for nylons) to the

dance happy as Larry and think they were lovely well we thought they were lovely)

heid○ = head (0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was

pure cowied off me heid” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:24:37 i... if outside

this region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get

a clip round the heid; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie

but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a

Geordie they’ll have your heid off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they

particularly like being called Mackems either)

hinny○ = honey as form of address (0:54:43 “howay over here, hinny”)

hotch†5

= to smell (0:20:49 ‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we

would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging” (aye, that’s

awful what a horrible smell) (“pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”))

housey-housey = bingo (0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had

they had uh beetle drives and whist drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great)

howay○ = term of encouragement, signal for action (0:54:43 “howay over here, hinny”; 0:55:01 ‘howay

the lads’ is something that they always try and say and they can never get ‘howay’ ‘howay’ quite right)

hoy out6 = custom of throwing coins to public/children following church wedding (0:06:48 where me

nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their bridesmaids used to

have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the bridal um

cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be scratching

scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it

now but it was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:07:21 that’s slightly before my time I was very young when I

remember the hoy outs but yous remember it more, don’t you? (we do, yeah) (oh aye))

kep = (to) catch (0:10:40 when you went to throw throw the ball and somebody caught it they kepped it,

you know, “oh why, we’d what a great kep that was”, you know, “oh we did a great kep there”)

lang○ = long (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the

the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know

that, mam, and neither do I of course)

5 Dictionary of the Scots Language (online edition) records ‘hotch’ in sense of ‘swarm of vermin, state of dirt and disorder,

mess’ but not in sense of ‘to smell’. 6 See entry for ‘hoy’.



lass = girl (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago

and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, me legs’ll run”)

liggies#7

= marbles (0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’)

(‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’) […] no,

definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area (aye) everybody we knew)

Mackem# = person from Sunderland (0:56:00 uh they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh

“whose keys are these keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem accent; 0:55:22 people

outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which

is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your heid off

’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems

either)

mam = mum (0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking you) that’s when they’d give you a good

hiding you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for being naughty; 0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh

is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an

ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course;

0:35:12 what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls used to put on their legs?)

mell = hammer (0:51:45 (wh… what would you call a ‘hammer’ there’s there’s there’s a ‘mell’, isn’t

there, and things like that) there’s a mell, aye, or a hammer)

dae† the messages = to do the shopping (0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one

everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the

pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to get

some money for to for to go)

ming = to smell (0:20:49 ‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we would’ve

said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging” (aye, that’s awful what a

horrible smell) (“pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”))

muggies#7

= marbles (0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’)

(‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’) […] no,

definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area (aye) everybody we knew)

nae body† = nobody (0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio as the different units they had

to use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what was being transmitted but

apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause nae body

could understand them the English or the uh or the German side)

nana = grandmother (0:2:51 well me nana used to say ‘aerated’ whatever that means; 0:06:48 where me

nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their bridesmaids used to

have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the bridal um

cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be scratching

scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it

now but it was called a ‘hoy out’)

nowt = nothing (0:21:09 (‘lacking money’ then?) (‘skint’) (‘skint’) ‘skint’ or ‘got nowt’)

oh aye○ = yes, confirming or contradicting (0:07:21 (that’s slightly before my time I was very young when

I remember the hoy outs but yous remember it more, don’t you?) (we do, yeah) oh aye)

our kid◊/wor kid

♦ = affectionate term used to refer to younger sibling (0:48:29 (yeah, “eh, I’ve seen your

kid the other day you’ll never guess what he was doing”) well you can refer to your brother as ‘wor kid’

(yeah) right up until the end of their life ([…] even your sister ‘wor kid’) […] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but

whether they were a kid or not)

7 See entry for ‘marbles’ for list of variants, incl. ‘liggies’ and ‘muggies’.

8 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, infantry regiment of British Army founded in 1674 and integrated in 1968 into Royal

Regiment of Fusiliers.



over = too, very (0:05:56 (‘not too clever’) (aye) yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK (around here

‘clever’’s usually pronounced ‘clever’) aye, ‘not too clever’ (‘not over clever’) ‘not over clever’ aye,

that’s it, “I’m not over clever” (or “you divvent look over clever to me”) aye)

pictures = cinema (0:56:26 “what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say

all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we? (aye,

when we’d got any money, like) yeah (gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go))

pit yacker = coal miner (0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit

yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I

mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile)

pure = completely, utterly (0:17:11 they’ll say if they’ve had a particularly heavy Saturday night they’ll

say “I was pure cowied off me head”)

right = real, utter (0:16:14 yeah, “they’re right spivs, them” you know; 0:24:12 “she’s a bad-tempered so-

and-so she’s in a right mood”)

right = very, really (0:23:26 (‘bonny’ is is is a good uh) “she’s a bonny lass, her” (a good north-eastern

word Scottish as well but it’s uh) “she’s a right bonny lass, her”; 0:56:47 (how would you explain um the

meaning of the word ‘canny’ to someone who wasn’t from round here?) ‘nice’ “they’re nice people

they’re right canny, aren’t they?”)

scrat = to scratch (0:06:48 where me nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom

and all the their bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies

and stuff and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out

and the kids would be scratching scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do

it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’)

scullery = back kitchen (0:29:01 yeah, the scullery and the kitchen’s where they mainly (where the the fire

was in the back end, wasn’t it?);

summat = something (0:26:12 (but I think uh a ‘bad mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something

that you don’t like or you don’t agree with puts you in a bad mood) or if you cannot get summat that you

want (yeah) it puts you in a bad mood)

tabs = cigarettes (0:39:26 me grand-da was smoking his pipe and me uncles were smoking their tabs and

then they’d be sitting there and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it would

sizzle))

twig = to understand, realise (0:40:44 they used to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and

I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I was driving past the place

where we used to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The ’Tute’) and it was

known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’)

whist drive = progressive card game played for prizes at social and/or fundraising event (0:38:16 well they

didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives)

oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great)

yet = still (0:53:21 ‘drawers’ would be for it would be for ‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have you got your

drawers on?” (“drop your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’ they still say that to me yet)

PHONOLOGY

KIT [ɪ]

(0:11:09 they didn’t [ ] use to have uh fitted [fɪtəd] carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to

have lino with, [wɪθ] like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy [klɪpi] matting thing [θɪŋ]; 0:22:14

I’m not a drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə] uh the last time I I think [θɪŋkʔ] it was on holiday last year, no, not very often

I’m not not a big [bɪg] drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə]; 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day)



and my aunties every day they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle

[sɪz ] marks where they had spit [spɪtʔ] and missed [mɪst] in the fire)

carpET, ELastic, EState, honEST, imagINE, it, kitchEN, markET, messAGE, offICE, orANGE, pockET,

servICE, unIT (0:06:48 where my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and

groom and all the their bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets [pɒkəts] full of shillings and

pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate

[ɪsteːtʔ] or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be scratching scratting around

on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it

was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the

cou… behind the the the three-piece suite if the if he came honestly [ɒnəstli] we feared him, didn’t

we, (aye) nearly as much as the headmaster; 0:09:51 sounds a bit biblical to me a ‘crib’ I can’t

imagine [ɪmaʤən] they’ve got it from the New Testament; 0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted

carpets [kɑːpəts] like they’ve got now, you see, they used to have lino with, like, a hand-made ru..

uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:12:44 well I’m only going on what my dad used to tell

me matchboxes and elastic [əlastɪk] bands and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:29:08 the fire

near where the the kitchen [kɪʧən] where your (yeah) where your, like, dining room was (yeah, it

didn’t really have a name, did it?) no; 0:35:45 when they used to have the coal fires in those days

and all the dust used to stick to it, [ət] didn’t it? [ɪt]; 0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market [bɪg

mɒːkʔət] uh walking through the Bigg Market [bɪg mɒːkʔət] uh two weeks ago and it just started

to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”; 0:37:16 orange

[ɒɹənʒ] faces are very common on Tyneside, aren’t they (yeah, fake tan I think) I don’t not sure

whether it’s, yeah, makes them look like they’ve been in a tandoori oven for an hour; 0:45:59 why,

I mean a lot more people are working in offices [ɒfəsɪz] and that (yeah) where they don’t use

slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that; 0:50:44 I quite like

the Glasgow equivalent which is a ‘ned’ uh and that word comes from uh it’s a probation service

[səːvəs] term; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to

say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t

we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) got to do all the messages [mɛsəʤɪz] for to get

some money for to for to go; 0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio as the different

units [juːnəts] they had to use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what

was being transmitted but apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t

have to use code ’cause nobody could understand them the English or the uh or the German side)

<ex-> (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” he or she’d know

exactly [ɛgzakli] what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame”)

DRESS [ɛ]

(0:01:09 everybody’s [ɛvɹɪbɒdiz] friendly [fɹɛndli] in the North East and uh it’s getting [ ] a better

[bɛtʔa] place than what it used to be years ago like uh changing the scenery for the down the docks

especially [spɛʃliː]; 0:18:10 we had a headmaster [hɛdmɑːstə] which I will not name I think he’s probably

dead [dɛd] now anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they really belted

[bɛltəd] you something terrible [tɛɹə ]; 0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no,

I don’t know) which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end [ɛnd]

just put ‘canny’) what have you never [nɛva] seen a canny good film on the telly? [tɛliː] (no) (no, why,

sometimes you can))

clever (0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ [klɛva] (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ [klɛvə] would be OK) around

here ‘clever’’s [klɛvaz] usually pronounced ‘clever’ [klɪva] (aye, ‘not too clever’ [klɪva]) ‘not over



clever’ [klɪva] (‘not over clever’ [klɪva] aye, that’s it, “I’m not over clever” [klɪva]) or “you

divvent look over clever [klɪva] to me” (aye))

head (0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was

pure cowied off my heid” [hiːd] (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:18:30

he tried to make me right-handed but I went funny in the head [hɛd] and uh he stopped it

immediately; 0:21:42 ‘off his head’ [hiːd] or I just put ‘mental’ for that; 0:24:37 i... if outside this

region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d

get a clip round the head [hiːd]; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North

East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of

Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head [hiːd] off ’cause it’s uh they’re

Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems either)

TRAP [a]

(0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat [ɹat] (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the

youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet [tablət] (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t

know that, mam, [mam] and neither do I of course; 0:34:56 (used to put it on a string and hang [haŋ]

hang [haŋ] it up in the toilet) hang [haŋ] it on the toilet and they used to wash the walls with this uh uh

(distemper) distemper and if your bum or any… anything hit the wall it was al… all came off like powder

white all over you; 0:56:00 uh they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are

these keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem [makʔəm] accent [aksɛnt])

have (0:11:09 they didn’t use to have [hav] uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they

used to have [hav] lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing;

0:56:00 uh they have [hav] a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are these

keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem accent; 0:52:17 they were things that more

or less didn’t have [hɛv] uh slang names (yeah, they were working things) they were just uh tools)

LOT [ɒ > œ]

(0:08:12 you ‘skive’ from your job [ʤœb] you ‘skive’ from school (you ‘skive’ from work you ‘skive’ from

school; 0:12:04 they were cardboard in those days and little bottle [bɒ ] tops [tɒps] and they had a little

hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:22:14 I’m not [nɒt] a drinker uh the last

time I I think it was on [ɒn] holiday [hɒlədə] last year, no, not [nɒt] very often [ɒfən] I’m not [nɒt] not

[nɒt] a big drinker; 0:34:45 I mean you had to gan to the bog [bœg] across the road)

hot (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) yeah, “it’s hot [hɛt] it’s very hot [hɛt]

today” (yeah, “hot [hɛtʔ] today”) (OK) (I didn’t have anything for that at all but I I would’ve

thought someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ [hɒt] ‘hot’ [hœt])

<-ong> (0:16:58 a ‘long [laŋ] cowie’ uh is a long-tailed [lɒŋteːɫd] rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’

amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that)

I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course)

STRUT [ʊ > ə]

(0:12:17 I used to save hundreds [hʊndɹədz] and hundreds [hʊndɹədz] on them up [ʊp] I never got a baby

sister but it didn’t half keep me out of mischief; 0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub [pʊb] into Ashington and

uh you hear the old pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re

completely different to us [ʊs] I mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile; 1:02:57 ‘clarts’ you’ll

find that used in Norway (‘clarts’ ‘clarts’, yeah) ‘clart’ meaning ‘mud’ [mʊd] and ‘muck’ [mʊk] (a lot of

people down south don’t know what ‘clarts’ mean) no, no idea what clarts are, no (it’s just [ʤʊst] thick

mud [məd] watery mud [məd]))



amongst (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst [əmʊŋst] uh the charvers and and

they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” (oh right […])

“don’t wake us I’m ganning to my crib”; 0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and

also ‘cowie’ amongst [əmɒŋst] charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh

I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course)

ONE (0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and

then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they

off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg)

(yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones [wɒnz] they were just round metal (yeah); 0:36:48 I was

down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh uh two weeks ago and it just started

to rain and uh there was these lasses and one [wɒn] of them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”; 0:56:00 uh

they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are these keys” is the the

famous one [wɒn] which defines the Mackem accent)

FOOT [ʊ > ɵ]

(0:13:57 (did you play hopscotch, mam?) yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good [gɵd] game and uh (you

never see that drawn on paths any more, do you?); 0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?)

and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t

[ ] know that) I know you wouldn’t [ ] know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:35:12

what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls used to put on [pʊɹ ɒn] their legs?)

<-ook> (0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and

then you had your hook [hʏːk] and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along)

(were they off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked [lʊkʔt] like […] beer

barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:24:37 i...

if outside this region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took [tʊkʔ] the literal

translation of it you’d get a clip round the head)

BATH [a]

(0:13:57 did you play hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game and uh) you never see

that drawn on paths [paθs] any more, do you?; 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do

partake of a glass [glas] of a Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last [last] Saturday; 0:22:14 I’m

not a drinker uh the last [last] time I I think it was on holiday last [last] year, no, not very often I’m not

not a big drinker)

headmaster (0:18:10 we had a headmaster [hɛdmɑːstə] which I will not name I think he’s

probably dead now anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they

really belted you something terrible)

CLOTH [ɒ]

(0:34:56 (used to put it on a string and hang hang it up in the toilet) hang it on the toilet and they used to

wash [wɒʃ] the walls with this uh uh (distemper) distemper and if your bum or any… anything hit the wall

it was al… all came off [ɒf] like powder white all over you; 0:56:00 uh they have a softer [sɒftə] vowel in

uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are these keys” is the the famous one which defines the

Mackem accent)

NURSE [əː > øː > ɔː]

(0:09:38 there’s a word [wəːd] that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer [ɹəfəː]

to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” (oh right […]) “don’t wake don’t

us I’m in my crib”; 0:29:43 the old people went in first [føːst] the dirtiest [døːtʔiɪst] from the pit and then

it went right down to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve

been dirtier [døːtia] when you went in then when you come out (no, I think it’s the r… the other way



around) (you were dirtier [dəːtʔiə] when you got out) (you got the clean ones in first [fəːst] and then they

get the dirty [dɔːtʔi] ones in last); 0:35:12 what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls [gəːɫz]

used to put on their legs?; 0:50:44 I quite like the Glasgow equivalent which is a ‘ned’ uh and that word

[wəːd] comes from uh it’s a probation service [səːvəs] term [təːm])

gird, her (0:12:50 we used to play with a gird [gɔːd] a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a

‘gird’ [gɔːd] and then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go

along) (were they off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer

barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:23:01 I

think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘going to have a babby’) […] “she’s having another babby,

her, [hɔː] dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:23:26 (‘bonny’ is is is a good

uh) “she’s a bonny lass, her” [hɔː] (a good north-eastern word Scottish as well but it’s uh) “she’s

a right bonny lass, her” [hɔː])

were(n’t) (0:12:04 they were [wɒ] cardboard in those days and little bottle tops and they had a

little hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:12:50 we used to play with a

gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and then you had your hook and (and they

used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they off barrels originally were they the

things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t [wɑːntʔ] the

wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:16:18 just had more money than anybody they were

[wɒ] spivs it didn’t matter how they got it from […] (if you were [wɐ] well of you were a [wɐɹ ə]

‘spiv’) you were a [wɒɹ ə] ‘spiv’ we didn’t know many well of people, mind; 0:39:26 my grand-da

was smoking his pipe and my uncles were [wɐ] smoking their tabs and then they’d be sitting there

and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it would sizzle); 0:46:26 there was

the pit ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all [wəɹ ɔːɫ] blind,

weren’t they? (yeah, they were [wəː]); 0:52:17 they were [wɐ] things that more or less didn’t have

uh slang names (yeah, they were [wə] working things) they were [wɐ] just uh tools)

FLEECE [iː]

(0:12:17 I used to save hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister but it didn’t half keep

[kiːp] me out of mischief [mɪsʧiːf]; 0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I

don’t know) which would mean [miːn] it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end

just put ‘canny’) what have you never seen [siːn] a canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes

you can); 0:55:22 people [piː ] outside the region [ɹiːʤən] think that everyone in the North East

[nɔːθiːst] is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of

Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although

I don’t even [iːvən] think they particularly like being [biːɪŋ] called Mackems either [iːðə])

we (0:20:49 (‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we would’ve said

‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we? [wə] (‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging”) (aye, that’s

awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have

housey-housey in those days, did we [wiː] […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist

drives) oh we [wə] had beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 0:56:26 “what’s on at the

pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that

was it ’cause that’s all we [wi] did go to the pictures, didn’t we? [wə] (aye, when we’d got any

money, like) yeah (got to do all the messages for to get some money for to for to go))

FACE [eː > ɪə]

(0:08:08 ‘skive’’s just basically [beːsɪkʔli] being lazy [leːzi] in general, isn’t it?; 0:13:57 did you play

[pleː] hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game [geːm] and uh) you never see that

drawn on paths any more do you?; 0:26:53 ‘drizzle’ is (‘spitting’) rain, [ɹɪən] isn’t it? (yeah, it’s just



‘drizzling’) ‘spitting on’; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, [deːz] did we […]

(they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were

great [gɹeːt]; 1:02:11 I was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was friendly with and he used

to say [seː] to me he used to say, [sɪə] “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same [seːm] as

German” and he was telling us words what were they more or less the same [seːm] in German like ‘aye’

and ‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different words)

always, <-day>, they (0:01:02 yeah, best place to be, yeah, yeah, been everywhere always [ɔːlwəz]

want to come back to the North East; 0:08:20 (so did you ever skive off when you were younger?)

not as much as they [ðə] do now; 0:10:00 (the young kids on Tyneside use ‘crib’ as ‘bed’) do they

[ðə] I think they [ðə] just made that up; 0:12:04 they [ðə] were cardboard in those days and little

bottle tops and they had a little hole in the middle, didn’t they, [ðə] where you put your finger in;

0:17:11 if they’ve [ðəv] had a a particularly heavy Saturday [saʔədə] night (will they?) they’ll say,

“I was pure cowied off my head” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:40:44

they [ðə] used to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” [saʔədeː] and I never knew

what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I was driving past the place where we

used to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The ’Tute’) and it was known

as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’;

0:46:26 there was the pit ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they [ðə] were

all blind, weren’t they? [ðə] (yeah, they [ðə] were); 0:47:09 uh they [ðə] always [ɔːlwəz] used to

get a lot of injuries uh (pit falls and that) and the and then the the (machinery) and the different

things (crushed) used to crush against them and everything (the wagons that used to carry the

coal); 0:52:17 they [ðeː] were things that more or less didn’t have uh slang names (yeah, they [ðə]

were working things) they [ðə] were just uh tools)

eh (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago

and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, [iː] my legs’ll

run”; 0:48:29 yeah, “eh, [iː] I’ve seen your kid the other day you’ll never guess what he was

doing” (well you can refer to your brother as ‘wor kid’ (yeah) right up until the end of their life)

([…] even your sister ‘wor kid’) ([…] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but whether they were a kid or

not))

hame (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm] he or she’d

know exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm])

PALM [ɒː > ɑː]

(0:09:51 sounds a bit biblical to me a ‘crib’ I can’t [kɒːntʔ] imagine they’ve got it from the New

Testament; 0:12:17 I used to save hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister but it didn’t

half [hɑːf] keep me out of mischief; 0:21:50 very very drunk, yes, yes, yes, there’s n… there’s no half-

measures [hɒːfmɛʒəz] on Tyneside)

aunty, grandfather (0:37:27 we came from a large family, you know, we had a lot of aunties

[antiːz] and things and they all, didn’t they, regularly get theirselves all dolled up there and we

used to sit and watch them and think they were great, you know; 0:39:15 my grandfather

[gɹandfaðə] used to sit in his rocking chair and my uncles used to sit in their rocking chairs all

around the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go on); 0:39:52 and my

mother (and my aunties [antiz] had to wash it every day) and my aunties [antʔiz] every day they had

to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had spit

and missed in the fire)

THOUGHT [ɔː]



(0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside there’s a bit of a bit of Geordie

in there but it’s not as broad [bɹɔːd] as some people I know; 0:10:40 when you went to throw throw the

ball [bɔːl] and somebody caught [kɔːt] it they kepped it, you know, “oh why, we’d what a great kep that

was”, you know, “oh we did a great kep there”; 0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking you)

that’s when they’d give you a good hiding you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for being

naughty [nɔːti])

<-all-> (0:10:40 when you went to throw throw the ball [bɔːl] and somebody caught it they kepped

it, you know, “oh why, we’d what a great kep that was”, you know, “oh we did a great kep there”;

0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called [kɑːɫd] it a ‘gird’ and



(yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:24:37 i... if outside this

region I was to to say, “you all right, [aːɹiːt] bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of

it you’d get a clip round the head; 0:34:56 (used to put it on a string and hang hang it up in the

toilet) hang it on the toilet and they used to wash the walls [wɔːɫz] with this uh uh (distemper)

distemper and if your bum or any… anything hit the wall [wɔːɫ] it was al… all [ɔːɫ] came off like

powder white all [ɔːɫ] over you; 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day)

and my aunties every day they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all [ɑːɫ] the fire

was all [ɑːɫ] sizzle marks where they had spit and missed in the fire; 0:46:26 there was the pit

ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all [ɔːɫ] blind, weren’t they?

(yeah, they were); 0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause the light was too

severe for them) (’cause they were called [kɔːɫd] ‘cuddies’) (yeah, and everybody used to go and

pat them) ‘Gallows’ […] (I never heard that one before) yeah, aye, that’s what they called [kaːɫd]

them ‘gallows’ […] ‘pit Gallows’)

draw(er) (0:13:57 did you play hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game and

uh) you never see that drawn [dɹɔːn] on paths any more do you?; 0:53:12 (‘trousers’) ‘trousers’ or

‘drawers’ [dɹaːz] (‘drawers’ [dɹɔːz]) “they’re they’re a fancy pair of drawers [dɹaːz] you’ve got

on there”; 0:53:21 ‘drawers’ [dɹaːz] would be for it would be for ‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have

you got your drawers [dɹaːz] on?” (“drop your drawers [dɹaːz] out”) ‘droopy drawers’

[dɹʏːpʔidɹɔːz] they still say that to me yet)

GOAT [oː > ɵː]

(0:04:13 it’s so [soː] long ago [əgoː] that Newcastle United9 won anything so [soː] long time ago [əgoː];

0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to have lino

[lainoː] with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, [noː] clippy matting thing; 0:12:04 they were

cardboard in those [ðoːz] days and little bottle tops and they had a little hole [hoːl] in the middle, didn’t

they, where you put your finger in; 0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio [ɹeːdioː] as the

different units they had to use code [koːd] obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what

was being transmitted but apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to

use code [koːd]’cause nobody could understand them the English or the uh or the German side; 0:59:37

I’ve I’ve heard our our Albert do it before actually when when uh he’ll instead of saying ‘cola’ [koːlə]

you’ll say ‘cola’ [kɵːla])

don’t (0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK) around here ‘clever’’s

usually pronounced ‘clever’ (aye, ‘not too clever’) ‘not over clever’ (‘not over clever’ aye, that’s

it, “I’m not over clever”) or “you don’t [dɪvənʔ] look over clever to me” (aye); 0:09:38 there’s a

9 Professional football club formed in 1892.



word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’

(their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” (oh right […]) “don’t [dɪvənʔ] wake us I’m ganning

to my crib”; 0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down the alley”, don’t [dɪvənʔ] you? (yes) (aye);

going to (0:23:01 (I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’) ‘going to [gʊnə] have a babby’ […]

(“she’s having another babby, her, dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”))

know, no, throw (0:06:34 “hoy it over here” or “throw [θɹaː] it over there”; 0:16:58 a ‘long

cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside

also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know [noː] that) I know [noː] you wouldn’t know [noː]

that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:28:11 why, I know [naː] it’s posh, like, when you say

‘lounge’ but uh we used to say ‘sitting room’ (‘parlour’) (‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was

the posh people said the ‘parlour’); 0:29:08 the fire near where the the kitchen where your (yeah)

where your, like, dining room was (yeah, it didn’t really have a name, did it?) no [naː])

<-old> (0:02:17 (‘cold’ then?) ‘cold’ [kaːd] (‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd]) ‘cold’ [kaːd] “it’s very c… I’m very

cold [kaːd] today” and “it’s very cold [kaʊɫd] outside” (it’s a ‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd] day) (‘cold’

[kaʊəɫd] yeah) “it’s a cold [kaʊɫd] day and I’m very cold” [kaːd]; 0:25:05 (“what are ye doing,

bonny lad?”) even if you’re an old [oːɫd] person they still say ‘bonny lad’ (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so

you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...]

it’s just a platitude, yeah); 0:31:35 “get the old [aːd] man off the couch”; 0:58:18 yeah, you get in

the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old [ɔʊɫd] pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used to

call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I mean it’s only a matter of (a few

miles) uh ten mile)

over (0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK) around here ‘clever’’s

usually pronounced ‘clever’ (aye, ‘not too clever’) ‘not over [aʊə] clever’ (‘not over [aʊa] clever’

aye, that’s it, “I’m not over [aʊa] clever”) or “you don’t look over [aʊə] clever to me” (aye);

0:06:34 “hoy it over [oːvə] here” or “throw it over [aʊa] there”)

<-ow> (0:07:14 you had to have lots of change to hoy out the window [wɪndə]; 0:44:35 and a

‘marrow’ [maɹə] was someone you worked alongside with on a on a pit seam you’re your ‘pit

marrow’ [maɹə]; 0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause the light was too

severe for them) (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’) (yeah, and everybody used to go and pat

them) ‘Gallows’ [galəz] […] (I never heard that one before) yeah, aye, that’s what they called

them ‘gallows’ [galəz] […] ‘pit Gallows’ [galəz])

nobody (0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio as the different units they had to

use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what was being transmitted but

apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause

nobody [niːbədi] could understand them the English or the uh or the German side)

GOOSE [uː > ʏː]

(0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room [sɪtʔ ] they used [juːst] to have the holes in where

where the lads used [juːst] to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used

[juːst] to have to amuse [mjuːz] ourselves when we were kids ; 0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed

rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth [juːθ] of Tyneside also means an ecstasy

tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:40:44

they used [juːst] to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] on Saturday” and I never knew [njuː] what

what ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] was until uh just a few [fjuː] years ago and I was driving past the place where we

used [juːst] to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ [ɪnstɪʧʏːt] (oh, ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt])

and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was called



‘the ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt]; 0:52:17 they were things that more or less didn’t have uh slang names (yeah, they were

working things) they were just uh tools [tuːɫz]; 0:53:21 ‘drawers’ would be for it would be for ‘knickers’,

wouldn’t it, “have you got your drawers on?” (“drop your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’ [dɹʏːpʔidɹɔːz]

they still say that to me yet)

blooming (0:20:49 (‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we

would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we? (‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging”) (aye,

that’s awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming [blʊmən] it’s mingy, that”)

do, who(se) (0:05:17 doing [duːɪn] anything strenuous I think you’re ‘knackered’; 0:10:00 (the

young kids on Tyneside use ‘crib’ as ‘bed’) do [də] they I think they just made that up; 0:13:57 did

you play hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game and uh) you never see that

drawn on paths any more, do [də] you?; 0:25:05 “what are ye doing, [diːɪn] bonny lad?” (even if

you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’) (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting

that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah);

0:56:00 uh they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose [wiːz] keys are these

keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem accent ; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures

the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it

’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah)

got to do [diː] all the messages for to get some money for to for to go)

PRICE [ai]

(0:11:33 you called them ‘muggies’ (‘muggies’) (‘muggies’ that’s what they called them) ’cause on

Tyneside [tainsaid] they’re called ‘liggies’; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons [nailɒnz] or wh...

when there was no nylons [nailɒnz] for in the war) well they couldn’t afford nylons, [nailɒnz] you see, in

the in the wartime [wɔːtaim]; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they

had they had uh beetle drives [dɹaivz] and whist drives [dɹaivz]) oh we had beetle drives [dɹaivz] and

whist drives [dɹaivz] they were great)

fire (0:39:15 my grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and my uncles used to sit in their

rocking chairs all around the fire [faia] (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go

on); 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day) and my aunties every day

they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire [faiə] was all sizzle marks

where they had spit and missed in the fire [faia])

<-ight> (0:09:38 (there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer

to their bed as their ‘crib’) their crib? (yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib”) oh right [ɹait] ([…] “don’t

wake don’t wake us I’m in my crib”); 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do

partake of a glass of a Saturday night [nait] (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday; 0:24:37 i... if

outside this region I was to to say, “you all right, [aːɹiːt] bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal

translation of it you’d get a clip round the head)

my (0:2:51 well my [mi] nana used to say ‘aerated’ whatever that means; 0:09:38 there’s a word

that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their

crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my [mi] crib” (oh right […]) “don’t wake don’t wake us I’m in my

[mi] crib”; 0:12:44 well I’m only going on what my [mi] dad used to tell me matchboxes and

elastic bands and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:39:15 my [mi] grandfather used to sit in his

rocking chair and my [mi] uncles used to sit in their rocking chairs all around the fire (oh here we

go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go on); 0:39:26 my [mi] grand-da was smoking his pipe

and my [mi] uncles were smoking their tabs and then they’d be sitting there and then they would go

and then they would spit at the fire (and it would sizzle); 0:39:52 and my [mi] mother (and my [mi]



aunties had to wash it every day) and my [mi] aunties every day they had to clean that (yeah) every

morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had spit and missed in the fire)

CHOICE [ɒɪ ~ ɔɪ]

(0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed [ənɒɪd] ’cause they think it’s rude, “you

shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down; 0:20:49 ‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’

means ‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, yeah, “the

toilet’s [tɔɪləts] minging” (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) (“pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”))

MOUTH [aʊ > æʊ]

(0:15:03 if you’d been naughty you’d get a clout [klæʊt] across the ears; 00:21:09 (‘lacking money’

then?) (‘skint’) (‘skint’) ‘skint’ or ‘got nowt’ [naʊt]; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey

[haʊsihaʊsi] in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives) oh we had

beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 1:02:57 (‘clarts’ you’ll find that used in Norway) ‘clarts’

‘clarts’, yeah (‘clart’ meaning ‘mud’ and ‘muck’) a lot of people down [daʊn] south [saʊθ] don’t know

what ‘clarts’ mean (no, no idea what clarts are, no) it’s just thick mud watery mud)

(a)round, couch, out, thou, trousers (0:02:17 (‘cold’ then?) ‘cold’ (‘cold’) ‘cold’ “it’s very c…

I’m very cold today” and “it’s very cold outside” [uːtsaid] (it’s a ‘cold’ day) (‘cold’ yeah) “it’s a

cold day and I’m very cold”; 0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed ’cause they

think it’s rude, “you shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down [daʊn]; 0:06:48

where my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their

bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff

and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out

[aʊt] and the kids would be scratching scratting around [əɹaʊnd] on the ground for sixpences and

pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’ [uːt];

0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round [ɹəʊnd] uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and



(yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round [ɹəʊnd] metal (yeah); 0:27:41 ‘pelting

down’ [duːn] or ‘hoying down’ [duːn] (yeah) or ‘chucking down’ [duːn] (‘chucking down’ [duːn]

yes); 0:29:43 (the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went right down to the

kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been dirtier when

you went in then when you come out [aʊt]) no, I think it’s the r… the other way around [əɹuːnd]

(you were dirtier when you got out [aʊt]) you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty

ones in last; 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ [kuːʧ] written there actually ‘couch’ [kuːʧ] (the

‘couch’, [kaʊʧ] yeah) (‘couch’ [kəʊʧ] ‘couch’ [kuːʧ]) aye, “get off the couch”, [kuːʧ] like (never

the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch” [kuːʧ]); 0:31:35 “get the old

man off the couch” [kuːʧ]; 0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down [duːn] the alley”, don’t you?

(yes) (aye); 0:36:48 I was down [daʊn] the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh

two weeks ago and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh,

my legs’ll run”; 0:39:15 my grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and my uncles used to sit

in their rocking chairs all around [əɹuːnd] the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day

(yeah, go on); 0:53:12 (‘trousers’ [tɹuːzaz]) ‘trousers’ [tɹuːzaz] or ‘drawers’ (‘drawers’) “they’re

they’re a fancy pair of drawers you’ve got on there”; 1:01:40 but if you go down south as well,

like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which again pit communities and I’ve been over

there and they still say ‘thou’ [ðuː] and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very common and that’s that’s

medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I think;)



hour, our (0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’)

(‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’)

[…] no, definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area [aʊəɹ ɛːɹiə] (aye) everybody we knew; 0:11:21 every

corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to play

mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used to have to amuse ourselves

[aʊəsɛlvz] when we were kids; 0:37:16 orange faces are very common on Tyneside, aren’t they

(yeah, fake tan I think) I don’t not sure whether it’s, yeah, , makes them look like they’ve been in a

tandoori oven for an hour [aʊə]; 0:38:37 we used to all go there for our [wə] tea when we finally

moved away; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and I never

knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I was driving past the place

where we used to go for our [aʊə] for our [aʊə] disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The

’Tute’) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was

called ‘the ’Tute’; 0:48:29 (yeah, yeah, “I’ve seen your kid the other day you’ll never guess what

he was doing”) well you can refer to your brother as ‘our [wɔː] kid’ (yeah) right up until the end

of their life ([…] even your sister ‘our [wɔː] kid’) […] so ‘our [wɔː] kid’ ‘our [aʊə] kid’ uh but

whether they were a kid or not; 0:49:02 (‘female partner’?) ‘our [wɔː] lass’ (‘our [wɔː] lass’) just

‘our [wɔː] lass’ really)

NEAR [iə > ia] (0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind the the the three-

piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared [fiəd] him, didn’t we, (aye) nearly as much as the

headmaster; 0:19:22 (it was considered to be evil in in in the olden days I’m talking medieval times) ([…]

anyway I’m c… one hundred per cent left-handed and I’ve never changed and I can’t change) so we’ve

got three evil people here [hia]; 0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘going to have a babby’)

[…] “she’s having another babby, her, dear [dia] me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”;

0:32:38 we just all lived there and the uncles all were miners in there as well and so we were all together

in, like, this mining little atmosphere, [atməsfiə] weren’t we, so we were growing growing up as a unit

and and my poor grandmother used they used to do all the work; 0:46:45 they used to wear these big

black blinkers over ’cause the light was too severe [səviə] for them (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’)

yeah, and everybody used to go and pat them (‘Gallows’) […] (I never heard that one before) (yeah, aye,

that’s what they called them ‘gallows’ […] ‘pit Gallows’))

nearly, year (0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind

the the the three-piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared him, didn’t we, (aye) nearly [nɛːli]

as much as the headmaster; 0:22:14 I’m not a drinker uh the last time I I think it was on holiday

last year, [jia] no, not very often I’m not not a big drinker; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you

ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a

few years [jɛːz] ago and I was driving past the place where we used to go for our for our disco and

it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The ’Tute’) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never

never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’)

SQUARE [ɛː > ɛa]

(0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’ [ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means; 0:39:15 my grandfather used

to sit in his rocking chair [ʧɛa] and my uncles used to sit in their rocking chairs [ʧɛaz] all around the fire

(oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go on); 0:46:45 they used to wear [wɛː] these big

black blinkers over ’cause the light was too severe for them (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’) yeah, and

everybody used to go and pat them (‘Gallows’) […] (I never heard that one before) (yeah, aye, that’s what

they called them ‘gallows’ […] ‘pit Gallows’))

START [ɒː > ɑː]



(0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to

play mar… play marbles [ ] with their marbles [ ] indoor games ’cause we used to have to

amuse ourselves when we were kids; 0:12:04 they were cardboard [kɒːdbɔːd] in those days and little

bottle tops and they had a little hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:45:59 why,

I mean a lot more people are working in offices and that (yeah) where they don’t use slang words as much

as what they did in the shipyards [ʃɪpʔjɒːdz] and uh mines and that)

NORTH [ɔː]

(0:11:21 every corner [kɔːna] uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads

used to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used to have to amuse

ourselves when we were kids ; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was no nylons

for in the war [wɔː]) well they couldn’t afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime [wɔːtaim])

for (0:15:54 (somebody or something that’s rich) (uh) I just put ‘minted’ for [fɒ] that)

FORCE [ɔː]

(0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to

play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor [ɪndɔː] games ’cause we used to have to amuse

ourselves when we were kids ; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was no nylons

for in the war) well they couldn’t afford [əfɔːd] nylons, you see, in the in the wartime)

CURE [uə > ua]

(0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was pure [pjua]

cowied off my head” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:32:38 we just all lived

there and the uncles all were miners in there as well and so we were all together in, like, this mining little

atmosphere, weren’t we, so we were growing growing up as a unit and and my poor [puə] grandmother

used they used to do all the work; 0:47:31 you didn’t get paid while you were off work either, you know, I

don’t think so anyway because they were always poor [puə])

tandoori (0:37:16 orange faces are very common on Tyneside, aren’t they (yeah, fake tan I think) I

don’t not sure whether it’s, yeah, makes them look like they’ve been in a tandoori [tanduːɹi] oven

for an hour)

happY [i(ː)]

(0:08:08 ‘skive’’s just basically [beːsɪkʔli] being lazy [leːzi] in general, isn’t it?; 0:11:33 you called them

‘muggies’ [mʊgiˑz] (‘muggies’ [mʊgiz]) (‘muggies’ [mʊgiz] that’s what they called them) ’cause on

Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’ [lɪgiːz]; 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually [akʧəliː] but um often of I

do partake of a glass of a Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably [pɹɒbli] last Saturday; 0:37:27 we

came from a large family, [famli] you know, we had a lot of aunties [antiːz] and things and they all, didn’t

they, regularly [ɹɛgjələli] get theirselves all dolled up there and we used to sit and watch them and think

they were great, you know)

lettER [ə ~ a]

(0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers [ʧɑːvaz] the the

youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that,

mam, and neither [niːðə] do I of course; 0:48:29 yeah, “eh, I’ve seen your kid the other [ʊðə] day you’ll

never guess what he was doing” (well you can refer to your brother [bɹʊðə] as ‘wor kid’ (yeah) right up

until the end of their life ([…] even your sister [sɪsta] ‘wor kid’) […] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but whether

[wɛðə] they were a kid or not)

commA [ə]

(0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’) (‘muggies’) ‘muggies’

that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’) […] no, definitely was ‘muggies’

in our area [ɛːɹiə] (aye) everybody we knew; 0:31:27 (yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’)



the ‘couch’, yeah (‘couch’ ‘couch’) (aye, “get off the couch”, like) never the ‘sofa’ [soːfə] sometimes the

‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch”)

horsES [ə > ɪ]

(0:12:44 well I’m only going on what my dad used to tell me matchboxes [maʧbɒksəz] and elastic bands

and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:17:29 ‘cowie’ seems to be a word that sort of fits and fixes [fɪksəz]

all; 0:35:58 when they used to go to the dances [dansɪz] (there wasn’t any tights there wasn’t any tights in

those days); 0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago

and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses [lasəz] and one of them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”;

0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working in offices [ɒfəsɪz] and that (yeah) where they don’t

use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that)

startED [ə > ɪ]

(0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted [fɪtəd] carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to have

lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:15:54 (somebody or something

that’s rich) (uh) I just put ‘minted’ [mɪntʔɪd] for that; 0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the

radio as the different units they had to use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand

what was being transmitted [tɹanzmɪtʔəd] but apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were

waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause nobody could understand them the English or the uh or the

German side)

mornING [ə ~ > ɪ]

(0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking [haʊkən] you) that’s when they’d give you a good

hiding [ ] you’d get a good howking [haʊkən] off your mam or your dad for being [biən] naughty;

0:26:53 ‘drizzle’ is (‘spitting’ [spɪʔən]) rain, isn’t it? (yeah, it’s just ‘drizzling’ [dɹɪzlən]) ‘spitting on’

[spɪ ] on; 0:25:05 (“what are ye doing, [diːɪn] bonny lad?”) (even if you’re an old person they still say

‘bonny lad’) ‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting [hɪntʔ ] that you fancy the person or you

find them attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah; 1:02:57 ‘clarts’ you’ll find that used in

Norway (‘clarts’ ‘clarts’, yeah) ‘clart’ meaning [miːnɪn] ‘mud’ and ‘muck’ (a lot of people down south

don’t know what ‘clarts’ mean) no, no idea what clarts are, no (it’s just thick mud watery mud))

ZERO RHOTICITY

PLOSIVES

T

word final T-glottaling (0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside there’s

a bit of a bit of Geordie in there but it’s not [nɒʔ] as broad as some people I know; 0:21:59 I’ve had a

quiet [kwaiəʔ] week actually but um often of I do partake of a glass of a Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah,

probably last Saturday; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a

Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight [eːʔ] or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and

call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think

they particularly like being called Mackems either)

frequent word medial & syllable initial T-glottaling (e.g. 0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’

[ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means; 0:12:04 they were cardboard in those days and little [ ] bottle [ ]

tops and they had a little [ ] hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:12:50 we

used to play with a gird a round uh metal [ ] hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and then you had your

hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they off barrels originally were

they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones

they were just round metal [ ] (yeah); 0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday [saʔədə]



night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was pure cowied off my head” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a

modern thing); 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do partake of a glass of a Saturday

[saʔədeː] night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday [saʔədeː])

frequent T-voicing (e.g. 0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside there’s

a bit [bɪd] of a bit [bɪd] of Geordie in there but it’s not as broad as some people I know; 0:01:12 it’s

getting a better [bɛdɐ] place than what it used to be years ago; 0:09:51 sounds a bit biblical to me a ‘crib’

I can’t imagine they’ve got [gɒd] it from the New Testament; 0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re

howking you) that’s when they’d give you a good hiding you’d get [gɛd] a good howking off your mam or

your dad for being naughty; 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’,

yeah) (‘couch’ ‘couch’) aye, “get [gɛd] off the couch”, like (never the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […]

“get the dog off the couch”); 0:49:52 the w... word you’d use on Tyneside is ‘charver’ but [bʊd] it’s

definitely not to be confused with ‘chav’ which is a completely different thing altogether; 1:01:56 the

Tyneside Geordie um there’s a lot [lɒd] of Scandinavian words in it)

T to R (0:08:20 (so did you ever skive off when you were younger?) not as [nɒɹ əz] much as they do now;

0:35:12 what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls used to put on [pʊɹ ɒn] their legs?)

P, T, K

frequent glottal reinforcement of P, T, K (e.g. 0:04:13 it’s so long ago that Newcastle United9 won

anything so long time [tʔaim] ago; 0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room [sɪtʔ ] they used to

have the holes in where where the lads used to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games

’cause we used to have to amuse ourselves when we were kids ; 0:22:14 I’m not a drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə] uh the

last time I I think [θɪŋkʔ] it was on holiday last year, no, not very often I’m not not a big drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə];

0:29:43 the old people [piːpʔ ] went in first the dirtiest [døːtʔiɪst] from the pit and then it went right down

to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been dirtier when you

went in then when you come out (no, I think it’s the r… the other way around) (you were dirtier [dəːtʔiə]

when you got out) (you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty [dɔːtʔi] ones in last); 0:31:27

(yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’) the ‘couch’, yeah (‘couch’ ‘couch’) (aye, “get off the

couch”, like) never the ‘sofa’ sometimes [sʊmtʔaimz] the ‘settee’ [sɛtʔiː] […] “get the dog off the couch”;

0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle

[biːtʔ ] drives and whist drives) oh we had beetle [biːtʔ ] drives and whist drives they were great; 0:53:21

‘drawers’ would be for it would be for ‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have you got your drawers on?” (“drop

your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’ [dɹʏːpʔidɹɔːz] they still say that to me yet; 0:55:22 people [piːpʔ ]

outside the region think that [ðəːtʔ] everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to [tʔə]

Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have

your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems [makʔəmz] although I don’t even think [θɪŋkʔ] they

particularly like being called Mackems either)

NASALS

NG

frequent NG-fronting (e.g. 0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking [haʊkən] you) that’s when

they’d give you a good hiding [ ] you’d get a good howking [haʊkən] off your mam or your dad for

being [biən] naughty; 0:20:49 ‘minging’ [mɪŋən] and ‘hotching’ [hɒʧən] ‘hotching’ [hɒʧən] means

‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, [mɪŋən] yeah,

“the toilet’s minging” [mɪŋən] (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) (“pah, blooming [blʊmən] it’s



mingy, that”); 0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working [wøː ] in offices and that (yeah)

where they don’t use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that)

<-thing> with NK (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very hot

today”) (yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t have anything [ɛnəθɪŋk] for that at all but I I would’ve thought

someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’)

N

frequent syllabic N with nasal release (e.g. 0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed

’cause they think it’s rude, “you shouldn’t [ ] say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down;

0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind the the the three-

piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared him, didn’t [ ] we, (aye) nearly as much as the

headmaster; 0:11:09 they didn’t [ ] use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they

used to have lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:16:58 a ‘long

cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also

means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t [ ] know that) I know you wouldn’t [ ] know that, mam,

and neither do I of course; 0:17:11 (if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?)

they’ll say, “I was pure cowied off my head”) yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern [ ]

thing; 0:19:22 it was considered to be evil in in in the olden [ ] days I’m talking medieval times […]

(anyway I’m c… one hundred per cent left-handed and I’ve never changed and I can’t change) (so we’ve

got three evil people here); 0:27:08 if the weather’s getting bad I’d I just people often [ ] will say it’s

‘putting in’, “the weather’s putting in”; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was

no nylons for in the war) well they couldn’t [ ] afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime; 0:38:16

well they didn’t [ ] have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives

and whist drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 0:57:01 something could be

‘canny good’ though, couldn’t [ ] it, (no, I don’t know) which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny

good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what have you never seen a canny good film on

the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))

FRICATIVES

TH

TH-stopping (0:57:01 something [ ] could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know)

which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’)

what have you never seen a canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))

LIQUIDS

R

approximant R (0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’ [ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means; 0:09:38

there’s a word that I’ve come across [əkɹɒs] amongst uh the charvers and and they refer [ɹəfəː] to their

bed as their ‘crib’ [kɹɪb] (their crib? [kɹɪb]) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” [kɹɪb] (oh right [ɹait] […])

“don’t wake don’t wake us I’m in my crib” [kɹɪb]; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those

days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives [dɹaivz] and whist drives [dɹaivz]) oh we had beetle

drives [dɹaivz] and whist drives [dɹaivz] they were great [gɹeːt])

uvular R10

(1:00:26 when you get, like, to north Northumberland or even just as far as Rothbury

[ʁɒθbəʁiː] (why, you’re getting more into Scottish there) where you’ve got the guttural ‘R’ [ɒː] (that’s

10

This pronunciation is consciously ‘performed’ in imitation of speakers from Rothbury.



right on the border) which is but you used to get the ‘R’ [ʁə] i... on Tyneside people used to say that but

that’s more or less died out now)

L

clear onset L (0:16:58 a ‘long [laŋ] cowie’ uh is a long-tailed [lɒŋteːɫd] rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’

amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet [tablət] (oh I wouldn’t know that)

I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:18:10 we had a headmaster which I

will not name I think he’s probably [pɹɒbli] dead now anyway but he was horrible really [ɹiəli] a nasty

person in those days I mean they really [ɹiːli] belted you something terrible; 0:46:45 they used to wear

these big black [blak] blinkers [blɪŋkəz] over ’cause the light [lait] was too severe for them (’cause they

were called ‘cuddies’) yeah, and everybody used to go and pat them (‘Gallows’ [galəz]) […] (I never

heard that one before) (yeah, aye, that’s what they called them ‘Gallows’ [galəz] […] ‘pit Gallows’

[galəz]))

clear coda L (0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes [hoːlz] in where

where the lads used to play mar… play marbles [ ] with their marbles [ ] indoor games

’cause we used to have to amuse ourselves [aʊəsɛlvz] when we were kids; 0:18:10 we had a headmaster

which I will [wɪl] not name I think he’s probably dead now anyway but he was horrible [ ] really a

nasty person in those days I mean they really belted [bɛltəd] you something terrible [ ]; 0:27:41

‘pelting [ ] down’ or ‘hoying down’ (yeah) or ‘chucking down’ (‘chucking down’ yes))

dark coda L (0:02:17 (‘cold’ then?) ‘cold’ (‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd]) ‘cold’ “it’s very c… I’m very cold today” and

“it’s very cold [kaʊɫd] outside” (it’s a ‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd] day) (‘cold’ [kaʊəɫd] yeah) “it’s a cold [kaʊɫd]

day and I’m very cold”; 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day) and my aunties

every day they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all [ɑːɫ] the fire was all [ɑːɫ] sizzle

[ ] marks where they had spit and missed in the fire)

syllabic L with lateral release (0:12:04 they were cardboard in those days and little bottle tops and they

had a little hole in the middle, [ ] didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:21:42 ‘off his head’ or I

just put ‘mental’ [mɛntʔ ] for that)

GLIDES

J

yod coalescence (0:25:05 (“what are ye doing, bonny lad?”) (even if you’re an old person they still say

‘bonny lad’) ‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them

attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, [platʔɪʧuːd] yeah; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you

ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] on Saturday” and I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] was until uh

just a few years ago and I was driving past the place where we used to go for our for our disco and it said

uh ‘Miners Institute’ [ɪnstɪʧʏːt] (oh, ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt]) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] and I’ve

never never never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt])

ELISION

prepositions

frequent of reduction (e.g. 0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside

there’s a bit of [ə] a bit of [ə] Geordie in there but it’s not as broad as some people I know; 0:06:48 where

my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their bridesmaids used

to have to fill their pockets full of [ə] shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the

bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be



scratching scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t

seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:09:05 but everybody still skived off, mind, it didn’t

matter even if you were frightened you still had a go to knock out of [ə] school; 0:12:17 I used to save

hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister but it didn’t half keep me out of [ə] mischief;

0:20:27 well well ‘minging’’s become quite a uh sort of [ə] media-friendly word now, hasn’t it?; 0:35:21

they used to paint it on the walls and the ceiling it was like the equivalent of [ə] paint now; 0:36:48 I was

down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago and it just started to rain

and uh there was these lasses and one of [ə] them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”; 0:55:22 people outside the

region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like,

eight or nine miles south of [ə] Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause

it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems either;

0:59:37 I’ve I’ve heard our our Albert do it before actually when when uh he’ll instead of [ə] saying ‘cola’

you’ll say ‘cola’; 1:01:56 the Tyneside Geordie um there’s a lot of [ə] Scandinavian words in it)

with reduction (0:14:12 (we just used to draw them on) with [wə] chalk (with [wə] chalk, yeah) we used to

pinch the chalk from school; 0:37:02 and I’ve honestly seen uh I’ve seen girls walking round with [wə]

one leg done)

negation

secondary contraction (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very

hot today”) (yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t [dɪn] have anything for that at all but I I would’ve thought

someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’)

simplification

frequent word final consonant cluster reduction (e.g. 0:01:02 yeah, best place to be, yeah, yeah, been

everywhere always want to [wɒnə] come back to the North East; 0:01:56 (and does that apply to the

weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very hot today”) (yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t [dɪn] have

anything for that at all but I I would’ve thought someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’;

0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind the the the three-

piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared him, didn’t [ ] we, (aye) nearly as much as the

headmaster; 0:20:27 well well ‘minging’’s become quite a uh sort of media-friendly word now, hasn’t

[ ] it?; 0:35:58 (when they used to go to the dances) there wasn’t [wɒ ] any tights there wasn’t

[wɒ ] any tights in those days; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was no

nylons for in the war) well they couldn’t [ ] afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime; 0:38:16 well

they [ ] have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist

drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 0:55:22 people outside the region think

that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine

miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re

Mackems although I don’t [doːn] even think they particularly like being called Mackems either; 0:57:01

something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t [ ] it, (no, I don’t know) which would mean it was

‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what have you never seen a

canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))

word medial consonant cluster reduction (0:16:43 I put ‘cack-handed’ (yeah, ‘cack-handed’) uh it’s

something [sʊmɪŋ] I’ve heard but I’ve never been called it before)

word initial syllable reduction (0:01:09 everybody’s friendly in the North East and uh it’s getting a

better place than what it used to be years ago like uh changing the scenery for the down the docks

especially [spɛʃliː]; 0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where

the lads used to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used to have to



amuse [tə mjuːz] ourselves when we were kids; 0:35:21 they used to paint it on the walls and the ceiling it

was like the equivalent [ðə kwɪvələnt] of paint now)

syllable deletion (0:01:09 everybody’s friendly in the North East and uh it’s getting a better place than

what it used to be years ago like uh changing the scenery [siːnɹiː] for the down the docks especially

[spɛʃliː]; 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually [akʧəliː] but um often of I do partake of a glass of a

Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably [pɹɒbli] last Saturday; 0:29:01 yeah, the scullery [skʊɫɹi] and

the kitchen’s where they mainly (where the the fire was in the back end, wasn’t it?); 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got

‘couch’ written there actually [akʃliː] ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’, yeah) (‘couch’ ‘couch’) aye, “get off the

couch”, like (never the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch”); 0:37:27 we came

from a large family, [famli] you know, we had a lot of aunties and things and they all, didn’t they,

regularly get theirselves all dolled up there and we used to sit and watch them and think they were great,

you know; 0:46:11 but all that’s gone but they’re now moving to, like, offices and factories [faktɹiz] and

there’s less slang)

definite article reduction (0:29:43 (the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went

right down to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been

dirtier when you went in then when you come out) no, I think it’s the r… the other [ðʊða] way around (you

were dirtier when you got out) you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty ones in last)

L-deletion (0:12:44 well I’m only [oːni] going on what my dad used to tell me matchboxes and elastic

bands and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “you all right,

[aːɹiːt] bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the head; 0:58:18

yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used

to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I mean it’s only [oːni] a matter of (a

few miles) uh ten mile)

V-deletion (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very hot today”)

(yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t have anything for that at all but I I would’ve [wʊdə] thought someone in

Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’; 0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ would

be OK) around here ‘clever’’s usually pronounced ‘clever’ (aye, ‘not too clever’) ‘not over [aʊə] clever’

(‘not over [aʊa] clever’ aye, that’s it, “I’m not over [aʊa] clever”) or “you don’t look over [aʊə] clever to

me” (aye); 0:29:43 the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went right down to the

kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve [mʊstə] been dirtier when

you went in then when you come out (no, I think it’s the r… the other way around) (you were dirtier when

you got out) (you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty ones in last); 0:57:01 something

could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know) which would mean it was ‘quite good’

‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what have [ə] you never seen a canny

good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))

LIAISON

frequent linking R (e.g. 0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them

‘muggies’) (‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called

‘liggies’) […] no, definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area [aʊəɹ ɛːɹiə] (aye) everybody we knew ; 0:12:04 they

were cardboard in those days and little bottle tops and they had a little hole in the middle, didn’t they,

where you put your finger in [fɪŋgəɹ ɪn]; 0:16:18 just had more money than anybody they were spivs it

didn’t matter how they got it from […] (if you were well of you were a [wɐɹ ə] ‘spiv’) you were a [wɒɹ ə]

‘spiv’ we didn’t know many well of people, mind); 0:46:26 there was the pit ponies in the field next to

where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all [wəɹ ɔːɫ] blind, weren’t they? (yeah, they were))



intrusive R (1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham

which again pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there

so it’s very common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I

[ɛːɹiəɹ a] think)

EPENTHESIS

J-onglide (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm] he or she’d know

exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm])

schwa epenthesis (0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know) which

would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what

have you never seen a canny good film [fɪlem] (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))

+/- VOICE

Glasgow with S (0:50:44 I quite like the Glasgow [glasgoː] equivalent which is a ‘ned’ uh and that word

comes from uh it’s a probation service term)

with with TH (0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to

have lino with, [wɪθ] like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:26:12 but I think uh

a ‘bad mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something that you don’t like or you don’t agree with

[wɪθ] puts you in a bad mood (or if you cannot get summat that you want) yeah (it puts you in a bad

mood); 0:44:35 and a ‘marrow’ was someone you worked alongside with [wɪθ] on a on a pit seam you’re

your ‘pit marrow’; 1:02:11 I was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was friendly with [wɪθ]

and he used to say to me he used to say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as German”

and he was telling us words what were they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and ‘now’ and uh

things like that, you know like, different words)

WEAK-STRONG CONTRAST

vowel reduction

weak definite article + vowel (0:15:03 if you’d been naughty you’d get a clout across the ears [ðə iəz];

0:32:38 we just all lived there and the uncles [ðə ʊŋkʔ ] all were miners in there as well and so we were

all together in, like, this mining little atmosphere, weren’t we, so we were growing growing up as a unit

and and my poor grandmother used they used to do all the work; 0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down

the alley”, [ðə ali] don’t you? (yes) (aye); 0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear

the old [ðə ɔʊɫd] pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re

completely different to us I mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile; 1:01:01 in this in the area

[ðə ɛːɹiə] in the North East or what up here there’s lots of different dialects)

cannot (0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘going to have a babby’) […] “she’s having

another babby, her, dear me she cannot [kanət] afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:26:12 (but I think uh a

‘bad mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something that you don’t like or you don’t agree with puts

you in a bad mood) or if you cannot [kanət] get summat that you want (yeah) it puts you in a bad mood)

vowel strengthening

word initial vowel strengthening (0:19:22 it was considered [kɒnsɪdəd] to be evil in in in the olden days

I’m talking medieval times […] (anyway I’m c… one hundred per cent left-handed and I’ve never changed

and I can’t change) (so we’ve got three evil people here); 0:49:52 the w... word you’d use on Tyneside is

‘charver’ but it’s definitely not to be confused [kənfjuːzd] with ‘chav’ which is a completely [kɒmpliːtʔli]



different thing altogether; 0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit

yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely [kɒmpliːtli]

different to us I mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile)

word final vowel strengthening (0:47:09 (uh they always used to get a lot of injuries uh) (pit falls and

that) (and the and then the the) (machinery) (and the different things) (crushed) (used to crush against

them and everything) the wagons [wagɪnz] that used to carry the coal)

LEXICALLY SPECIFIC VARIATION

again(st) 0:47:09 uh they always used to get a lot of injuries uh (pit falls and that) and the and then the

the (machinery) and the different things (crushed) used to crush against [əgɛnst] them and everything (the

wagons that used to carry the coal); 1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law

and North Durham which again [əgeːn] pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’

and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for

the isolation of the area I think)

aerated (0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’ [ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means)

ate (0:38:58 but as a unit we all played together and we all we all ate [eːt] together even then but I mean

they don’t do that now)

(be)cause (0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed ’cause [kɒs] they think it’s rude,

“you shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down; 0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting

room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to play mar… play marbles with their

marbles indoor games ’cause [kɒs] we used to have to amuse ourselves when we were kids ; 0:58:41

apparently um when they were using the radio as the different units they had to use code obviously so the

Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what was being transmitted but apparently the Northumberland

Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause [kɒz] nobody could understand them the

English or the uh or the German side)

halfpennies (0:06:48 where my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and

all the their bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies

[hapʔnɪz] and stuff and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy

money out and the kids would be scratching scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies

(they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:38:37 same game every

time (for money?) (Newmarket11

, aye) Newmarket (for money?) penny halfpennies [heːpnɪz] and things

(aye, for halfpennies [heːpnɪz]))

(n)either (0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the

youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that,

mam, and neither [niːðə] do I of course; 0:34:32 you wouldn’t use either [iːðə] word in polite society;

0:47:31 you didn’t get paid while you were off work either, [aiða] you know, I don’t think so anyway

because they were always poor; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is

a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call

them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they

particularly like being called Mackems either [iːðə])

Newcastle (0:04:13 it’s so long ago that Newcastle [ ] United9 won anything so long time ago;

0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to

Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle [nju ] uh and call them a Geordie

11

Type of card game.



they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like

being called Mackems either)

often (0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often [ɒfən] of I do partake of a glass of a Saturday

night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday; 0:22:14 I’m not a drinker uh the last time I I think it was

on holiday last year, no, not very often [ɒfən] I’m not not a big drinker; 0:27:08 if the weather’s getting

bad I’d I just people often [ɒft ] will say it’s ‘putting in’, “the weather’s putting in”)

says (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago and it

just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, [sɛz] “eh, my legs’ll run”; 1:01:40

but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which again pit

communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very

common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says [seːz] something for the isolation of the area I think)

GRAMMAR

DETERMINERS

definite article reduction (0:29:43 (the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went

right down to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been

dirtier when you went in then when you come out) no, I think it’s the r… th’ other way around (you were

dirtier when you got out) you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty ones in last)

the pre-modification (0:56:26 “what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to

say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we? (aye,

when we’d got any money, like) yeah (gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go))

NOUNS

zero plural (0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit yackers on […]

(that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I mean it’s only

a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile)

PRONOUNS

singular object us (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they

refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent

wake divvent wake us I’m in me crib”; 1:02:11 I was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was

friendly with and he used to say to me he used to say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as

German” and he was telling us words what were they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and

‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different words)

2nd person plural (0:07:21 that’s slightly before my time I was very young when I remember the hoy outs

but yous remember it more, don’t you? (we do, yeah) (oh aye); 0:45:33 (it just really goes in with the

Geordie dialect now, you know, just just the dialect we’ve got now) well well yous two would probably

know more about that dialect coming from a mining)

ye (0:25:05 “what are ye daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’)

(‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in

any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah))

thou (1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which again

pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very

common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I think)



frequent possessive me (e.g. 0:2:51 well me nana used to say ‘aerated’ whatever that means; 0:09:38

there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their

‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) “divvent wake divvent wake us I’m in

me crib”; 0:12:44 well I’m only going on what me dad used to tell me matchboxes and elastic bands and

stuff like that that you wind up; 0:39:15 me grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and me uncles used

to sit in their rocking chairs all around the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go

on); 0:39:26 me grand-da was smoking his pipe and me uncles were smoking their tabs and then they’d be

sitting there and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it would sizzle); 0:39:52 and

me mother (and me aunties had to wash it every day) and me aunties every day they had to clean that

(yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had spit and missed in the

fire)

regularised reflexive (0:37:27 we came from a large family, you know, we had a lot of aunties and things

and they all, didn’t they, regularly get theirselves all dolled up there and we used to sit and watch them

and think they were great, you know)

alternative reflexive with <-sell> (0:03:11 yes, that’s true, that, she did say that (aye, divvent get yoursell

aerated”) “I’m very aerated today”)

relative which (0:18:10 we had a headmaster which I will not name I think he’s probably dead now

anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they really belted you something

terrible)

zero relative (0:28:11 (why, I know it’s posh, like, when you say ‘lounge’ but uh we used to say ‘sitting

room’) (‘parlour’) ‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was the posh people _ said the ‘parlour’; 1:02:11 I

was working in Australia and uh this German lad _ I was friendly with and he used to say to me he used to

say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as German” and he was telling us words what were

they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and ‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different

words)

VERBS

present

generalisation of 3rd psg. <-s> (0:26:09 I think the elections puts you in a bad mood)

past zero past (0:39:52 and me mother (and me aunties had to wash it every day) and me aunties every day

they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had

spit and missed in the fire)

alternative past (0:39:15 me grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and me uncles used to sit in their

rocking chairs all around the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt○ him the other day (yeah, go on))

compounds

zero auxiliary be (0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “_ you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if

you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the heid)

zero auxiliary have (0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to

say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye,

when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) _ gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go)

frequent invariant there is~was (e.g. 0:17:54 everyone had to be right-handed without a shadow, you

know, there wasn’t any left-handed people you had to be right-handed; 0:21:50 very very drunk, yes, yes,

yes, there’s n… there’s no half-measures on Tyneside; 0:35:58 (when they used to go to the dances) there



wasn’t any tights there wasn’t any tights in those days; 0:36:26 that was before they had nylons or wh...

when there was no nylons for in the war (well they couldn’t afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime);

0:46:26 there was the pit ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all blind,

weren’t they? (yeah, they were); 1:01:01 in this in the area in the North East or what up here there’s lots

of different dialects; 1:01:56 the Tyneside Geordie um there’s a lot of Scandinavian words in it)

historic present (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks

ago and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, me legs’ll run”)

historic perfect (0:48:29 yeah, “eh, I’ve seen your kid the other day you’ll never guess what he was

doing” (well you can refer to your brother as ‘wor kid’ (yeah) right up until the end of their life) ([…]

even your sister ‘wor kid’) ([…] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but whether they were a kid or not))

for to infinitive (0:11:49 and we used to play uh save the the tops off the milk bottles and we used to, like,

flick them stand a-one up against the wall and flick them for to (yeah, in those days they were cardboard)

for to knock them down and you you used to win if you knocked it down; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the

pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it

’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta

dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go)

NEGATION

never as sentential negator (0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed ’cause they think

it’s rude, “you shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down)

divvent* for negative do (0:03:11 yes, that’s true, that, she did say that (aye, divvent get yoursell

aerated”) “I’m very aerated today”; 0:05:56 (‘not too clever’) (aye) yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK

(around here ‘clever’’s usually pronounced ‘clever’) aye, ‘not too clever’ (‘not over clever’) ‘not over

clever’ aye, that’s it, “I’m not over clever” (or “you divvent look over clever to me”) aye; 0:09:38 there’s

a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their

crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent wake divvent wake us I’m in me crib”;

0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down the alley”, divvent you? (yes) (aye))

cannot (0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘gonna have a babby’) […] “she’s having

another babby, her, dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:26:12 (but I think uh a ‘bad

mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something that you don’t like or you don’t agree with puts you in

a bad mood) or if you cannot get summat that you want (yeah) it puts you in a bad mood)

PREPOSITIONS

deletion zero of (0:09:00 he used to live at the bottom _ our street)

substitution at + place name (0:00:22 John Albert Weaving I was born at Cramlington)

of + time phrase (0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do partake of a glass of a

Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday)

off [= from] (0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking you) that’s when they’d give you a good

hiding you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for being naughty)

on [= of + pronoun] (0:12:17 I used to save hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister

but it didn’t half keep me out of mischief)

ADVERBS



something + unmarked manner adverb (0:18:10 we had a headmaster which I will not name I think he’s

probably dead now anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they really

belted you something terrible)

DISCOURSE

frequent utterance initial why (e.g. 0:28:11 why, I know it’s posh, like, when you say ‘lounge’ but uh we

used to say ‘sitting room’ (‘parlour’) (‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was the posh people said the

‘parlour’); 0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working in offices and that (yeah) where they don’t

use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that; 0:57:01 (something

could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it) (no, I don’t know) (which would mean it was ‘quite good’

‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) (what have you never seen a canny good

film on the telly?) (no) no, why, sometimes you can)

utterance final and that (0:32:22 and we all went to live in the main house where me grandmother and

grandfather used to live and, like, me mam and dad me brother and uh we all went and lived down there

all through the war ’cause me dad went went to the war and that; 0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people

are working in offices and that (yeah) where they don’t use slang words as much as what they did in the

shipyards and uh mines and that)

frequent utterance final like (e.g. 0:28:11 why, I know it’s posh, like, when you say ‘lounge’ but uh we

used to say ‘sitting room’ (‘parlour’) (‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was the posh people said the

‘parlour’); 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’, yeah) (‘couch’

‘couch’) aye, “get off the couch”, like (never the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the

couch”); 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the

time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d

got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go; 1:02:11 I

was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was friendly with and he used to say to me he used to

say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as German” and he was telling us words what were

they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and ‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different

words)

utterance final mind (0:09:05 but everybody still skived off, mind, it didn’t matter even if you were

frightened you still had a go to knock out of school; 0:16:18 just had more money than anybody they were

spivs it didn’t matter how they got it from […] (if you were well of you were a ‘spiv’) you were a ‘spiv’ we

didn’t know many well of people, mind)

frequent utterance internal like (e.g. 0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got

now, you see, they used to have lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing;

0:11:49 and we used to play uh save the the tops off the milk bottles and we used to, like, flick them stand

a-one up against the wall and flick them for to (yeah, in those days they were cardboard) for to knock

them down and you you used to win if you knocked it down; 0:29:08 the fire near where the the kitchen

where your (yeah) where your, like, dining room was (yeah, it didn’t really have a name, did it?) no;

0:32:22 and we all went to live in the main house where me grandmother and grandfather used to live

and, like, me mam and dad me brother and uh we all went and lived down there all through the war

’cause me dad went went to the war and that)

intensifier right (0:56:47 (how would you explain um the meaning of the word ‘canny’ to someone who

wasn’t from round here?) ‘nice’ “they’re nice people they’re right canny, aren’t they?”)

emphatic tag (0:03:11 yes, that’s true, that, she did say that (aye, divvent get yoursell aerated”) “I’m

very aerated today”; 0:16:14 yeah, “they’re right spivs, them” you know; 0:20:49 (‘minging’ and

‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?

(‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging”) (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming it’s



mingy, that”; 0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘gonna have a babby’) […] “she’s having

another babby, her, dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:23:26 (‘bonny’ is is is a good

uh) “she’s a bonny lass, her” (a good north-eastern word Scottish as well but it’s uh) “she’s a right

bonny lass, her”; 0:23:52 (you’d just say the same for both) (‘bonny’) (aye, ‘bonny’) yeah, “nice looking

lad, him”; 1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which

again pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s

very common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I think)

form of address bonny lad, hinny (0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny

lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the heid; 0:25:05 “what are ye

daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’) (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re

not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...] it’s just a

platitude, yeah); 0:54:43 “howay over here, hinny”)

otiose what (0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working in offices and that (yeah) where they

don’t use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that)

© Robinson, Herring, Gilbert

Voices of the UK, 2009-2012

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BBC VOICES RECORDINGS · 2013-07-19 · paternal/maternal grandmother); nana; granny m partner wor lad#; old man; our man; me gadgie ... rain heavily hoying down; hoying ; pelting;