Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Tyneside
The Geordie accent
Geordie is the accent of Newcastle and Tyneside, and it is the most conservative major accent in England — it preserves vowels that the rest of the country lost centuries ago. Northumbrian speech kept its own path through the changes that reshaped southern English, which is why Geordie sounds less like its neighbours than almost any other British accent.
Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →
How to recognise a Geordie accent
- Distinctive “goat” vowel — “home” closer to “hyem” in broad speech.
- Glottal reinforcement of T, P and K between vowels.
- “Us” for “me”, and “youse” for a group.
- A rising, musical intonation at the end of statements.
Also known as Geordie accent, Newcastle accent, Tyneside accent, North East England accent. Spoken in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Tyneside, England.
The Geordie pronunciation fingerprint
These are the answers the quiz expects from a Geordie speaker on its 14 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.
“bath” takes the short vowel of “cat” — no trap–bath split
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
non-rhotic — “car” ends in a vowel, with no R sound
“put” and “putt” sound the same — no foot–strut split
a clear T in the middle of “bottle”, or a glottal stop in “bottle” — “bo’le”
“cot” and “caught” stay distinct
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
“Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound different
the vowel in “day” stays steady — a monophthongal face vowel
the vowel in “go” stays steady — a monophthongal goat vowel
a true TH at the start of “three”
the H in “house” is pronounced
“tune” keeps its Y — “tyoon”, or yod-coalescence — “tune” sounds like “choon”
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
“happy” ends on a short “-ih”, or “happy” ends on a long “-ee” — happy-tensing
Everyday words in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Tyneside
Speakers with a Geordie accent
Sam Fender
North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England
A Tyneside reference profile; Fender was born and raised in North Shields.
Sarah Millican
South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England
Millican was born and brought up in South Shields on Tyneside.
Accent profiles are anchored to primary-source regional recordings from the International Dialects of English Archive, not to any individual performance.
Is my accent Geordie?
The only way to answer that against real data is to compare your own speech to the profile. The quiz takes about four minutes: answer 26 questions, pin the town where you grew up, and see your closest accent matches ranked by how well they fit — plus where people who answer like you actually live.