Editing Pitmatic (section)

{{Short description|Dialects spoken in former mining areas of Northumberland and Durham}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox language
|name=Pitmatic
|familycolor=indo-european
|altname=<!--No verifiable evidence for 'Yakka'|September 2024-->
|pronunciation={{IPA|/pɪtˈmatɪk/}} 
|region=[[Northumberland and Durham Coalfield|Great Northern Coalfield]]
|speakers=?
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|fam4=[[Ingvaeonic languages|Ingvaeonic]]
|fam5=[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
|fam6=[[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
|fam7=[[English language|English]]
|fam8=[[British English]]
|fam9=[[English language in England|Anglo-English]]
|fam10=[[English language in Northern England|Northern England English]]
|fam11=[[Northumbrian dialect]]
|ancestor=[[Early Modern English]]
|script=English alphabet
|isoexception=dialect
|glotto=nort3300
|lingua=52-ABA-aba
|notice=IPA
|map=British.coalfields.19th.century.jpg<!--Still looking for one without a c19th caption in the public domain|September 2024-->
|mapcaption=Map of 19th-century coalfields in Great Britain showing, near top-right, the [[Northumberland and Durham Coalfield|Great Northern Coalfield]], the home of Pitmatic.<ref name=GNC>Adapted from map on p. 203 of {{cite journal|journal=Engineering Magazine|volume=26|issue=2|pages=193–204|date=October 1903|access-date=20 September 2024|via=Internet Archive|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_industrial-management-1916_engineering-magazine_1903-11_26_2/page/203/mode/1up|title=The Coal-Mining Industry of the United Kingdom. II: Recent Development in British Coal-Mining|first=R. A. S.|last=Redmayne}}</ref> 
}}

'''Pitmatic'''{{snd}}originally 'pitmatical'<ref name =Chronicle1873 />{{snd}}is a group of traditional [[English language in Northern England|Northern English]] [[dialects]] spoken in rural areas of the [[Northumberland and Durham Coalfield|Great Northern Coalfield]] in [[England]].

One lexical feature distinguishing Pitmatic from other [[Northumbrian dialect]]s, such as [[Geordie]] and [[Mackem]], is its use of the [[mining]] [[jargon]] prevalent in local [[coal mining|collieries]]. For example, in [[Tyneside]] and [[Northumberland]], ''Cuddy'' is a nickname for [[Cuthbert|St. Cuthbert]], while in Alnwick Pitmatic, a ''cuddy'' is a [[pit pony]].<ref>[[Michael Sadgrove|Sadgrove, Michael]] (3 July 2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140523230552/http://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/worshipandmusic/sermon-archive/mining-for-wisdom Mining for Wisdom] (sermon). The Ordination of Deacons. [[Durham Cathedral]]. Archived from the [http://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/worshipandmusic/sermon-archive/mining-for-wisdom original] on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2024.</ref> According to the [[British Library]]'s lead curator of spoken English, writing in 2019, "Locals insist there are significant differences between Geordie and several other local dialects, such as Pitmatic and Mackem. Pitmatic is the dialect of the former mining areas in County Durham and around Ashington to the north of Newcastle upon Tyne, while Mackem is used locally to refer to the dialect of the city of Sunderland and the surrounding urban area of Wearside".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/geordie-a-regional-dialect-of-english|title=Geordie: A regional dialect of English|date=24 April 2019|first=Jonnie|last=Robinson|publisher=[[British Library]] |access-date=25 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925090144/https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/geordie-a-regional-dialect-of-english|archive-date=25 September 2020}}</ref>

Traditionally, the dialect used the [[Northumbrian burr]], wherein /r/ is realised as {{IPA|[ʁ]}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Påhlsson |first1=Christer |title=The Northumbrian Burr: A Sociolinguistic Study |journal=Lund Studies in English |date=1972 |volume=41 }}</ref> This is now very rare.<ref name=UrbanNEen>{{cite book|last1=Beal|first1=Joan C. |last2=Burbano-Elizondo|first2=Lourdes|last3=Llamas |first3=Carmen |title=Urban North-Eastern English: Tyneside to Teesside|date=2012 |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |location=Edinburgh|url={{GBurl|0aZvAAAAQBAJ}}|isbn=978-0-748-64152-9|oclc=793582295}}</ref>{{rp|40}} As a result of the burr, the traditional dialect undergoes the [[English-language vowel changes before historic /r/#Nurse–north merger|Nurse-north merger]] in words like ''forst'' 'first' and ''bord'' 'bird', which came about as a result of [[Northumbrian burr#Effects on neighbouring sounds|burr modification]].{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}