In this and the next chapter I identify morphosyntactic features on RTG that contrast with those typically found in Standard English (SE). Of course, a grammatical feature that occurs in both SE and NEVE must also be considered part of North East dialect. But for reasons of economy and focus, these chapters deal only with non-standard elements. It should also be stated at the outset that such features are subject to socio-stylistic variation (see 1.1.4). For every form or structure identified, there will be some north easterners who deploy it frequently in their baseline everyday linguistic performances, while others will rarely if ever use it, though it might be part of their passive morphosyntactic knowledge. For others, the use of a feature might be highly context dependent. For example, if whoever posted the statement in the chapter epigraph wished to communicate the same propositional content more formally (during a medical consultation or in a written insurance claim, say) they would perhaps favour ‘I broke my ankle’. We must also acknowledge of course that a person’s age, gender, social and educational background, and their geographical location within the region, all interact with context to shape linguistic usage, but the nature of the RTG data means that such information – except in the broadest terms – is largely inaccessible. The features presented here therefore should certainly not be regarded as invariable (see Beal 1993: 191–192).

My description of NEVE morphology as it is represented on RTG begins with verbal features, showing where verb paradigms in NEVE can differ from those in SE, then I look at four lexical verbs whose forms have a particular saliency in the region: go/gan, know, make, and take; I also consider variant forms of the primary verbs have and do. I then turn to nominal features, considering the marking of plurality on nouns, and illustrating further contrasts between NEVE and SE in relation to pronouns, determiners, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional forms.