Geordie Translator to English

Keep the action, the person addressed and the surrounding sentence together. A short message about going home gives more evidence than one isolated spelling. Do not replace unfamiliar words before translating them: an early guess can remove the very clue that explains the sentence. Preserve a local place name or nickname as a name when that is its role. If you have only a fragment, keep the missing context in mind rather than treating a smooth English result as the only possible reading.

The reading desk identifies selected whole words, including howay, canny, gan, hyem, nowt, pet and us. These clues are useful but not automatic substitutions. Pet can be an affectionate address in a conversation, while an ordinary English sentence may genuinely concern an animal. Us can refer to an individual speaker in a request, but it can also refer to several people. The Geordie Translator to English works on the sentence; the desk leaves these decisions open for you to check.

Howay can encourage somebody or urge them to hurry, depending on the situation. A word such as nowt contributes negative meaning and should not disappear when you shorten the sentence. Read the returned clause for who is agreeing, refusing or asking for something. Then compare concrete details such as the day, amount and destination. A playful tone is not a reason to change those facts. A short follow-up question is better than guessing at the meaning of a practical arrangement.

Informal dialect writing is variable: two people may write the same sound differently, and a source may choose a spelling to suggest pronunciation. The reading list matches the listed forms rather than claiming to recognise every possible spelling. A missing highlight therefore does not prove a word is standard English or incorrectly written. Preserve apostrophes and word endings, and compare with the same source or speaker’s other sentences before deciding that two similar-looking forms must be interchangeable.

North East English includes local identities and varieties that should not all be labelled Geordie. A Newcastle expression and a Sunderland spelling can differ, and a writer may deliberately use the form associated with their own community. Keep the location or speaker information that came with your source. The Geordie Translator to English supports a broad reading task, but it does not identify somebody’s home town or settle the regional identity of a sentence from a few familiar words.

After reading an incoming message, decide what you want to say in clear English before trying the other direction. Retain the names and practical details and choose only as much dialect spelling as the scene needs. Adding an affectionate address to every line can change a relationship or make a character sound like a collection of catchphrases. For dialogue, make the intention clear through the action and context, then use a few recognisable expressions rather than spelling every word phonetically.