This article is about the modern English dialect. For the Old English dialect, see Northumbrian Old English.
Any of several English varieties of Northumbria, England
Northumbrian dialect
Native to
England
Region
Northumberland and Durham (Northumbria)
Ethnicity
English
Native speakers
At max ~307k (2001)[1]
Language family
Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
Ingvaeonic
Anglo-Frisian
Anglic
Northumbrian dialect
Early forms
Old English
Middle English
Early Modern English
Language codes
ISO 639-3
–
Glottolog
nort3300
Location of the historic counties of Northumberland and Durham in England
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Northumbrian dialect refers to any one of several traditional English dialects spoken in the historic counties of Northumberland and County Durham. The term 'Northumbrian' can refer to the region of Northumbria but can also refer specifically to the county of Northumberland.[2] This article focuses on the former definition and thus includes varieties from throughout the wider region, including Durham as well as Northumberland.
The traditional Northumbrian dialect is the moribund older form of the dialect spoken in the area.[3] It is closely related to Scots and Cumbrian and shares with them a common origin in Old Northumbrian.[4]
The traditional dialect has spawned multiple modern varieties, and Northumbrian dialect can also be used to broadly include all of them:
Geordie, the most famous dialect spoken in the region, largely spoken in Tyneside, centred in Newcastle and Gateshead[3][5]
Mackem, a dialect spoken in Wearside, centred on Sunderland
Smoggie, a dialect spoken in Teesside; an area at the southern tip of region which straddles the border of Yorkshire and County Durham
Pitmatic or 'Yakka', a group of dialects spoken in mining towns of Northumberland and Durham Coalfield
Berwick dialect, spoken in Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northernmost town in England
Northumbrian proper, the only rhotic or variably rhotic dialect left in the region (Northumberland and northwest Durham), nearly extinct, which uses the Northumbrian burr, mostly spoken today only by the oldest rural, male speakers.
^"Germanic and Other Languages".
^Riley, Brendan (2016). Geordie and Northumbria Dialect: Resource book for North East English dialect. p. 81.
^ ab"The Northumbrian Language Society".
^Riley. Geordie and Northumbria Dialect: Resource Book for North East English Dialect. CreateSpace. p. 9.
^"North East dialect origins and the meaning of 'Geordie'". Northeastengland.talktalk.net. Archived from the original on 24 February 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
and 21 Related for: Northumbrian dialect information
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