The Development of the Geordie Variety of English - Essay Example

? This paper traces the development of the ‘Geordie’ variety of English, from its Celtic forebears to the ‘enregistered and commodified’ dialect of the twenty-first century (Beal, 2009). ‘Geordie’ must be examined within the context of the dialect group known as the ‘General Northern English’ as defined by Wales (2006, p. 13) and within the area this comprises, as situated at the southern end of Northumberland, geographically and linguistically. It must be pointed out here, though, that ‘dialect ‘boundaries’ are not easily established and that isoglosses, far from being clearly defining features, should rather be seen as points of ‘focus and transition’ (Orton and Wright, 1973 in Wales 2006 p 17). ‘Geordie’ as a dialect is particularly interesting because not only does it have the many and varied historical, sociolinguistic and political influences that can be found in the linguistic patterns of General Northern English, but it also has distinct patterns of its own. It has in fact ‘outgrown’ the larger ‘language’ group to which it belongs and gained recognition in its own rights, at a time when the ‘parent’ variety (Northumbrian) has in fact lost significance (Beal, 2009). During the 1500 years or so of the maturation process of ‘Geordie’, it - in its own right and through its ‘parent dialect - was selectively receptive or impervious to outside linguistic influences from a variety of conquerors, aggressors and settlers, as well as from economic and political forces, culminating in a ‘remake’ over the past 200 years that has changed the image of ‘Geordie’, from one of the many undesirable, non-standard working class varieties of English, to a ‘recognizable brand’ that reflects pride in region and dialect (Wales 2006 in Beal 2009), The dialect commonly known as ‘Geordie’ is today spoken around Tyneside in the North-East of England but it was not identified as Geordie until the 18th century and the origins of the name are disputed. Prior to this time, it was simply one of the minor variations of a number of other dialects, which together were once part of the standard language of ‘the old Kingdom’ (The Northumbrian Language, n.d.). Thus, the history of the Northumbrian language is also the history of ‘Geordie’. The dialect originated from Celtic, the native tongue of the Brythons or Britains, who occupied the British Isles south of what is today Scotland. Although Roman occupation may have had some influence on this ancient language through the introduction of Latin into elite Celtic society, subsequent invasions by the Anglo-Saxons, tribes from the north of what is now Germany and from Denmark, have left little concrete evidence. A clearer picture emerges with regard to the invaders themselves who, despite having evaded Roman occupation, had had considerable contact with the empire, reflected in the linguistic development of their vernacular. Leith points to such words as cheese, which he traces back to the Latin caseus (Leith 1997, p. 15). With this quite considerable Latin component in their ‘undeveloped, oral vernacular’, they either killed, displaced or absorbed the Celtic population of Northern England, with little evidence that the Celtic language was absorbed together with the people (Leith 1997, p 17). When Latin eventually did feature more prominently in the Anglo-Saxon language, it was through writing, the preserve of elite scholars, brought via Christianity from Ireland. From this period come such words as Abbot, Choir, Mass, with clear religious origins (Leith 1997, p. 20). Parallel to this development, the Anglo-Saxon language ceased to be oral vernacular and became a written administrative function in support of the various small kingdoms that had begun to form. Among these, Northumberland was of some importance but the written language that developed here was distinctly different from those in other monarchies, to the extent that the difference impaired mutual comprehension and where these ‘dialects’ could be described as separate (developing) languages (Leith 1997, p. 21). This must be understood by retracing the origins of the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Those settling in Northumbria came primarily from the border area between Germany and Denmark and it was this distinctly different dialect that came to prominence during the growing importance of Northumbria, which through Edwin became a ‘Christian’ kingdom in 627 CE (James 2011) A re-enforcing influence of the already existing Nordic element in the linguistic make-up of Northumbria (and on English in general), came from the Scandinavian invasions of the 8th and 9th centuries, with the Danes and Vikings again bringing their oral vernacular to Northern England. York was one of the Scandinavian strongholds of this era and from this period originate such words as they, she, angry and awkward, among others which are now part of the English language per se, but in Northumbria and surroundings ‘Scandinavian’ words such as kirk (church) and laik (play), which cannot be found in standard English, are still today part of the local dialects (Leith 1997, p. 23). Other Old English words that have remained firmly entrenched are larn (to teach) and bairn (child) while beck (brook, stream) is a remnant of the Old Norse (Mearns n.d.). The erratic patterns of settlement between the Norwegians and the Danish have also been held responsible for the reinforcement of dialectal differentiation in the area, evidenced by the different names for ‘rivers’ - burns in southern Northumberland and becks in Teesdale (Higham in Wales 2006, p. 54). But this is by no means conclusive, as Tristam suggests that there is considerable evidence that prior to or concurrent with the wave of the Scandinavian tribes, Irish Celts also influenced the linguistic patterns of Northumbria in particular ways (Tristam in Wales 2006 p 44). Such sound patters as tethera, fetherea and pubs are ascribed to this renewed Celtic influence, together with the suggestion that this might provide an alternative explanation for the much earlier changes in morphology that took place in the Northern regions, resulting in the loss of the final –n in the infinitive and others (see below). Be that as it may, what is certain is that settlement of foreigners in the Northumbria area brought about changes that either did not occur elsewhere at all or at least not at the same time and at the same speed. In addition to the general influences of Irish and Scandinavian settlers, Leith (1997, p. 23) also suggests that a general ‘dumbing down’ may have taken place, simplifying grammatical structures to cope with communication difficulties between the invaders and the local population. However, the most important development from this period comes from the fact that the kingdoms that formed as a consequence of the Scandinavian invasions engaged in armed conflict with the South, which led to the eventual demarcation of two territories – the north under ‘Danelaw’ and the South under Alfred of Wessex. Within these territories, common laws and scholarship brought about a certain amount of ‘standardization’ of the written (and to some extent the spoken) languages to enable administration and communication (Uption and Widdowson 1996, p. xiii). This had also linguistic consequences, not just through the imposition of a standard written language but also through the isolation that resulted from the division. Thus, by the beginning of the second millennium, the lands north of the river Humber had absorbed a far greater amount of ‘Norse’ culture (and Irish according to Tristam (in Wales 2006)) than their Southern counter parts. By this time the Northern language had already undergone what has been called ‘the first great Northern vowel shift’, prompted by the abundance of inherited frontal vowels and the general ‘weakening’ influence of the invader vernaculars on pre- and final vowels (Smith 1996, p. 99). Thus a variety of frontal vowels and the final -e in Late Old Northumbrian texts were already disappearing and word forms such as hir, ??r, ?onn and son can be seen alongside hire, ??re, ?onne and sona. According to Smith, this later also triggered similar change concerning the final -e in Southern and Western English lands (Smith 1996, p 99). Thus, the dialects to which ‘Geordie’ belonged were not only passive recipients of change but became agents of change themselves. The subsequent Norman invasion of 1066 CE, although bringing the North and the South into one administration, did little to unify peoples or languages. Leith points out that the French language of the first wave of invaders was hardly more sophisticated than the existing Anglo-Saxon language and therefore clearly did not tempt the conquered to learn it. In addition, conquerors and conquered were hostile, unable to communicate and there was little willingness on either side to learn the language of the other party. Under such circumstances, a ‘triglossic’ situation developed, with Latin for a time becoming the language of written and spoken communication at courts and in business (Leith 1997, p. 23). As the occupation continued, however, this changed slightly in terms of elites, which later became thoroughly ‘frenchified’, including the entire court, scholars and writers, so that a century after the conquest, the first loan words appeared in English, such as prison, castle and prior (Leith 1997, p. 28). In the North, however, this was less the case, with Northumberland remaining largely independent from the Normans, and functioning as a ‘buffer’ state between the Normans and the rebellious Scots. for a limited time only and Northumberland was soon subjugated. The influences that were at work here were clearly political and they led to the start of a bitter feud between the Southern Norman administration and the people of Northumberland, effectively preventing any significant cultural and linguistic exchange with the remainder of England. Throughout this time, however, and despite the Norman occupation, there was an ongoing secondary settlement by Scandinavians, particularly in and around Tyneside, which can be traced through names in places that were not the prime sites of original Scandinavian settlement. Smith points to names like Grimston, which he identifies as hybrids of the Norse gymr and the Old English tun (Smith 1996, p. 127). These successive waves of invasions and settlements, the changes in language patterns, the constant need to defend borders, the harsh climate and the barrenness of the land seems to have left deep impressions on the psyche and language of the ‘Northerners’, a term which by 1193 was equated by the English South with ‘barbarous’ and summed up by ‘Gerald’ when he sayd: ‘northern regions hav(e) been greatly corrupted by the Danish and Norwegian invasions’ (cited by Bailey in Wales 2006, p. 63). The next 400 years appear to have been a never-ending struggle against the Scots, with intermittent loss of territory to Scotland and recovery, only to be lost again. Linguistically there can be no doubt that this continuous Scottish border conflict has also left traces, at least in the ‘Berwick’ area, the northernmost part of Northumbria. Watt and Ingham have studied ‘Scottish Vowel Length Rule’ (SVLR) as they found it in Berwick at the end of the 20th century and have concluded that it does exist but in a weakened form, which may suggest that the prominence of the SVLR is fading (Watt and Ingham 2000, No. 8). By the 15th century English language standardization had taken place, aided by the printing press and ‘Northern and Southern dialects have all but disappeared in formal writing since the 15th century’ (Blank in Wales 2006 p. 68). This did not, however, apply to the spoken dialects and examples of ‘vernacular’ started to make their appearances in plays and by 1676 even in dictionaries (Goerlach in Wales 2006, p 81). This was peculiar, given the disdain that was generally expressed for anything Northern and barbarous but equally remarkable was the development of the Northern local wool, coal, shipbuilding and chemical industry and the contact it brought with the languages and dialects from a multitude of outside areas. Beginning during this time and continuing to today, the Northumbrian area and surrounding territories were attracting hosts of foreigners from England, Ireland, Scotland and from overseas to work in the budding industries of the area (Buswell 1992a in Watt 2002, 44pp) Watt cites this as the reason why over the centuries there has been a ‘levelling’ in vowels in the Tyneside area, which has led to an enlarging of a dialect area, with an associated loss of ‘dialect diversity’, brought about by ‘koinisation’1 through ‘in-migration’ (Watt here uses definitions by Trudgill, see footnote 3 in Watt ob cit). It also brought new Irish words, carried to the area by Irish miners and sailors, which include pain (rheumatism), and polis (police/policeman) (Mearns n.d.). This migration began early in the 17th century and reached a peak in the mid-19th century, when 54% of the population of Newcastle had been born outside the area (Barker 1992a in Watt 2003, 44pp). Watt supports this with examples of the words ‘face’ and ‘road’. Whereas the older Northumbrian dialect featured [fe?s] and [Ro?d], there is subsequent ‘smoothing’ in the vowels to [fej?s] and [ro:d] (Griffiths in Watt 2003). This is perhaps the best point of departure to look more specifically at the Geordie dialect. From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that the influences that have shaped the entire area and Geordie in particular are by no means undisputed, although there can be no doubt that the peculiarities that give ‘Geordie’ its distinctive character are a combination of very specific patterns of historical, political and social developments, including the occupation and migration by Norsemen, Danes, the Irish and since the 17th century also ‘industrial and general migrant vernacular’. The latter in particular has come about through contact with mining and port industries, often changing the meaning of existing lexis. Thus ‘dike’, has become both a ‘coal seam’, and a maritime fortification and, in addition to changes in meaning, new words have appeared, among them rolley (mining truck) and off-putter (someone who loads coal onto ships). Today many of these words are no longer relevant – due to the changed economic environment of the area – but others have become permanently enshrined in dictionaries. Among them are Mackem (entry dated March 2006) and charver (brash or loutish young person; dated June 2007) (Mearns n.d.). Many of the prominent features of Geordie have already been discussed in a more general context, and are common to a number of Northern dialects. Examples of more specifically Geordie features are a sing-song quality to their speech and rising intonation, followed by a sustained pitch, if the first rising syllable is not the final one (Jewelll 1994 p. 122-23). In addition, there is the distinctive pronunciation of short vowel words such as ‘bath’ and ‘phonological isoglosses’2, such as the long vowel /u:/ for /??/ that has become typical of ‘Geordie football fans’ considered to be one of the most significant features of today’s Geordie pronunciation and produced in such words as butter and up, through ‘centering’ of the vowel and lengthening if f, s, and th follows (Wales in Watts and Trudgill 2002, p 48). In the area of discourse, features such as (h)away, ‘give over’ and ‘come along now with you’ as well as ‘Nowt but canny, hoo’s yersel?’ are distinctively Geordie (Wales 2006 p 193). As well, Geordie features a significant component of words that bear close resemblance to original Anglo-Saxon words, some of which have already been discussed. Other features of Geordie are less specific to the Tyneside area and form part of Northern dialects in general or at least some of them, giving the impression of a lively ongoing exchange and continual movement within and between dialects. Trudgill has examined this phenomenon and has predicted the continued existence of the Northeast area dialects, with Geordie set to spread to encompass a larger area that includes Newcastle and surroundings (Trudgill in Wales 2006 p. 203). This prediction is hardly surprising in the light of the fierce pride Geordies have in their ‘distinctiveness’, particularly their linguistic uniqueness (Minehan 1996 p 416). This attitude has taken the form of early efforts to maintain and strengthen linguistic identity and the many ‘Gordies’ in exile have been industrious and successful ambassadors for the dialect (Beal 2002). The Bewick brothers, Ritson and many others have perpetuated and re-invented the myth that is Geordie, giving it what Beal calls an ‘iconic working-class character’. And the romance that is ‘Geordie’ has taken on, from long-haired television commentators to football legends and stars of the movies, where ‘Geordie’ is now also a very desirable commodity (Beal 2002). Shops around Tyneside are full of ‘Geordie’ souvenirs, and other merchandise and there are definite signs that this ‘brand’ intends to go far. Posters and websites are no longer talking about ‘dialect’ but ‘language’ and ‘nation’ (Northern England). Economically the North of England is seeking individual accommodation within the EU – disappointed with successive governments that fail to deliver prosperity (Minehan 2006 p. 416) and politically Geordies and the North are agitating for regional (Northumbrian) administration and representation. Such a search for a unique and separate identity is hardly. As scholars are going to extraordinary lengths to prove ultimate homogeneity of the English standard language through extending the origins ever further back in history (Milroy in Watts and Trudgill 2002, p. 18), so the peoples of Northern England and Tyneside are now basing their claim to separateness on the same footing – linguistics and language. This paper has traced the historical, political and socio-economic influences that have shaped the modern dialect of Tyneside, highlighted some of the more salient points along the way and, above all, has attempted to portray the complex and overlapping nature of transmission of dialectic features. The picture that has emerged is one of general leveling of dialectic elements, brought about in the past (and probably still now) by the standardization attempts to which all English dialects have been subjected. Geordie has survived and has made a spectacular come-back but it must be asked ‘for how long?’ Must not constant exposure to Standard English eventually produce irreversible decline? Reference List: Beal, J C. Enregisterment, Commodification, and Historical Context: “Geordie” Versus “ Sheffieldish”, American Speech, Vol. 84, No. 2. Summer 2009. England’s North East, viewed 25.2.2011 on James, E 2011, Overview: Anglo-Saxons, 410 – 800, viewed 25.2.2011 on Jewell, H 1994, The North-South Divide: The Origin of Northern Consciousness in England, Manchester United Press, Manchester. Leith, D 1997, A Social History of English, Routledge, London. Mearns, A n.d., North-East English dialects, Diachronic Electronic Corpus of Tyneside English, Newcastle University, viewed 25.2.2011 on Minehan, J 1996, Nations without States: A Historical Dictionary of Contemporary National Movements, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. Smith, J 1996. An Historical Study of English: Function, Form, and Change. Routledge, New York. The Northumbrian Language n.d., Northumbriana, viewed 25.2.2011 on Upton, C & Widdowson J D A 1996, An Atlas of English Dialects, Oxford University Press Inc., New York. Watts, R & Trudgill, P 2002. Alternative Histories of English, Routledge, London. Wales, K 2006. Northern English: A Cultural and Social History, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Watt, D & Ingham, C 2000, DURATIONAL EVIDENCE OF THE SCOTTISH VOWEL LENGTH RULE IN BERWICK ENGLISH, Leeds Working Papers in Linguistics and Phonetics, viewed 25.2.2011 on Watt, D. ‘I don’t speak with a Geordie accent, I speak, like, the Northern accent’: Contact-induced levelling in the Tyneside vowel system, Journal of Sociolinguistics 6/1 2002: 44-63.   Read More