Editing Pitmatic

{{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}}

==Dialectology==
While Pitmatic was spoken by miners throughout the [[Northumberland and Durham Coalfield|Great Northern Coalfield]]&nbsp;{{emdash}}&nbsp;from [[Ashington]] in Northumberland to [[Fishburn]] in County Durham&nbsp;{{emdash}}&nbsp;sources describe its particular use in the Durham collieries.<ref name =Chronicle1873 /><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times]]|title=The New Electorate|date=21 August 1885|issue=31531|at=p. 4, col. 6. (At the [[Oakenshaw, County Durham|Oakenshaw]] pit in County Durham): "[A]fter a few minutes delay in the overman's cabin, thronged with men talking an unintelligible language known, I was informed, as Pitmatic, we took our places"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Pit-Yacker|first=George|last=Hitchin|date=1962|chapter=Chapter IV: 'The People Who Walked in Darkness'|at=p. 70 ([[Seaham Colliery]], {{circa}} 1910): "I was also acquiring a new language. This was 'pitmatic'. It was a mixture of the broadest dialect of Durham and a number of words (often of foreign origin) used exclusively by pitmen when below ground"|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/pityacker0000geor/page/70/mode/1up?q=pitmatic|publisher=[[Jonathan Cape]]|location=London|oclc=3789510|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=English Journey|first=J. B.|last=Priestly|author-link=J. B. Priestley|date=1934|chapter=Chapter Ten: To East Durham and the Tees|pages=265{{endash}}266|quote=The local miners have a curious lingo [...] which they call 'pitmatik.' It is [...] a dialect within a dialect, for it is only used by the pitmen when they are talking among themselves. The women do not talk it. When the pitmen are exchanging stories of colliery life, [...] they do it in 'pitmatik,' which is Scandinavian in origin, far nearer to the Norse than the ordinary Durham dialect.|publisher=[[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Brothers]]|location=New York|oclc=69655102|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/englishjourney0000jbpr_p8g3/page/254/mode/2up|chapter-url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Pitmatic is distinct from the traditional agricultural speech of the Wear and Tees valleys in County Durham, which is classified as part of the 'West Northern' dialect group.<ref name=EllisV5 /> 

According to Bill Griffiths, the emergence of Pitmatic in County Durham is closely tied to the historical spread of heavy industry southward from the lower Tyne, beginning in the northern and western parts of County Durham and subsequently extending into the eastern districts. As industrialisation progressed, the speech of Tyneside, associated with the 'North Northern' dialect group, functioned as a [[Stratum (linguistics)#Superstratum|superstrate]], particularly among mobile industrial workers and in urbanised mining communities. This Tyneside superstrate came into contact with the older County Durham [[Stratum (linguistics)#Substratum|substrate]], resulting in a series of [[Language contact|contact varieties]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griffiths |first1=Bill |title=North East Dialect: Survey and Word List |date=1999 |publisher=The Centre for Northern Studies |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |isbn=9780951147245 |pages=17-39 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/North_Eastern_Dialect/gZEdAQAAIAAJ?hl |access-date=6 May 2025}}</ref>

===Dictionaries and compilations===

Although he did not use the term "Pitmatic", [[Alexander John Ellis|Alexander J. Ellis]]'s seminal survey of English dialects in the late nineteenth century included the language of "Pitmen",<ref name=EllisV5>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/OnEarlyEnglishPronunciationWithEspecialReferenceToShakspereAnd/|title=On Early English Pronunciation, with Especial Reference to Shakspere and Chaucer : Part V, Existing Dialectical as Compared to West Saxon Pronunciation|last=Ellis|first=Alexander J.|author-link=Alexander John Ellis|date=1889|publisher=Trübner for the [[Philological Society]], the [[Early English Text Society]], and the [[New Chaucer Society|Chaucer Society]]|location=London|access-date=13 July 2024|via=Internet Archive|quote-page=641|quote=Var. iv, se.Nb. [...] This variety contains the speech of the Pitmen, and is most characteristic of Nb. But the mere writing of this speech conveys very little notion of its peculiarities of intonation, [...].The singsong and musical drawl of the pitmen must be heard to be understood. It is this variety to which the numerous dialectal books, annuals, comic stories, and songs usually refer.}}</ref>{{rp|637&ndash;641}} focusing on the region "between rivers [[River Tyne|Tyne]] and [[River Wansbeck|Wansbeck]]" and drawing on informants from [[Humshaugh]],  [[Earsdon]], and [[Backworth]].<ref name=EllisV5 />{{rp|674}} Dialect words in Northumberland and Tyneside, including many specific to the coal-mining industry, were collected by [[Richard Oliver Heslop|Oliver Heslop]] and published in two volumes in 1892 and 1894 respectively.<ref>{{cite book|title=Northumberland Words. A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Northumberland and on the Tyneside|first=Richard Oliver|last=Heslop|author-link=Richard Oliver Heslop}} [https://archive.org/details/northumberlandw01heslgoog Volume I] (A to F) (1892). Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & co. for the [[English Dialect Society]]{{snd}}via Internet Archive. [https://archive.org/stream/northumberlandw00heslgoog Volume II] (G to Z) (1894). Henry Frowde, [[Oxford University Press]] for the [[English Dialect Society]]{{snd}}via Internet Archive.</ref>

A dictionary of East Durham Pitmatic spoken in [[Hetton-le-Hole]], compiled by Rev. Francis M. T. Palgrave, was published in 1896<ref name=Palgrave>{{cite book|title=A List of Words and Phrases in Every-Day Use by the Natives of Hetton-Le-Hole in the County of Durham, Being Words not Ordinarily Accepted, or But Seldom Found in the Standard English of the Day|first=Rev. Francis Milnes Temple|last=Palgrave|date=1896|publisher=[[Oxford University Press#Henry Frowde|Henry Frowde]] for the [[English Dialect Society]]|location=London|url=https://gredos.usal.es/handle/10366/122533|format=pdf, doc|oclc=163056065|access-date=24 June 2024}} Via [https://www.thesalamancacorpus.com/ The Salamanca Corpus Digital Archive of English Dialect Texts]</ref> and reprinted in 1997.<ref name=PalgraveReprint>{{cite book|title=Hetton-le-Hole Pitmatic Talk 100 Years Ago: a Dialect Dictionary of 1896|first1=Rev. Francis Milnes Temple|last1=Palgrave|first2=David (foreword)|last2=Ridley |date=1997|orig-date=1896|publisher=Johnstone-Carr|location=[[Gateshead]]|isbn=978-0-953-14020-6|oclc=41358108}}</ref> The heritage society of nearby [[Houghton-le-Spring]] produced a list of words and phrases in 2017 collected over the preceding five years.<ref name=NotMackems>{{cite web|url=http://www.houghtonlespring.org.uk/articles/pitmatic_guide_book.pdf|title=We're Not Mackems: A Pitmatic Dictionary|date=January 2017|website=Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Society|access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> [[Harold Orton]] compiled a [[text corpus|corpus]] (dataset) of dialect forms for 35 locations in Northumberland and northern Durham, known as the ''Orton Corpus''.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Kurt|last=Rydland|date=January 1992|title=The Orton Corpus. A collection of dialect material from the north-east of England|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/angl.1992.1992.110.1/html|journal=[[Anglia (journal)|Anglia. Journal of English Philology]]|volume=1992|issue=110 |pages=1{{endash}}35|doi=10.1515/angl.1992.1992.110.1|access-date=28 June 2024|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Orton Corpus: a Dictionary of Northumbrian Pronunciation 1928-1939|first=Kurt|last=Rydland|date=1998|publisher=[[:no:Novus forlag|Novus forlag]]|location=Oslo|isbn=978-8-270-99306-2|oclc=40847001}} Vol. 10 of ''Studia Anglistica Norvegica'', {{ISSN|0333-4791}}.</ref>

''Pit Talk in County Durham'', an illustrated, 90-page pamphlet by [[David John Douglass|Dave Douglass]], a local miner, was published in 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/museums-archives-heritage/history-workshop-pamphlets-10/|title=Pit Talk in County Durham: A Glossary of Miners' Talk together with Memories of Wardley Colliery, Pit Songs and Piliking|first=Dave|last=Douglass|author-link=David John Douglass|date=1973|publisher=[[History Workshop Journal#The History Workshop movement|History Workshop]]|location=Oxford|oclc=990097|access-date=25 June 2024}}</ref> In 2007, [[Bill Griffiths (poet)|Bill Griffiths]] produced a dictionary of Pitmatic where each entry includes information on a word's [[etymology]];<ref name=Griffiths2007>{{cite book|title=Pitmatic: The Talk of the North East Coalfield|first=Bill|last=Griffiths|author-link=Bill Griffiths (poet)|date=2007|publisher=[[Northumbria University]] Press|location=[[Newcastle upon Tyne]]|isbn=978-1-904-79425-7}}</ref> it was well reviewed.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-07-30|title=Lost language of Pitmatic gets its lexicon|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jul/30/books.britishidentity|access-date=22 August 2021|website=The Guardian|last=Wainwright|first=Martin|quote=His new book reveals an exceptionally rich combination of borrowings from Old Norse, Dutch and a score of other languages, with inventive usages dreamed up by the miners themselves.}}</ref> In an earlier work,<ref>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of North East Dialect|first=Bill|last=Griffiths|author-link=Bill Griffiths (poet)|date=2004|publisher=[[Northumbria University]]|location=[[Newcastle upon Tyne]]|edition=first|chapter=Historical introduction|pages=xvii{{ndash}}xviii|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnort0000grif/page/n19/mode/1up|chapter-url-access=registration|isbn=978-1-904-79406-6|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> [[Bill Griffiths (poet)|Griffiths]] cited a newspaper of 1873 for the first recorded mention of the term "pitmatical".<ref name =Chronicle1873>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Evening Chronicle#History|Newcastle Weekly Chronicle]]{{snd}}Supplement|title=Amongst the People|author=A Man on the Streets|date=19 April 1873|at=p. 4, col. 6|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000865/18730419/012/0012|url-access=registration|quote=A great many of the lads, especially from the Durham district, [...] [used] the purest 'pitmatical', shouted across the streets, [...].|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]}}</ref>

==Vocabulary==

Pitmatic words and expressions include:
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|style=width: 600px|

*''al reet''*{{snd}}alright, how are you?
*''bait''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}meal eaten underground
*''byut''*{{snd}}boot
*''chods''*{{snd}}lumps
*''clarts''*{{snd}}mud
*''dunch''*{{snd}}crash, bang together
*''fyass''*{{snd}}face
*''gan canny owwer the greaser''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}mind how you go{{refn|group=lower-roman |The greaser was a mechanism installed between the rails of the [[mine railway]] that lubricated the wheels of coal-carrying [[minecart|tubs]].}}
*''ganning''*{{snd}}going
*''gansey''*{{snd}}have a go
*''had yer hand''*{{snd}}hold on a minute
*''hoggers''*{{snd}}trousers
*''hose''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}pipe conveying [[compressed air]]
*''impittent''*{{snd}}impudent
*''jesting''*{{snd}}joking
*''jigger''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}vibrating trough for cleaning coal
*''jowling''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}tapping the wall or ceiling of a mine to check its condition
*''keep had young'un''*{{snd}}take care
*''knar''*{{snd}}know
*''lektrishun''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}electrician
*''lugs''*{{snd}}ears
*''maingate''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}principal roadway in a mine
*''marra''*{{snd}}mate, friend, work-mate
*''netty''*{{snd}}toilet
*''oot-by''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}direction towards the [[Shaft sinking#Mine shafts|mineshaft]]
*''owwer''*{{snd}}over
*''plodge''*{{snd}}to walk through mud or water
*''rammel''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}worthess stone mixed with coal
*''rapping''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}transmitting signals
*''rive''*{{snd}}to tear or rip off
*''shul''*{{snd}}shovel
*''skeets''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}guides for cages{{refn|group=lower-roman |A cage suspended on a wire rope is a conveyance used for moving workers and supplies below the surface of a mine.}} going up or down a [[Shaft sinking#Mine shafts|mineshaft]]
*''tadger''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}electric drill
*''tak had''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}take hold, steady yourself (in the cage)
*''thee''*{{snd}}your
*''windy pick''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}[[jackhammer|pneumatic pick]]
*''winnet''*{{snd}}won't
*''you're gettin yerself ahead of the buzzer''{{sup|†}}{{snd}}getting above your station, being forward
*''yummer''*{{snd}}bad mood
}}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> from Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Society (2017)<ref name=NotMackems /><br />{{sup|†}} from Griffiths (2007)<ref name=Griffiths2007 />

==Culture==
In 2000, [[Melvyn Bragg]] presented a programme about Pitmatic on [[BBC Radio 4]]  as part of a series on English regional dialects.<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Pitmatic|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/storysofar/programme3_1.shtml|access-date=27 June 2024|series=The Routes of English|first=Melvyn|last=Bragg|author-link=Melvyn Bragg|network=[[BBC Radio 4 ]]|date=23 November 2000|series-no=3|via=}}</ref>

Pitmatic is heard in parts of the [[Days of Hope#Episodes:~:text="-,1921,-"|second episode]] of [[Ken Loach]]'s 1975 series ''[[Days of Hope]]'',<ref>{{cite episode|title=1921|series=Days of Hope|series-link=Days of Hope|first=Ken|last=Loach|author-link=Ken Loach|date=18 September 1975|network=[[BBC One]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHOONUfDUm0|access-date=27 June 2024|via=YouTube}}</ref> which was filmed around [[Esh Winning]] in [[County Durham|Durham]]; the [[Days of Hope#Cast|cast]] included local actor [[Alun Armstrong]].

The poet, [[singer-songwriter]] and entertainer [[Tommy Armstrong (singer-songwriter)|Tommy Armstrong]] worked mainly in Pitmatic and [[Geordie]].<ref>{{cite news
|newspaper=[[Darlington & Stockton Times]]
|date=10 December 2010
|title=Detective work reveals the true coalfield bard
|url=https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/8732200.detective-work-reveals-the-true-coalfield-bard/
|access-date=6 September 2024
}}</ref> British comedian [[Bobby Thompson (comedian)|Bobby Thompson]], popular across [[North East England]], was famous for his Pitmatic accent.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Chronicle Live|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/theatre-news/review-bobby-thompson-story-theatre-1748489|title=Review: The Bobby Thompson Story, Theatre Royal Newcastle|date=12 June 2013|first=Young|last=Reviewer|access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref>

==Related forms of English==
Other [[Northern England English|Northern English]] dialects include:
* [[Cumbrian dialect|Cumbrian]] and [[Northumbrian dialect|Northumbrian]] dialects
** [[Geordie]] (spoken in [[Tyneside]]); see also [[Geordie dialect words]]
** [[Mackem]] (spoken in [[Wearside]])
**[[Smoggie]] (spoken in [[Teesside]])
* [[Yorkshire dialect and accent|Yorkshire]] and [[Lancashire dialect and accent|Lancashire]] dialects 
** [[Scouse]] (spoken in [[Merseyside]])
**[[Manchester dialect|Mancunian]] (Spoken in Manchester)

==See also==
<!--Use {{Annotated link}} template-->
<!--List in alphabetical order of first word of each item-->
*{{annotated link|English language in Northern England}}
*{{annotated link|Northumbrian dialect}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
<!--Sort by date: most recent first -->
<!--Use citation templates -->
<!--Add one-sentence description -->
*{{
cite book
|first=Katie
|last=Wales
|title=Northern English: A Social and Cultural History 
|location=[[Cambridge]] 
|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
|date=2006 
|chapter=Chapter 4: Northern English after the Industrial Revolution (1750–1950)
|pages=115–159
|isbn=978-0-521-86107-6
|oclc=271787609
}} Describes the [[socioeconomics|socioeconomic]] roots and cultural context of northern dialects of English, with Pitmatic mentioned on pages 124-125.

==External links==
* [https://www.dencutts.co.uk/pitmatic.html Den Cutt's list of "Old Words & Phrases, Commonly Known as Pitmatic"], from [[County Durham]]
*[https://www.indigogroup.co.uk/durhamdialect/pitmatic1966.htm Fred Wade's Pitmatic word list], from [[South Moor]], and [https://www.indigogroup.co.uk/durhamdialect/mcpitmatic.htm Georgie McBurnie's "Pitman's Glossary"], from [[Washington, Tyne and Wear|Washington]], hosted by the [https://www.indigogroup.co.uk/durhamdialect/index.html Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kKTaOCJROc "Yam", a poem in Pitmatic read by its author, Douglas Kew]{{snd}}via YouTube
* [https://vimeo.com/138917212 "Jowl, Jowl and Listen"]: film of miners from the Durham and Northumberland coalfields talking in dialect about their work and lives{{snd}}via Vimeo

[[Category:Northumberland]]
[[Category:North East England]]
[[Category:English language in England]]
[[Category:Working-class culture in England]]
[[Category:Coal mining in England]]