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Geordie Phonology
Geordie Connected Speech Processes
We all adjust the way we pronounce certain sounds in connected speech. For example, we pronounce the final consonant in the word ten with a <n> sound, but use a <m> sound for the same consonant in the phrase ten pence. We are generally unaware that we are making this adjustment as it does not impede understanding. We use a <m > sound because our lips are preparing for the <p> in pence - it eases the process of moving from one sound to another. Such phenomena are known as connected speech processes and they occur naturally whenever we speak in utterances of more than one syllable.
Listen to examples
Most connected speech processes in English are unimportant when differentiating between accents - speakers of all accents convert a <n> to a <m> sound in the phrase ten pence, for instance. But some are of interest. The table below lists connected speech processes associated with a Geordie accent. The left-hand column lists each feature and gives a brief explanation, while the second column describes when you might hear this alternative pronunciation. Click on the sound files to listen to a Geordie using various features. Use the right-hand column and return to the home map to hear recordings of speakers who share the same pronunciation.
| pronunciation feature | circumstances where this feature is particularly noticeable | sound file | recordings where this feature also occurs |
|---|---|---|---|
T-to-R a word-final <t> is pronounced like a <r> sound in a restricted set of common verbs (eg get, got, let, put, shut) and non-lexical words (eg but, lot, not, that, what,) or word-internally with words such as getting, letting, putting and matter | when <t> occurs between vowels in a small set of common verbs such as getting and putting and across word boundaries in phrases such as get off and shut up and non-lexical words (eg lot of, what if) and even in extreme cases with the noun matter, as in the phrase what’s the matter with you, the pronoun whatever and the phonologically conjoined phrase got to | there’s a lot of people go there - to the woods |
Leeds, Welwick, Read, Birkenhead, Kniveton, Nottingham, Bangor, Cardiff |
zero linking R <r> is not pronounced at a word boundary between vowels | when <r> occurs at the end of a word and preceding a word that starts with a vowel in phrases such as car alarm, four, iron and there is | I mean, you’re always calling each other and we used to gan in the bar and get drunk, you know | Byker, Burnham Thorpe |
preposition + vowel a <v> sound appears as the final consonant in some prepositions preceding a word that starts with a vowel | a word boundary when the prepositions by, to, into and onto (strictly speaking tae, intae and ontae in traditional dialect) precede a word that starts with a vowel, as in put it intiv a tin. Also very occasionally in broad dialect a <v> sound is substituted for the final consonant in the prepositions in, with and from (strictly speaking frae in traditional dialect) | I used to get dropped off, off the bus in the mornings, while they went away tiv another job it was half-way up the street to the tap: great, big tap wiv a big ear | Stannington, Wearhead, Welwick |
preposition + consonant the final consonant of some prepositions is deleted preceding a word that starts with a consonant | at a word boundary when the preposition with precedes a word that starts with a consonant, as in wi’ bread and butter, also very occasionally in broad dialect the final consonant is omitted in the prepositions in and from (strictly speaking frae in traditional dialect) | it and you walked away like that, with your buckets full of water | Stannington, Wearhead, Welwick, Read, Burnley, Kniveton, Nottingham, Danesford, Portesham, Hackney, Lerwick, New Cumnock, Selkirk |
unstressed personal and possessive pronouns certain pronouns, when unstressed, are pronounced with a reduced vowel | the personal pronouns, I, they and we and the possessive pronouns my and our (wor in traditional dialect) are pronounced with a long vowel when they receive prominent stress, but are pronounced with an extremely weak vowel when in an unstressed position |
I used to go with my cousin, my cousin’s wife they were trees - they weren’t bushes, they were trees if we had friends around the, we used to say round the corner |
Stannington, Byker |
adjective + unstressed one | when the pronoun one is unstressed and preceded by an adjective it is pronounced with an extremely weak vowel, as in the phrase big ’un | Byker, Wearhead, Read, Boston | |
definite article + vowel the definite article is pronounced with a reduced vowel preceding a word that starts with a vowel | in most English accents the definite article is pronounced with a relatively strong vowel preceding a word that starts with a vowel, as in the apple, and a weak vowel preceding a word that starts with a consonant, as in the pear - speakers with a Geordie accent frequently use a weak vowel in both cases | I’ve lived here ever since, other than the six years I was in the army during the war | Stannington, Byker |
polysyllabic adjectives and nouns ending in <-ly ~ -ry> | the penultimate syllable is frequently deleted in polysyllabic adjectives and nouns ending with the suffix <-ly ~ -ry>, such as family, history, properly and usually | we’ve actually got about seven people that are sleeping rough often say to the lads, ‘I’ve got a pipe leading from the brewery into the office’ |
