Pitmatic (originally: "Pitmatical", colloquially known as "Yakka") is a group of traditional Northern English dialects spoken in rural areas of the Northumberland and Durham Coalfield in England.
The separating dialectal development from other Northumbrian dialects, such as Geordie, is due to mineworkers' jargon used in local coal pits. In Tyneside and Northumberland, Cuddy is an abbreviation of the name Cuthbert but in Durham Pitmatic cuddy denotes a horse, specifically a pit pony.[1] In Lowland Scots, cuddie usually refers to a donkey or ass but may also denote a short, thick, strong horse.[2]
According to the British Library, "Locals insist there are significant differences between Geordie [spoken in Newcastle upon Tyne] 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".[3]
Traditionally the dialect as spoken in Northumberland, with rural Northumbrian communities including Rothbury, used the Northumbrian burr. This is now less frequently heard; since the closure of the area's deep mines, younger people speak in local ways that do not usually include this characteristic.[citation needed] The guttural r sound can, however, still sometimes be detected amongst elderly populations in rural areas. The variety spoken in Durham is non-rhotic but traditionally still subject to the Nurse-north merger in words like forst 'first' and bord 'bird',[4] which came about as a result of burr modification.
^"Durham Cathedral sermon discussing pitmatic". Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
^"cuddy". Dictionary of the Scots Language.
^Geordie: A regional dialect of English
^Palgrave, Francis Milnes Temple (1896). Hetton-Le-Hole Pitmatic Talk 100 Years Ago A Dialect Dictionary of 1896. Johnstone Carr.
Pitmatic (originally: "Pitmatical", colloquially known as "Yakka") is a group of traditional Northern English dialects spoken in rural areas of the Northumberland...
Newcastle upon Tyne] and several other local dialects, such as Pitmatic and Mackem. Pitmatic is the dialect of the former mining areas in County Durham and...
North Cheshire Cumbria Barrow Lancashire Liverpool Manchester Northumbria Pitmatic Sunderland Tyneside Teesside Yorkshire Midlands East Midlands West Midlands...
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...
Wansbeck. Many inhabitants have a distinctive accent and dialect known as Pitmatic. This varies from the regional dialect known as Geordie. The name Ashington...
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...
formation of a Northumbrian Language Society to preserve the unique dialects (Pitmatic and other Northumbrian dialects) of this region, as well as to promote...
relative lack of Northumbrianisms in comparison to Geordie, Mackem, and Pitmatic (upper North East dialects). Markedly North-Eastern forms such as divvent...
North Cheshire Cumbria Barrow Lancashire Liverpool Manchester Northumbria Pitmatic Sunderland Tyneside Teesside Yorkshire Midlands East Midlands West Midlands...
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...
North Cheshire Cumbria Barrow Lancashire Liverpool Manchester Northumbria Pitmatic Sunderland Tyneside Teesside Yorkshire Midlands East Midlands West Midlands...
Manchester, parts of Lancashire and eastern Cheshire) Northumbrian dialect Pitmatic (two variations: one spoken in the former mining communities of County...
North Cheshire Cumbria Barrow Lancashire Liverpool Manchester Northumbria Pitmatic Sunderland Tyneside Teesside Yorkshire Midlands East Midlands West Midlands...
Estuary English (EE) MLE West Country Cumbrian Geordie Lancashire Manchester Pitmatic Scouse Yorkshire Conservative Contemporary Belfast Mid-Ulster traditional...
traditional dialects; such as areas Mackem (Wearside), Mancunian (Manchester), Pitmatic (Great Northern Coalfield), Geordie (Tyneside), Smoggie (Teesside), Scouse...
North Cheshire Cumbria Barrow Lancashire Liverpool Manchester Northumbria Pitmatic Sunderland Tyneside Teesside Yorkshire Midlands East Midlands West Midlands...
Mid-County Durham and Southern County Durham. A specialist dialect called Pitmatic is within this group, found across the region. It includes terms specific...
traditional dialects of the mining areas of County Durham and Northumberland see Pitmatic. Glottal reinforcement for /k/, /p/ and /t/. This feature is usually transcribed...
speakers, especially in northern Northumberland, still use it regularly. Pitmatic https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fss/projects/linguistics/innovators/northern/documents/Watt...
North Cheshire Cumbria Barrow Lancashire Liverpool Manchester Northumbria Pitmatic Sunderland Tyneside Teesside Yorkshire Midlands East Midlands West Midlands...
also written Pit Talk in County Durham (1973), a book about the dialect Pitmatic. He holds an MA in Industrial Relations and Law. He worked as a coalminer...
Dialects Cockney Cumbrian dialect East Anglian English East Midlands English Pitmatic Welsh English West Country dialects West Midlands English Yorkshire dialect...
North Cheshire Cumbria Barrow Lancashire Liverpool Manchester Northumbria Pitmatic Sunderland Tyneside Teesside Yorkshire Midlands East Midlands West Midlands...
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